Devo Spice Update - 9/22/09

Hey everyone!

I have some good news, some bad news, and some other news. And today is my anniversary- 8 years. I'll let you determine on your own whether that's good, bad, or other.

--== OTHER NEWS: SHOW THIS SATURDAY IN NYC ==--
--== BAD NEWS: MANIC MONDAYS HAS COME TO AN END ==--
--== GOOD NEWS: THE FUMP WINS THE PARSEC ==--


--== OTHER NEWS: SHOW THIS SATURDAY IN NYC ==--
Yes, I like starting with Other News. I'm in one of those moods.

This Saturday, the 26th, I'll be performing at Don Hills, 511 Greenwich St, in New York, NY. The show starts at 8:00. Admission is $10.

I'm performing along with Machinebird, Cudzoo & The Faggettes which apparently features Schaffer The Darklord's ex-wife on drums, and the amazingly energetic and entertaining sock puppet rock band Uncle Monsterface. You haven't lived until you've seen Mashed Potato Vs. Vampire.

If you're still not going at least check out this picture of them doing that song at Nerdapalooza. http://www.flickr.com/photos/63721124@N00/3721549512/in/set-72157621461027126/

I will be filming this concert. OK, not me personally, but I have people coming who will be filming the show so I need as many Devo Spice fanboys and fangirls in the crowd as possible. I'll be using the footage at an upcoming trade show and may or may not be releasing it.

In other gig news I haven't updated my web site yet but I've been invited to perform at the New England Fan Experience in Boston November 13-15, and KeyCon which is next May in Canada. I'm sure there will be more in between there so keep an eye on the web site.


--== BAD NEWS: MANIC MONDAYS HAS COME TO AN END ==--
If you've read my web site, follow me on Twitter or Facebook, or listened to this week's show already then this isn't news. For the rest of you, yes, Manic Mondays has come to an end. After 228 episodes and 4 1/2 years I've decided to end the show so I can move on and focus on other things.

I've already blabbed about this a lot in other places so rather than repeat myself here I'll just link you to the blog post about it. http://www.devospice.com/news.php?id=173

The final episode can be downloaded here: http://www.manicmondays.net/mp3/manicmondays0228.mp3

Thank you all for 4 1/2 great years!


--== GOOD NEWS: THE FUMP WINS THE PARSEC ==--
This is also old news for people who follow me elsewhere (really people, if you're not following me on Twitter or Facebook you're falling days behind in the news, plus you're missing out on all my incredibly insightful updates about what I had for lunch or the latest thing my children threw up on me) but for those who may not have heard The FuMP has won the Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Music Podcast.

The award was given out at Dragon*Con. Here's a link to a press release about it, along with a photo of me accepting the award. http://www.prlog.org/10344746-the-funny-music-project-wins-new-media-award.html (Photo by JayeKitty.)

After the announcement someone asked me what exactly makes the FuMP "speculative fiction." My reply was "well, how many of our songs are true stories?" After thinking about that response it occurred to me that a disturbing number of our songs are actually true stories. But I don't care. It's still awesome. And again, I want to thank everyone involved in the Parsec Awards, all my fellow FuMP artists, and whoever nominated us in the first place.

--==X==--

That's all for now, folks. If you'd like to follow me other places online you can find me here:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/devospice
Facebook: Search for "Tom Rockwell" and click on the one with the Transformers face.
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#/pages/Devo-Spice/116693183739

Speaking of which, if anyone knows how to make a custom URL for the Facebook fan page please let me know. I think I have enough fans now.

->Later.....Spice

Manic Mondays Coming To An End

Ever since I resumed doing the show after my hiatus earlier this year I've felt like I haven't been putting my all into it. The scripts have been rushed, often the recordings were rushed, and overall I just felt like the quality wasn't there. I decided to take the show live to try to breathe some life into it, but that has been one technological nightmare after another. I was up until 1:00 am doing the show last week and I began to question whether it was worth continuing the show. After having a long discussion with my wife yesterday about my time and what I'm doing with it I decided that it wasn't.

The show has been great. It did what I originally set out for it to do which was provide me with a creative outlet for some ideas that I had. But after 4 and a half years and 227 episodes it doesn't feel creative anymore. It's just one more thing I have to do. Get some news. Find some songs to play. Record. Repeat. I really feel that at this point my time could be better spent on other things. I also think it's a good idea to end the show before it languishes on too long and people begin to say that I should have ended it years ago.

So with all that said the next episode of Manic Mondays, episode 228, will be the last. It will not be live because I'll be out of town this weekend. But it will show up in the feed as usual and I'll post a link to the MP3 on Twitter.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped out with the show over the years. To Grant Baciocco and Tony Goldmark who provided the initial inspiration for the show. To all the various people who filled in for me on days when I couldn't do the show. To everyone who sent in content like news articles, especially Cary Whitney who has sent in thousands of articles. To all the artists I've interviewed over the years. And most importantly to everyone who listened to the show. Thank you for listening.

It has been a fun ride but I think it's time to get off now.

Originally posted at DevoSpice.com. You can comment here or there.

The FuMP Wins The Parsec

The FuMP (The Funny Music Project) has won the Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Music Podcast! This means a lot to us and we want to thank everyone involved who helped make it happen.

Big thanks to the creators of the Parsec Awards: Mur Lafferty, Michael R. Mennenga, and Tracy Hickman. Big thanks to the steering committee and the Parsec judges. And of course a big thank you to my fellow FuMP artists who make this whole thing the awesome beast that it is.

I am woefully late reporting this but Dragon*Con put me behind schedule with some things and then some other things hit and it's just been one of those weeks. So, sorry for the delay.

The Parsec Awards are given out each year at Dragon*Con to science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors who make their work available via podcast. In 2009, the awards added a category for music. Also nominated in the music category were FETIDUS (The Foundation for the Ethical Treatment of the Innocently Damned, Undead and Supernatural), The GeekSpin, Radio Free Hipster, and Wander Radio.

I'm planning on sending out a full press release about this soon, so if anyone has any media contacts please get in touch with me. Thanks!

Originally posted at DevoSpice.com. You can comment here or there.

Devo Spice Update - 9/3/2009

Hey folks,

Sorry I've kind of fallen off the radar lately. I've been really busy with a few things and haven't had much time to do much of anything. Unfortunately I don't think that's going to change any time soon (especially today, ugh) but I wanted to take some time to update you on a couple things.

First of all, I WILL be at Dragon*Con this weekend. I do not have my own performance slot with the rest of the musicians and will not be selling my stuff at a band table. So why am I going? I'm going to represent The FuMP at the Parsec Awards! The FuMP has been nominated for Best Speculative Fiction Music Podcast. The award ceremony is Saturday night at 7:00. (I don't know where. Check the schedule if you're going.) I will be performing a few songs during the ceremony itself, but that'll be my only official event of the weekend.

The other big news was that my latest song Platform Wars was #2 on The Dr. Demento Show's monthly Top 10 countdown last weekend! Thank you so much to everyone who requested my song. It feels great to be back on the countdown. If you'd like to request that he play it again head over to http://www.DrDemento.com and click on Request A Song. Thanks!

Also, in case you missed it the first episode of The Insider video podcast is now live! This is a special video available only to subscribers of The Spice Rack. So far it has gotten a great response. If you're not a subscriber you can view a 3 minute teaser video on my web site here: http://www.devospice.com/insider_play.php?id=2 If you want to see it, and get the latest PDF newsletter, some high quality downloads, and store credit, you can still join The Spice Rack for just $2.49 per month. Go to http://www.devospice.com/spicerack.php for all the details and to sign up.

Finally, one last thing. I just booked a gig with Uncle Monster Face in New York City for September 26. We're performing at Don Hills in Manhattan. I'll post more details to my web site as I get them.

Thanks guys!

->Later.....Spice

Originally posted at DevoSpice.com. You can comment here or there.

The Insider - Episode 1

Hey everyone! I'm excited to announce that the first episode of The Insider is now live! You can view the first episode here: http://www.devospice.com/insider_play.php?id=2

If you're not a subscriber to the Spice Rack you're only going to see a 3 minute teaser video. Subscribers get the full 19 minute video where I talk about my notebook, and a new song, along with playing a demo recording of the new song.

Enjoy!

Originally posted at DevoSpice.com. You can comment here or there.