News
6 March, 2006
Big news this time. Ruffian Records/Swim-Two-Birds is partnering with
Dischord
Records and Inner Ear Studios for the DC Free Recording Project. What
is the DC
Free Recording Project, you ask? Read on:
DC Free Recording Project
The DC Free Recording Project is a joint project of Dischord Records,
Inner Ear
Studios, and Ruffian Records/Swim-Two-Birds Studio. We are offering
free, short
(five hour) recording sessions at Inner Ear to young, DC area
bands/projects
that have not worked in a professional recording studio before. The
sessions
will be engineered by Hugh McElroy (Swim-Two-Birds).
To participate, bands/projects must play original music and at least
half of
the members must be 18 or younger. There will be a limited number of
sessions.
To apply, email dcrp@ruffianrecords.com (the e-mail has no F in it) and
tell us
a few things about your band or project. We'd like to know
1) The name of your band/project
2) How long your band or project has been active
3) If you play original music
4) Whether this band/project has worked in a professional studio before
5) Anything else you'd like to let us know about this band/project
(instrumentation, what kind of music you are playing/interested in, why
you
started this band/project, or anything else you think is important)
Thanks,
The DC Recording Project
We're already getting e-mail from bands and musicians about this and
there will
probably only be about 10 sessions available so get in touch. The
project is
open to all styles of music but because of the short time
available for
each session, bands/projects need to come in with finished
songs.
This and other information will be available elsewhere on this site and
eventually on the Project's website which is still under
construction.
You may be wondering also what a 'swim-two-birds' is. Swim-Two-Birds is
Hugh's
studio in DC. It's in a bit of transition right now but it offers 8
track
analog and digital recording (though more tracks are available
digitally) and
mixing. It's a fairly simple studio which has allowed it to stay
inexpensive.
You can get in touch through ruffian for more information about it if
you want
to. Bands who have recorded there include Bazhena, Navies, Sentai, The
Max
Levine Ensemble, HITS, La Mi Vida Violenta, Exactly What, Early Humans,
Tuohy,
Equinox, Hand Fed Babies, The Cornel West Theory, Lost It, A Day in
Black and
White, BOHICA, and many others.
We're still working on getting the catalog up on some of the dowload
sites.
We're almost done with the necessary digitization of the records and
art and
we'll post as soon as that's available. We're also hoping to make some
unreleased music available through the same sites, perhaps as internet
only
albums and EPs. We have loads of stuff that was meant to come out but
didn't
for various reasons or came out in very limited release and we'll be
working on
releasing some of it online and possibly some of it through Sean's
label
Sockets CDR.
While we're on the topic of online shopping, lots of you have been
asking if we
have Black Eyes shirts for sale. We will soon. There is a small number
of
shirts left from the band's last US and European tours, all size Large.
We'll
be scanning those and putting them in the catalog as soon as we can. We
also
have Horses T-shirts. Horses was Dan, Hugh, and Mike from Black Eyes
and Fiona
from Et At It. They played their last show in August of 2005, 358 days
after
their first show. They also released a very small-run CDR demo
which nearly completely sold out during a weekend tour with Q
and not
U. We're looking into getting that up, most likely as a free
download,
somewhere. Again, we'll keep you posted.
Also hand fed babies t-shirts can be ordered through us. You can check
the
design and order direct through paypal at myspace.com/handfedbabies.
The Stabs from Australia are coming to the US on tour this
month. Look out
for them. Feed them and put them up if you can. They're pretty
amazing.
We're hoping to have some more big news soon. Keep
checking.
ruffian/hugh/sean
News 19 February 2006
Hand Fed Babies just released a live cd-r
and you can purchase
it for $6ppd from this link.
It is a limited edition of
100 copies and each copy is numbered. The live recording reflects the
direction
of HFB in live shows.
News 20 January 2006
Happy new year. Our lack of
web activity
in the ruffian camp may be perceived as little activity outside the
web. Well,
a ton of stuff is going on and here is a partial list:
Hugh's been really busy
recording and
playing bass with Sentai and holding it down in
Hand Fed
Babies. This week
Hugh played several solo shows with Demon Fling (Don Fleming/Chris
Grier). The
songs were sung acapella.
We've also been busy getting
the ruffian
catalogue up for download. More info on that soon, but expect some
links in the
coming weeks.
Sean's CD-r
label,
SocketsCDR,
is releasing a ton of stuff
and will continue to do so for the next several months. The next
several
releases include FFFFs,
Cornel
West Theory,
Chris Grier, Audio Zine #2, Myo,
Sentai live in NY,
and the
Caution
Curves. Check the
new site out over at SocketsCDR.com.
Hand Fed
Babies will be
playing around DC in the next several months. Look out for a small east
coast
tour in February and then possibly a European jaunt in the Spring
sometime...
-hugh/sean
News
19 July,
2005
Ruffian
BFF tour 2005
begins at the end of this week. Check these websites for up-to-date
information
about locations, time and cost:
Hand Fed Babies
Myspace
La
Mi Vida
Violenta
The
catalogue
page is updated to reflect the two new
releases...
News
7 July,
2005
We're
gearing up
for the ruffian BFF tour which is leaving DC on Friday the 22nd of
July. So if
you're in the following places, Sentai, La Mi Vida Violenta, and Hand
Fed
Babies might need to sleep on your couch (not all together).
Th. July 21st Washington, DC Head Roc, Hand Fed Babies, Eyes of the
Killer
Robot Fort Reno Park
Ruffian
Records
BFF Tour 2005 w/ La Mi Vida Violenta, Sentai and Hand Fed Babies:
Fri.
7/22 The Flywheel,
Easthampton, MA
Sat. 7/23 Gloucester, MA
Sun. 7/24 Providence, RI (we need help with this show, please e-mail us)
Mon. 7/25 Galloway American Legion Post 430, Cologne, NJ
Tues. 7/26 Philadelphia, PA (may need help here as well)
Wed. 7/27 Pittsburgh, PA (will post venue info soon)
Thu. 7/28 Cincinnati, OH (venue info soon)
Fri. 7/29 Bloomington, IN with a Panoply Academy and ex-Turn Pale band
Sat. 7/30 Chicago, IL
Sun. 7/31 Maybe Kansas City
Mon. 8/1 St. Louis, MO
Tues. 8/2 Louisville, KY
Wed. 8/3 no show, long drive
Thu. 8/4 Greeneville, NC
Fri. 8/5 Charlottesville, VA
Sat. 8/6 Baltimore, MD
We'll have copies of the new ruffian releases (La Mi Vida
Violenta/Sentai split
CDEP, Equinox CDEP, Hand Fed Babies CDEP) with us and probably some
interesting
other stuff (ruffian backcatalogue) and we're nice people. There will
be 12 of
us travelling together so if anyone wants to put up some fraction of
our
touring party let us know by e-mail.
The Hand Fed Babies and Equinox EPs are scheduled for official release
on Aug.
9th but we'll have them available before that.
In sadder news, Horses has decided to call it a really fun year of
playing
shows and play our last show at Fort Reno on August 18th. Before that,
we're
playing with Love of Diagrams (Australia) who I saw last night and who
are
awesome and Mika Miko (LA) who I've never seen but who are great too.
the show
is Tues. 7/12 at Kansas house, which is at 900 N. Kansas St. in
Arlignton, VA
and is accessible from the Courthouse and Virginia Square Metro
stations. It'll
be fun and starts at 8pm. Our last show will be the final show of the
Fort Reno
season. I hope you can make it out. Dan from Horses will be touring
with Chris
Richards of Q and not U in early August.
We hope you're having a really good summer.
Shake the Nation,
ruffian/sean/hugh
News,
5 June,
2005
A
little update:
Some
new
shows
for Sentai, La Mi Vida Violenta and Hand Fed
Babies.
FORT RENO!
Check
out the
SocketsCDR
page for new releases and we'll be
posting audio very soon to this site. If you want to join the ruffian
records
google group, e-mail ruffianrecords@googlegroups.com.
News,
22 May,
2005
Hey
everybody, here is an
update on a couple of things:
The
Equinox EP (pictured to
the right) will be out in the next couple of weeks. Let us know if you
want to
order a copy early.
Sentai
played several shows
with Supersystem this weekend and will be playing a show with Hand Fed
Babies
and Sharon Cheslow. Check out the shows
page for more
dates.
Hand
Fed Babies recorded an
EP this month and that should come out some time in July. HFB will be
playing a
show in Baltimore this weekend and will be playing the Black Cat in DC
on
Monday, May 30th. HFB is also releasing a split piece of paper with
BARR on
Planaria Recordings.
La
Mi Vida Violenta will
also be playing some shows
in the next few
weeks.
The
Ruffian BFF Tour 2005
with La Mi Vida Violenta, Sentai, and Hand Fed Babies will be covering
alot of
the Northeast and some of the Midwest and coming back through the
not-so-deep
South. Dates will go up as we book them.
There is talk about a little CDR Ruffian sampler some time soon. A
couple
recent songs.
Horses should be playing shows in the next few months, so keep it
locked for
more dates.
FYI:
On June 2nd at the
Warehouse Next Door - Na
(Japanese noise by
way of Seattle, you can check them out playing with assorted cpr
players and
ruffians on the new socketsCDR
3" CD).
Shake the nation,
Ruffian/Hugh/Sean
News,
21 April,
2005
Things
are gearing up to
get hectic at ruffian HQ. First we are moving into a new office(!) in
the
basement so we can be organized and be on top of orders and the like.
So in the
mean time orders might be delayed as things get set up. Otherwise we're
putting
the Equinox CDEP together and getting ready to get it to the pressing
plant. We
haven't set an official release date yet but we'll let you know.
Hand Fed Babies is recording an EP in May which will hopefully be out
in time
for the Ruffian BFF Tour 2005 with La Mi Vida Violenta, Sentai, and
Hand Fed
Babies. We will be covering alot of the Northeast and some of the
Midwest and
coming back through the not-so-deep South. Dates will go up as we book
them.
HFB is also releasing a split piece of paper with BARR on Planaria
Recordings.
The Fuck Yr. Publicist comp is coming together. More on that when more
is
known.
There is talk about a little CDR Ruffian sampler some time soon. A
couple
recent songs.
Horses (re-named Black At It due to legal troubles and/or someone's
sense of
humor... just kidding) is playing 3 shows with Q and not U next week in
Philly,
Boston, and NYC. By then we should have a CD-R ep of some demos we made
in
february.
Sentai will be playing some dates in DC in the next few months before
the tour.
There will be some Shows
we are helping to set up in
DC that you shouldn't miss (if you live here):
5/30 Black Cat Sentai, Sharon Cheslow, Hand Fed Babies
6/2 Warehouse Next Door: Na (Japanese noise by way of Seattle, you can
check
them out playing with assorted cpr players and ruffians on the new
socketsCDR
3" CD).
Keep an eye out for more. This is going to be a good, good summer.
Sean and I are DJing at the Black
Cat
in on 5/20 (as DLX and TVP) with a special guest.
You should check out a zine written by my friend Ciaran in Belfast.
It's called
Vacant Sound and is mostly music interviews with Irish bands. It's
pretty
amazing to see punk/diy scenes on a smallish island and how they're
communicating with each other. There's also an interview with Steve
from
now-defunct Cat on Form. Next issue will have an interview with the Ex.
You can
contact Ciaran at ciaran.mackle@gmail.com.
Shake the nation,
Ruffian/Hugh/Sean
News,
24
March, 2005
*Check
out the
Tour
page for an update on live dates in the next
month.
*Horses
will be
supporting Q and not U
in Philadelphia,
Boston and New York at the end of April.
*Barr. Seriously.
Look out for a split piece
of paper out on Planaria
soon.
*Sockets CDR
is releasing a 3" CDR from a Radio
CPR improvisational session on March 5th, 2005. The artwork should be
finished
by this weekend and will be ready on April 1st.
*Ruffian
friends
Navies are
gearing up for some major
touring and two record releases.
*The Rude Staircase.
*La
Mi Vida
Violenta live footage of "Blanks" can be found at
this
link (it's a
mpg file, so make sure your computer can handle it). Also, spend some
time over
at I'm
Macon
Movies...
News,
10
March, 2005
*La
Mi Vida
Violenta live footage of "Blanks" can be found at
this
link (it's a
mpg file, so make sure your computer can handle it)
*Updated
Photos
page. Check it out.
*Updated
Tour
dates for Sentai and La Mi Vida Violenta. Both
bands will be in the Northeast for the next few days. Horses will be
supporting
Q and not U in Philadelphia, Boston and New York. Hand Fed Babies will
also be
playing a few shows in the next two months. Keep checking for new dates
on each
band.
*Ruffian
friends
Navies are
gearing up for some major
touring and two record releases.
*Also,
look out
for Ruffian friends The
Rude
Staircase.
SocketsCDR
is gearing up to release a limited
3" CDR at the end of March (Na
and friends).
Stayed Tuned and check the Sockets page for some Photos of Na.
**Also,
if anyone
is interested in signing up for the Ruffian e-mail list, write
sean@ruffianrecords.com.
News,
28
February, 2005
A
quick
update:
The
No-Gos
"Young Ironists" 7" is out of stock. The A.K.A. Harlot #1 CS is
temporarily out of stock but we will be making more soon. Check back
for
availability.
*Updated
Tour
dates for Sentai, La Mi Vida Violenta, Horses and
Hand Fed Babies. Check to see if any of these fine bands will be in
your area
in March and April.
SocketsCDR
will be releasing some new material in
the next few months. Stayed Tuned.
*Also,
Ruffian is
starting an E-mail list that will update Ruffian tours and releases and
other
related news. If you would like to be added to the e-mail list, please
send a
message along to sean@ruffianrecords.com.
News,
20
February, 2005
New
tour dates
for Sentai and La Mi Vida Violenta can be found on the Shows
page.
News,
15
February, 2005
Ruffian
hopes you
all are well. Some quick news and updates.
*La Mi
Vida Violenta/Sentai
split CDEP will be officially out March 7, 2005. However, we have
copies (the
split is pictured to the left) of the record for order. To get your
copy,
please go to the Catalogue
page. The split can
also be ordered from
Dischord
Direct.
Stay
tuned, and
check out the archived NEWS:
Tour
page is updated. More Sentai dates are coming
soon.
Audio
page will be up soon. We promise.
Pictures
page will also be up soon.
Keep
it
locked,
Hugh/Sean
News,
31 January,
2005
The release date for the La Mi Vida Violenta/Sentai split CDep is being
delayed
til March 7. You can still pre-order it and anyone who already has
pre-ordered
will have their copy shipped as soon as we have them. They will also be
available from us before the official release date.
My
mic sounds
nice,
Ruffian/Hugh/Sean
News,
24 January,
2005
Happy New Year! Things are about to be busy here. The La Mi Vida
Violenta/Sentai split cdep will be out on Valentine's day and will be
available
here for $7ppd within the US. You can pre-order it by e-mailing
ruffian@ruffianrecords.com or sending &7 to the PO Box. Also
the AKA Harlot
#1 and BOHICA cassettes will be more readily and regularly available.
The
webiste re-design is in early stages. The Equinox EP is still in the
final
stages of design and will be out soon (I promise). Hopefully some more
records
available soon and updated tour pages.
Hand Fed
Babies and Horses
have been playing shows over the past couple of months and will be
playing more
soon. HFB played two dates with Sentai and La Mi Vida Violenta this
past
weekend and they were great. Horses plays tonight at the Black Cat in
Washington, DC and will be playing dates with Like Language and Navies
in the
spring.
The
Ruffian PO Box has had
some serious problems lately due to a confusion at the Post Office. If
you sent
me anything there and haven't heard back from me chances are I never
got it. It
seems to be resolved now though.
Here are
some bands you
should check out but maybe you haven't because they're not well-known
or
covered well:
(This
isn't a comprehensive
list, and I'm leaving out alot of bands I really love and I'll probably
update
this periodically...Sean isn't in anywayresponsible for this list
unless he
wants to add stuff to it, Sean? --Hugh)
DC and
area: Navies, Like
Language, Food for Animals, Threads, Sentai, Caution Curves, The Rude
Staircase
LA: Rose
For Bohdan, Wives,
BARR
Canada:
Les Angles Morts,
Creeping Nobodies
Massachusetts:
La Mi Vida
Violenta
UK:
Bullet Union, Birds
of...
Chicago:
Scalpels, The
Coughs
Bloomington,
IN: Turn Pale,
Panoply Academy
My mic
sounds nice,
Hugh/Sean
News,
23
October, 2004
Well things have slowed down here but are going to pick up again soon.
There
are many new things about to happen in the world of ruffian and much to
announce. First, our dear friend Sean is going to be helping out with
the label
and, especially important, this website. This means it might actually
get
updated more often and we may get rid of the ludicrously outdated 'new
and
forthcoming' page or make it reflect what's up here. This is good news
indeed.
Sean also does a phenomenal radio show on sunday nights from 11-1
(usually
every other weekend) about which I will post more information when I
can. He is
also the other half of Hand Fed Babies, which is our band.
Also coming soon is the La Mi Vida Violenta/Sentai split CDEP (mp3s up
soon!).
La Mi Vida Violenta is from Massachusetts and they are a huge and
wonderful
noise. There are seven of them and many more instruments than members.
It's got
a sort of afrobeat funk avant garde jazz girl/boy revolution thing to
it and
needs to be heard. They've been expanding people's heads in DC and on
tour with
Q and not U and I assume wherever else they go. Sentai is from IKEA and
they
bring together really driving raw punk rock, a little ass shaking
music,
electronics and toys. Think of it as the smart kids starting a riot in
the
asylum wing of the grade school and the sirens turning it into a party,
or
something like that. It should be out early next year, but we may get
it done
earlier.
The Equinox EP is delayed indefinitely but we'll get some mp3s up of
that also.
All of the former members of Black Eyes are still busy playing music.
Jacob is
out in Northern California playing with one of the members of Klondike
and
Yorke.
Daniel has done some solo performances and played at least one show
with
Flowers, which was a mixture of composed and improvised music played on
guitar,
violin and drums and was really really good so I'm sorry if you missed
it.
Dan, Mike, and I are in a band called Horses with Fiona from Et At It.
We've
been playing in and around DC lately.
I'm in an improv collective called Go To Sleep and also in the
aforementioned
Hand Fed Babies.
Ruffian/Hugh
News,
26 May
2004
The Turn Pale single is available and proving popular in Northern
Europe. Check
it out. It's available here and at Dischord Direct (www.dischord.com)
and will
soon be available through Stickfigure and Secretly Canadian as well.
I mentioned that my e-mail got screwed. There were some people I was
talking to
about promos of this for review whose addresses I have lost. If you are
one of
those people or write for a publication that you would like to review
ruffian
stuff in, please send me an e-mail and a copy of the publication you
write for.
If you are just starting up something and have no issues out, drop a
line and
we can work it out. Info on the contact page.
Go to Sleep is playing in NYC and Philly this weekend. See Tour page.
White Flight, Like Language, and Navies played a great show on Thursday
at the
Black Cat.
The art for the Equinox record should be coming soon.
Lungfish and the Quails, and then the Evens and the Quails ruled my
world in
the last couple of weeks knocking me down and making me giddy. More
gender more
of the time! And more shows like those two!
That's about all I can think of right now.
Hugh/Ruffian
News,
28
April, 2004
The new Turn Pale single is out now!!!
rr009 Turn Pale, "Films We Like" c/w "Weapons Training"
7"
Brand new release from Turn Pale, featuring two tracks destined for
dance
floors where discerning death disco DJs reside.
Well that's what the band said about it in a pre-tour e-mail. I would
go on to
add that although we've loved them from the beginning when we first saw
them
play at the Galaxy Hut, this is our favorite recording by them and it
will have
you making strange motions. There's a record release show for it in
Bloomington, IN on the 4th of May and I'll post details when I have
them.
The Equinox CDep is mastered and we're waiting on the artwork to give a
tentative time for release. Soon, though.
Go To Sleep (ex-black eyes, members of navies and like language) is
playing at
the Knitting Factory in New York tomorrow night, 29 April, with Les
Angles
Morts and Creeping Nobodies.
Les Angles Morts and Creeping Nobodies are playing TONIGHT at Warehouse
Next
Door (1017 7th St. NW) with local ruffian youth co-conspirators Sentai
and
Ghost to Falco.
Lastly, the ruffian inbox blew up and I lost all my e-mail addresses.
If we
were in the middle of correspondence and I dropped off it's because I
don't
have your e-mail anymore, so anyone who wants to get back in touch send
an
e-mail to ruffian@ruffianrecords.com.
And I still haven't updated the new and upcoming page, but I swear I
will.
Ruffian/Hugh
News,
22
March, 2004
Once again, long time, no news. But now there is news. So here we go.
Black Eyes has been playing a few shows between DC and Philadelphia and
will
play at the Black Cat in Washington, DC on Friday, the 26th of March.
It's our
200th show, so be there.
Ruffian is also very excited to announce two upcoming releases (and the
imminent change of the really outdated new and upcoming page):
rr009 Turn Pale, "Films We Like" c/w "Weapons Training"
7" due out within the next couple of weeks.
Brand new release from Turn Pale, featuring two tracks destined for
dance
floors where discerning death disco DJs reside
rr010 Equinox CDep. Equinox is Hugh from Black Eyes and Saran from AKA
Harlot
#1. These tracks were recorded in 2000 and 2001 with help from Mike,
Dan, and
Jacob of Black Eyes and finally mixed around the New Year 2003/2004.
Elements
of Funk, Dub, Dancehall, Hip Hop, Punk, Haitian Percussion, Soul, and
minimal
Pop combine on this 3 song ep. We're really excited and happy to have
this
coming out finally, though we're not sure exactly when it's coming out.
But it
will be soon.
Bazhena, whose CDep is available here, is now Navies. More than
changing their
name, Navies has really pushed themselves into a new and exciting place
musically within the same lineup and basic framework of Bazhena. They
have a
7" coming out on their own Foilage records soon.
Sean from Navies is in a new band, Like Language, with our friends and
neighbors Dan Haab and Matt Borlik. They've played a handful of local
shows and
we're excited to see where they are going and what they're doing.
Sentai, from Woodbridge, VA is touring soon and maybe recording for a
couple of
EPs soon.
In other news Go To Sleep, a loose collective of DC rock kids played
the No Fun
Fest in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday. The show was great and we had a
really
good time, with the bonus of running into friends I'd met on tour in
the UK
unexpectedly. The members of Go To Sleep present on the night were Ed
and Mike
(Navies), Sean (Navies and Like Language), Dan (Go To Sleep), Evan
(Eternal
Life Curator and soon to be expatriate), and Hugh (Black Eyes). There
was lots
of thumping, rattling, feeding-back, sampling, yelling, synth-farting,
and the
new blow drum (which has nothing to do with cocaine) and somehow we
managed to
keep it together with only a minimal idea of what we were going to do
before
getting on stage. More shows to follow with whoever happens to be
playing in
the group.
That's it for now. More to come soon, I believe.
Hugh/Ruffian
News
8
January, 2004
Another long gap between updates, as I was on tour for most of the last
4
months of 2003. But Ruffian is back to being active at the beginning of
the
year and there is alot going on. First of all I'd like to thank
everyone who
gave Black Eyes shows on our 3 1/2 month whirlwind tour of Canada, the
US, and
Europe and everyone who put us up and fed us and extend love and thanks
to Et
At It for touring with us in Canada and to Q and not U, El Guapo,
Antelope, and
French Toast for touring with us in the US. In Europe there are many,
many
people to thank, but I'd like in particular to thanks those people we
did
'micro tours' with. Disco Drive from Torino, Italy, Bullet Union from
London,
UK, and Killing Spree from Belfast, Northern Ireland. And thanks to
Josef our
driver. We've had a really good year. I'd also like to apologize to
those
people at shows we had to cancel. We had a couple illnesses and one
death in
the family that prevented us from making a few shows in the states and
w e are
sorry for that. But thanks, and happy 2004!
There are a number of new things going on here in the coming weeks.
Black Eyes
is going back into the studio to record a second album in the middle of
the
month. That will be coming out on Dischord later in the year. The EP on
Sound
Virus and Hand Held Heart has been postponed but is still happening and
will
most likely be a split with the amazing Need New Body from
Philadelphia. We are
taking a break from touring, but are playing shows in DC and on the
East Coast
in the winter and spring with such bands as La Mi Vida Violenta, Black
Dice,
KRMTX, Need New Body and more.
Ruffian is gearing up to release some new records. A 7" by Turn Pale
from
Bloomington, Indiana, is in the works and 3 songs by Hugh and Saran
(Black
Eyes/AKA Harlot #1) under an as-yet-undecided name may be coming out as
an EP.
There are a few other bands we're hoping to make records with in the
coming
year so information will go up on that whenever we figure anything
out.
Also we are about to run out of both the Black Eyes "Some Boys"
7" and the Black Eyes Early Humans split. The split is out of print and
the "Some Boys" 7" won't be re-pressed for a while, but in the
meantime all of the Black Eyes tracks from those records are available
on a
CDEP from the band at shows or from us here.
If you have been, roll over.
Hugh/Ruffian
News
28
August, 2003
Hi folks. Long time since I've been able to update this. I hope
everyone is
doing well. Black Eyes is about to leave on tour again for much of the
rest of
the year. We are traveling to Canada first for about a week with our
friends Et
At It, who are amazing and you should go see them when you get a
chance. Then
after a show in Boston on our way back to the East Coast of the states,
we're
meeting up with Q and not U in New Jersey and starting a 6 1/2 week
tour with
them. We'll be covering most of the country so check our tour dates on
the
Dischord website (www.dischord.com/tour). We're getting home in late
October
for about two weeks' rest and then heading to Europe for 6 weeks. Tour
dates
for Europe can be found at www.southern.com but most of the shows
aren't
totally locked down yet. Because of that, things will be slow here at
ruffian
for the rest of the year. I am trying to get one or two records out
while we
are on the road. We'll see what happens. But mailorder will contin ue
thanks to
Mike from Bazhena and my roommate and good friend Evan. Orders can be
sent to
the same address as always and payment by the same methods. There might
be
slightly increased delays because of mail forwarding, etc. but go
ahead. Please
e-mail to check availability of all records first, though if you have
access to
e-mail. We are running low on Black Eyes Some Boys 7"s and Black
Eyes/Early Humans splits and it may be a while before the some boys 7"
is
re-pressed. OK, that's it for now. Hope to see some of you on the road
in the
next couple months.
hugh/ruffian
News
11 June,
2003
Hey everybody, we (Black Eyes) are home from tour! We had a really good
time
everywhere and only one bad show. So thanks to everyone who came out to
our
shows, talked to us, let us sleep on their floors/couches/beds and eat
their
food/drink their beer, and set up the shows/played with us. Particular
thanks
and much love are due to the Philly Contingent, Rachael and her
household in
Oberlin, Paul and Al in Chicago, the Detroit Arts Space, The
Swayze
Compound, Adam and all at Pink House in Lawrence, KS, everyone at CoCA
in
Seattle, as well as Adam (and household) for putting us up/putting up
with us
and Scott for dropping some knowledge (and a couple of records) on me
and
taking us for amazing vegan biscuits and gravy, Steve and
Annie and
family (one of the best showers of my life in Portland), to Leigh and
Nadya in
San Francisco and Berkeley, Matt and Biko House in Santa Barbara,
Brian, Mike,
and Steve in LA, as well as Casa del Pueblo, Ken and Cindy in San
Diego, Ma rk
in Austin and Dismemberment Plan and Michael as we crossed paths in
that city,
the Long family, John and Kathy, for exceptional hospitality and one of
the
most relaxing nights of tour, as well as a house full of incredible
art, to
Ally (Ali? Ellie?) in Shreveport for the sick vegan feast, THE KIDS in
Athens,
Tom, Corey, and Josh in Sumerville/Charleston, SC as well as Brian
(Bacon) and
Lauren for showing up three nights in a row, and the Greenville
contingent whom
it was nice to see in Wilmington, and Kathleen, too.
MAD LOVE TO Steve Cossman, roadie extraordinaire and the
ANIMATOR. and to our tour buddies: The Faux, and Bazhena
(incl. Evan), who
made touring a joy. and to Mach Tivers for showing up every
couple of days
to hang out and play a show...Thanks to all the other bands
we played
with, particularly Air Conditioning, Mammal, Scalpels,
[Blue],
Chromatics, Sleetmute Nightmute, Klondike and York, Experimental Dental
School,
Lo-Fi Nissans, Rose for Bohdan, and Optimus Prime. No thanks to the
cops in San
Luis Obispo, but thanks to the radio station for having us play there
on air
when the show got shut down. I'm almost certainly forgetting
alot. So
thanks again.
In other ruffian news:
There is a bit of reorganization going on in the distro. A few prices
are being
raised because of this year's postage increases and because of the
difficulty
of putting together certain items. Nothing will be extravagant though.
All
7" will now be $4 ppd and the a.k.a. harlot #1 cassette will be $2. We
still have about 10 copies of the Black Eyes/Early Humans split, which
is
otherwise hard to find and will probably be firmly out of print very
soon. But
for those who want the Black Eyes track on that split ("have been
murdered
again" a.k.a. "someone has his fingers broken" a.k.a.
"4") and are CD-only types, there is now a CD that has that track as
well as the two songs from the first Black Eyes 7" (rr008) "Some
Boys" and "Shut up, I Never". That can be ordered here and is
also available at Black Eyes shows. We are also adding to the
distributed items
CDs by our friends Bazhena (who we toured with for the last week of ou
r US
tour) and I control the Dinosaurs (for details see the catalogue
page).
Hopefully there will be a CD single out later this year of a recording
project
that I and Saran (who was in a.k.a. harlot #1) have been working on
sopradically for about 3 years. It will be 3 songs written and recorded
between
August 2000 and April 2001 (yeah, we've been slow lately). There will
be more
info once it's been mixed.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO THE ATTORNEY IN FLORIDA: I AM NOT THE RUFFIAN RECORDS
NAMED
IN THE SUBPOENA. THERE HAS BEEN A MISTAKE. I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO OCALA,
FLORIDA.
FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL ME TO CLEAR THIS UP.
That's all folks,
Hugh/Ruffian
News
8 May,
2003
Long time no update. Sorry. Things have been crazy busy around here.
The main
thing going on is that Black Eyes is going on tour tomorrow. This
affects
ruffian in the following way: I won't be able to fill any orders
between May
9th (tomorrow) and June 8th, when we get back. So if you want to send
an order
feel free, but it will be seriously delayed if you send it soon. I will
be
occasionally checking e-mail so if you have any questions send them to
ruffian@ruffianrecords.com. In other news, the Black Eyes record is out
on
Dischord, and can be acquired through them directly at
http://www.dischord.com/. We will probably have copies here after the
tour.
Also there is a Black Eyes track on the White Denim compilation
"Closetfull of Clothes" which is out now and available through White
Denim at http://www.whitedenim.com/. Also for those who don't have
record
players, the three 7" tracks out by black eyes will be available on CD
directly through us in a few days (we'r e getting them in Chicago, so
for all
tour dates after that) and through here and probably elsewhere soon
after the
tour. I am also about to update the show pages. Hmmm...what else. I
hope to see
you on tour.
Hugh/Ruffian
PS look for one or two new records on ruffian coming this year...
News
18
February, 2003
WEEKEND OF FUN! First apologies to anyone who came out to see Black
Eyes in
Boston or Fredericksburg. We didn't make the Boston show and the
Fredericksburg
show was cancelled due to snow. Interesting story. We were planning to
stop in
New Brunswick, NJ on the way to Boston to see a van. We got a flat
tire. The
tow truck operator who changed the tire (after mananging to help us
extract it
from its hold) apparently didn't tighten the lugs enough when he
replaced it
and it decided to leave the van in Connecticut while we were traveling
at 60
mph. At the peak of its performance it flew 30 feet in the
air and struck
another vehicle. Thankfully, Jacob got us into a non-traffic lane and
the cops
came and we got towed to a Sears nearby (Thank you Jerry). Also
luckily, this
happened not too far from Matt Schnipper's parents' house and he was
able to
call our friend Steve (who has also hooked us up with some sweet
T-shirts) to
pick us up and drive us there. We ate pizza and watched Steve's
animated films,
which are great, and then saw a bad horror movie and went to bed. After
we got
the van fixed in the afternoon we drove to about exit 3 on the NJ
Turnpike, and
the four of us left (two took the train) got a motel and did the rest
of the
drive yesterday. But despite the setbacks, we still had a good time.
Weekend of
fun forever and ever amen.
Hugh/Ruffian
News
29
January, 2003
Sorry the site has gone so long without an update. I have just gotten
things
sorted out for doing that from the computer I have access to. I promise
more
frequent updates in the future. Apologies also go to anyone who was
confused by
the Jan 19th show listing on the Tour page for Black Eyes/MMR in
Brooklyn. The
show has been moved to tomorrow night, Feb. 1st. See the tour page or,
for
really detailed info, check the Troubleman website
(www.troublemanunlimited.com). Also, Black Eyes dates can be found on
the tour
page of the Dischord website (www.dischord.com/tour) and at the
Planaria
website (www.planariainc.com). More news to follow soon.
Hugh/Ruffian
News
8
December 2002
OK. It seems as though the photos section of the site is sorted out
(knock on
wood). We'll see...
The Black Eyes full-length is finished and sequenced. It will be coming
out on
Dischord in early 2002 (possibly April). Black Eyes are also planning
an EP and
a couple of tracks on comps for next year.
The ruffian e-mail address, ruffian@ruffianrecords.com, apparently
isn't
getting all the e-mail people are sending. If you've sent an e-mail and
haven't
heard anything back for a while, it probably isn't because we're
snubbing you.
If this happens, send me an e-mail at hughmcelroy@hotmail.com and put
the words
"ruffian records" in the heading so I don't think you're sending me
herbal viagra promos.
We have copies of the Black Eyes/Early Humans Split 7". You can order
them
here for $4ppd.
Hugh/Ruffian
News
26
November 2002
ARGHHH! After I finally got the photos up, the Black Eyes ones have
been
inaccessible for over a week now. I haven't been able to figure out the
problem
yet, so they'll go back up as soon as they do.
In other news, we have a Paypal account now. The e-mail address for it
is
ruffian@ruffianrecords.com. I'll put more information up about that on
the
ordering/catalogue page when I figure out the strange world of
Paypal.
Black Eyes has finished recording and mixing an album at Inner Ear
studios in
Arlington, VA with Ian MacKaye and Don Zientara. They will be
sequencing it
tonight. It should be available next year.
The Black Eyes/Early Humans split 7" on Planaria Recordings has
arrived.
We'll have copies here soon and they can be obtained through the band
and
through Planaria at http://www.planariainc.com/. They look pretty and
sound
nice.
Look for a Black Eyes website soon.
Wussy Bunny (ex-BOHICA) performed a rock opera at ART-O-MATIC earlier
this
month. Whoah.
Black Eyes will be playing in DC at ART-O-MATIC on friday, November 29.
For
details go to (I think) http://www.artomatic.com/. They will also be
playing
November 7th at La Casa in Mt. Pleasant with Et At It, Scalpels
(ex-Trooper),
and Tuohy (ex-Early Humans) and in Baltimore with Tuohy and Scalpels on
the 8th
and with Virginia Black Lung in December.
That's all I can think of.
Hugh/Ruffian
News
6
November 2002
Photos
may be up
now. Updated show list. I will post more when I am sure about the
photos.
News
15
October 2002
I
think the photo
pages will be up today once I finish typing this. There are a handful
of Black
Eyes photos from a couple different shows as well as a page of shots
from the
very last Early Humans show in June of this year. However, if things go
wrong...
If you live in the DC/Baltimore area come check out the Black Eyes
shows on
Thursday and Friday of this week (the 17th and 18th). Thursday is in
Baltimore
at Charm City Art Space with, among others, Turn Pale from Bloomington
Indiana.
Black Eyes toured with them for a few days this summer and they are
amazing.
Turn Pale features members of Panoply Academy (fill in the
blank)...They are
playing with them again in Arlington, Virginia the next day, Friday the
18th,
and our friends Measles Mumps Rubella. On Saturday, Black Eyes is
heading up to
Providence, RI. Next week, look for shows with Q and not U in
Philadelphia and
Brooklyn, and with Give Me Danger in New Brunswick, NJ.
Feel free to drop a line to ruffian@ruffianrecords.com if you want more
info
about anything.
Thanks,
Hugh/Ruffian
News
10
October 2002
Slightly updated show list. There will be more added to it soon. The
Black
Eyes/Early Humans split should be out soon. But most urgently, I have
been
having problems receiving mail at the ruffian records po box.
At least one
order has not come through which should have arrived by now and I
suspect that
more may have had that trouble. Two things you can do when ordering to
help
are:
A) if sending cash, conceal it extremely well
B) write to ruffian records c/o Hugh McElroy
Although
I have
gotten plenty of mail addressed to "ruffian records" alone, the
Post Office can't refuse to put mail with my name on it in my
box.
Thanks, more soon, I hope,
Hugh/Ruffian
News
4
September 2002
Not
too much to
report. The Shows list has been updated and I am working on setting up
photo
pages. You may have noticed the photo link has been inactive
for some
time. I made some stupid mistakes in setting up the photos I'd
rather no
one saw them. I promise it will be up when I have a chance. The Pain
(Daniel,
Jacob, and Mike from Black Eyes) played a great show at Black Cat last
night.
Their ever-changing instrumentation included one of the club's trash
cans.
Black Eyes is writing and recording demos for a full-length to be
actually
recorded this fall and released some time after that.
More
to come,
Hugh/Ruffian
NEWS.
11 June
2002
Black
Eyes are
back from our tour. We played most of our first week with
Early Humans
(who are fine gentlemen as well as being a killer band) after
which we
played a few shows with Turn Pale from Bloomington IN. They are people
from
Panoply and Drekka. They rocked us night after night from the
Half-Pipe we
played in in Bloomington to the stage we didn't fit on in
Lexington, KY.
Michael crawled on the bar, fell down, kicked me in the legs,
and then
kissed all of us. It was that kind of show. In Chicago we played with
Scalpels,
which is Paul from Trooper's new band. They like SoCo. They also rock
the
no-wave very hard and are, like all of our friends and touring
comrades,
utterly charming. Thanks to everyone who put on a show for us
(except to
the one club that ripped all of the bands off) especially the people
with rad
DIY spaces and houses. Thanks also to everyone who let us
sleep in their
homes/their parents' homes. Tekulvi and Haymarket Riot (from
Chicago) are
good bands to run into twice on tour. Particular thanks are
due to Matt
Schnipper who was our 6th wheel and roadied and merched for us
while
guiding us into and out of sanity as needed.
Our partners in driving all day and then waiting for shit to
happen, the
Early Humans, are no more. They played their last show this
past Saturday,
June 8th at La's (Wussy Bunny, BOHICA) house with Last of the
Juanitas,
Japanther, and Black Eyes. I am really sorry for anyone who
didn't see
this band while they were around, they were amazing. They were
perhaps the
best they've ever been for their last show, which ended with
the front row
of the audience mixed thoroughly with Wells' drums, boxers
dropped, Kevin
entangled in a lamp and a piano, and a crowd of amazed but sad
people.
Japanther and Last of the Juanitas also had the people
psyched. You should
also check them out. Both have records out and I think both
are still on
tour right now. For those of you who missed the Early Humans,
they have a
CDep out on Wantage USA as well as a split 7" with Stars of
the Dogon
on the same label. Also they have a one-sided 7& quot; on CR
in Sweden
and one side of a split 7" coming out in England. Also, we are proud to
say, there will be a split 7" featuring Early Humans and Black Eyes out
on
Planaria Recordings this summer. Check out
http://www.planariainc.com/.
Black Eyes have a few shows coming up around DC and the East
Coast. The
tour page will be updated as these are confirmed.
Thanks
to
everyone who has given us photos. Some of these will be up on the site
soon.
And please, if you have photos of Black Eyes, Early Humans, Wussy
Bunny, or any
other related band, we'd love to see them. Email them to:
ruffian@ruffianrecords.com
or post them to
Ruffian
Records
PO Box 5522
Washington, DC 20016
Please let us know if it is or isn't OK to use your photo on the site,
flyers
etc. You will be credited for any photo that gets used for
anything.
Also,
now
available from Tomato Juice Records, Hives Need Hearts, a comp
7" featuring Bazhena, The Beauty Pill, and The No-Gos.
Released in
the last two weeks as a benefit for CCNV. We will have this 7"
in
soon for $4 ppd. Beauty Pill features members of Smart Went Crazy and
Most
Secret Method. Bazhena are a fine young band who you should
check out. The
No-Gos are all in Black Eyes now.
Hugh/Ruffian
NEWS.
10 May
2002
Hello everybody. Welcome to the new, finally-created-after-a-year
ruffian
website. Sorry, it will be ugly for a while and may not work right as I
am new
at this. For those who don't know Ruffian records is a tiny label
operating in
and around Washington, DC. It tends to not put records out very often.
Two of
its last three releases have been posthumous.
Here is what's new around here:
Black Eyes 7"
The
Black Eyes
7" came out on Ruffian on April 22, 2002. It has two songs on it:
"Shut Up I Never" and "Some Boys." It was recorded by Don
Zientara and Ian MacKaye at Arlington, VA's Inner Ear. Heavy on the
basses and
drummers. Black Eyes is the remnant of Trooper + the two No-Gos who
weren't in
Trooper in full rhythm style. It is available through Dischord Direct
http://www.dischord.com/ or directly from Ruffian
Ruffian
Records
c/o Hugh McElroy
PO Box 5522
Washington, DC 20016
$4 ppd. Checks payable to Hugh McElroy
Trooper Epson Energy Split 12"
Sadly,
due to
mastering and budget problems, the Trooper/Epson Energy split 12" has
been
cancelled. Some bad noise on the master scuppered the record last
summer.
Anyone who wants to hear the record can write to
ruffian@ruffianrecords.com and
we can work something out for getting a tape to you. if enough people
want it
we will probably put it out as a small run of cassettes. We hope the
Trooper
recordings will come out somehow. 3/4 of Trooper is now 3/5 of Black
Eyes.
Check them out. The other 1/4 of Trooper is soon to be spreading the
love +
pain in Chicago in The Scalpels. (See Black Eyes tour dates for a show
w/ The
Scalpels).
BOHICA from the grave.
A
cassette of
BOHICAis now available on Ruffian. BOHICA destroyed DC
with love, howls, convulsive harmonies, and rhythm in the 2000-2001
period.
This cassette features their studio recordings and some live spasms.
People
with no soul who think they know what's what are set on fire by BOHICA.
Sadly
their song about friends and neighbors Early Humans is not included.
"Airplane Man", however, is. $5 ppd. from Ruffian. Rocker #3 and
Rocker #3 of BOHICA are tearing DC up in WUSSY BUNNY.
Black Eyes/Early Humans split 7"
Planaria recordings is releasing a split 7" of Black Eyes and Early
Humans
(both bands feature former members of Exaspirin, whose cassette is on
ruffian
records). Due out summer 2002. http://www.planariainc.com/ for info.
Black Eyes Tour Dates
May 20- @ the galaxy hut w/measles mumps rubella
May 24- Akron, Ohio @ the lime spider w/early humans, sheilbound
May 25- Columbus, Ohio @ bernie’s w/early humans, sheilbound
May 26- Buffalo, NY @ TBA w/early humans, sheilbound
May 27- Philadelphia, Pa @ 1st Unitarian Church w/dead and gone, an
albatross,
aim of conrad
May 28- Easthampton, Mass @ flywheel w/early humans
May 29- Boston, Mass @ the middle east w/early humans, the seconds,
ex-models
May 30- New Brunswick, NJ @ hamilton street café w/early
humans, aim of
conrad
May 31- Wilkes-Barre, Pa @ café metropolis w/early humans,
aim of
conrad, an albatross
June 1- Pittsburgh, Pa @ house show w/turn pale (for info email
sbrackbill@hotmail.com)
June 2- Bloomington, In. @ space 101 w/turn pale
June 3- Indianapolis, In. @ TBA w/turn pale
June 4- Chicago, IL @ house show w/scalpels(ex-trooper) (for info email
pjicklin@students.depaul.edu)
June 5- Baltimore, MD @ ottobar w/the gossip, the chromatics
June 6- Richmond, VA @ house show (for info email flashbulbous@aol.com)
June 8- Washington, D.C. @ TBA w/early humans (LAST SHOW!) and the last
of the
juanitas
