The Black Arts Of Black Horse

BLX 1st LP is enroute to the plant. LP/CD and available everywhere digitally March 4 2K8. Above is the cover. We like it.

Track Listing:

Shake Shake Shake
Lapdance Technician
Hey Sailor
Ink On My Scars
We`re All Gonna Die
Make My Country Bleed
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Sunrise, Sunset

good

Brainiac.
Chrome.
Last friday afternoon.
Matchless.
Jim Aquavella.
Chaz.
Tube Store Dot Com.
61 Greenpoint Avenue Suite 507.
HEALTH.
Leaving an airport.
The Wire.
Brooklyn Label.
My brother.
Chico.
Canned Heat.
DAAC.


Great: Don "Zook" Zeski

Carson James

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Carson James.

Metropolitan Sound

I have been spending most of my days working w Alex @ Metropolitan Sound. Its located in Greenpoint. I have been spending most of my days in Greenpoint. Greenpoint a neighborhood in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is in NYC....where all the FUN is.

Its been a good experience for me. I assisted in building the place from a raw space to a functioning studio that is on it`s 3rd session. Our move from Seattle to NYC is getting really cool. Alex`s move from L.A. to NYC is getting really cool. My view.

In addition to meeting some really talented people in their most focused and vulnerable moments, I have gotten an insiders view of the inner workings of a recording studio proper..also all of the realities of the harsh small business scene here in NYC.

Blx is up for a session here in late (L8) nov. Im peticularly excited about this session because "Mtsnds" has become a sort of home for me and i am very comfortable being there. The opposite of every other recording session I have ever experienced. Another item that should be mentioned is that I have never worked w someone whom is an actual "producer". Keep on chooglin`.

Finally, the photo above is rainbow (rare and welcomed in bklyn) that we spotted out the window of the room in the studio we huddle up in to and smoke. Alex took the photo. It was much warmer outside on that day than it was today.

what the fuck I am talking about: http://www.metropolitan-sound.com/

Metropolitan Sounds CMJ Party

KORG

we recently obtained a korg ms 20. pretty exciting on our end. i have always been a fan of vintage synth sounds. now we own one of the best. it was exciting watching the ebay auction down to the final minutes where we won. so, i guess, say hello to another member/machine of BLX.

Plans. after the most procrastinating/indecisive behavior of my entire life, our first LP "The Black Arts Of Black Horse" is finished. a few labels have offered to put it out for us and work their own individual magic, but we have`nt picked someone out yet. it`s a viscious cycle for me. you see the pattern right?

we have decided to make a 12" vinyl of it on our own and see where that takes us. ive always wanted to do that, and as the years go by the simple economics of doing vinyl becomes more and more absurd...but maybe not as absurd as being in a band in general. fuck it. no skimping, the artwork will be awesome and properly represented etc etc. not to worry iPOD and MP3 fans...a cd will be included. we have much love for you too.

recording project and colaborration. long time friend, DIY activist, and mentor of mine.."Thad Sand The One Man Band" has agreed to make a split 7" w BLX. 3 songs. 1 exclusive track from each respective band on the album and the third being all of us playing a song to wrap the album up. thad will come to nyc (he`s from sioux city ia) and we will rehearse and record the final track early winter. another vinyl. all of this will be done w Alex Newport...new friend, neighbor, and all around good guy.

so, the final plan to promote this (thats fancy talk for "get this stuff to you and win you over with our darkness"), is a massive fucking tour of BLX, spring `08 where we will play everywhere in the u.s. and the southern parts of canada twice. probably most likely definately see you then.

if you are ever in brooklyn look us up. we like new people.

matchless RAGER II

matchless RAGER!

crack heads

We can do anything. We can get a horse and name him "Viking Funeral". We can move across the country and work shitty jobs we cant even imagine and do it all week long. like a rapper. but less air conditioned. its not that we are better because of this...its just that we git bored. we miss you a shit load tho. left sided. sometimes midwested. pretty sure nothings better, but its just different. thats ok too. mostly we try to get it together enough to come and go out with you all. sometimes its best..that can be remembered..sleeping in a car in the autumn or maybe spring..(when its mild)..at the top of a van on the JBL etc., than the traffic that occurs here on manhattan ave or elsewhere. luck. this thing tho..with the kittens and the horses and the black black internet phone texts and your myspace "HELLO"! will keep us here...for a very very very very very long time.

bklyn

A couple of years ago during a tour of the west coast, i ran into this band at a show we were doing. They were this low level touring band, like us, whom werent making any money...their name escapes me now. I remember sitting out in front of the venue giving them directions up I-5 to PDX. they were all in such good spirits for someone whom was about to make that shitty run (its a really long one).. As i asked why they were so stoked, they explained that they had just won something rediculous like $2000 or so at a card table outside of L.A. The rest of their tour was financially set by that one endeavour. I never had the guts to throw it out on the line like that in some random casino, and i have had the opportunity in the past. I think they were from Minneapolis...somewhere in the midwest. Yeah, fuck it.

THE ARSENAL

I have fielded many questions about the sounds we produce. This is how it happens:

*Yamaha RX8 (circa 1988.. good luck finding one) "stock"
*Yamaha RX8 w/ 25 way drum destruction (yes, DESTRUCTION) patchbay...custom manual circuit bending board w/ modded start/stop foot switch. finally.
*Ibanez "Lo-Fi" pedal (early 90`s)
*Boss EQ..mid `80`s..seriously distressed due to multiple stompings. hissss. magic.
*Boss DD2 (a favorite around the apartment)
*5 channel Behringer mixing board (best value out there today)
*1200 watt CROWN power amp ("you really need it THIS loud"?-sales rep.)
*JBL 2/15" Cab w/ Horn "stock" (your bands drummer uses this as a monitor when you dont play the "sleazy" club and/or basement show..ours is louder though,its our monitor)

*1975 Fender Twin Reverb (silver faced...autographed by BUDDY GUY)"stock"
*1977 Gibson Les Paul Custom (black...you know, like the horse)..slippery mods we wont get into here...want to deal/trade on a Travis Bean? hit me up. this shreds.
*Electro-Harmonix "POG" (best xmas ever)
*`80s BOSS "Heavy Metal" distortion (this works best when the battery is almost dead, and used sparingly)
*BOSS DD2 (who can travel w an echoplex on this budget?)

*`90s HUGHES-KETTNER 100W guitar amp head (the one that glows)
* L8 `60`s silver faced fender 2/12" guitar speaker cab in which we installed something really fucking sweet.
* BOSS DD3 (the "ugly duckling" of the group)
*1969 Gibson SG (S: Satans G: Guitar)

*(2) Shure 55SSH series 2 vocal microphones (re-issue) ISO original in PERFECT working condition.
*Electro-Harmonix HOLIER GRAIL (pretty much the only way we can communicate w satan)
*BOSS DD2

*2006 Tabby Cat "Wednesday"
*2000`s Black Cat "Chaz" (again, both items feline) under the vintage/used category whose virtue true.
*Tattered 2004 Rand Mcnally road map (mapquest will burn your gas fast, friends)
*2007 Motel 6/Best Western/Super8/Econolodge/Comfort Inn road/location guide U.S.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Cody Utzman

NXNE

We went to Toronto.. got to the venue just in time to play our set, went and slept for a few hours, then we drove home. approx 1000 miles. we were there for approx 10 hours. fuck hell yeah. this is a touring band people!

Jarred Gibson

Our friend Jarred took this photo last WED @ Cakeshop. He told us he has to go back to Canada due to some Visa/Work permit stuff. Though temporarily, he will be missed.

We shared Christmas dinner together last year here in our little brooklyn apt. I watched him tackle the singer from This Moment in Black History, during their `o7 CMJ performance as he filmed the whole thing.

Jarred is one of the amazingly talented and genuinely nice people we have met since we have moved here....altogether making this little corner of the world a little easier to call home. Thanks buddy.

Self Portrait(s)

a brief history

this band was started 2-3 years ago in seattle. back then there were 2 guitarists, a bassist and an actual drummer. pretty formal. April did all of the singing. I was back in Seattle on break from the busy touring schedule of the building press and answered a musicians wanted ad for a guitarist wanted.

i had a drum machine in my closet/suitcase that i had been toting around since since i was in high school. April called me one afternoon when i was in california sleeping in a park. we talked about the common interest we both had in touring black horse and what it would take to make it totally portable.

we parted ways with the formal set up of the band and i wrote what we had onto the machine drum. we experiment with octaves. we started touring lots and lots along I-5 and then took it further. its easy when you care about what you do and are in good company.

we decided one night that we should move to NYC. why not.

arriving in brooklyn we plotted out our first formal album entitled: "the black arts of black horse". we recorded it in the late winter of `07 at the engineers apt in brooklyn and at a studio in manhattan, combined in the span of 10 or so days. treasure. i remember it was freezing outside and we taked about torture and old microphones. these guys ran a barber shop below the studio and gestured to me to come in for a hair cut everytime matt (the engineer) and i went out for a smoke.

this album is not out yet.

we did SXSW (07) with the help of new and severely respected friends who do VICE records. we toured the whole month through. once again w/o a record. trick. i could drop names but you wouldnt respect me in the morning.

april and i spend most of our days putting the final touches on our sophmore LP that has yet to be named. i hope to be mixing it when it is just cool enough outside to wear a sweater...but not cold enough where i will have to put our bikes back into the basement.

The only donkey in NYC

We learned that the Claremont Riding Academy is being closed...

"Claremont Riding Academy, the last riding stable in Manhattan, is located at 175 West 89th Street in New York City. Built in 1892, and a National Historical Site, Claremont is a regular attraction for horsey tourists.
Claremont is a very sophisticated yet homey environment. This unusual multistory barn, its floors connected by ramps, houses its horses in individual stalls in the basement and on the second floor. There is an indoor riding ring, but it is quite small and obstructed by posts.
Claremont gives riding lessons and will rent horses to experienced riders to ride on the bridle paths in Central Park. There are jumping, dressage, group and private lessons. There are about 15-20 instructors.
The location of the stable makes for an unusual experience in the equestrian world: riding in heavy traffic. The stable is not in Central Park itself, but a block and a half away. Getting to the park requires riding a horse on Manhattan streets, mixed in with the regular traffic, and crossing Central Park West.
Claremont is closing for business according to the New York Post on 4/29/07"

Ahem.. we once visited the CRA and took a short tour. In the basement lives a donkey. Well, he lived there then. I got to meet him. I thought, "this has got to be the only Donkey in NYC".

Apparently it is not uncommon to house donkeys, goats etc along with the horses, or "stock", as a companion for those long, lonely, and dark nights in the barn.

So, this post if for him (im terrible with names). The last donkey in NYC. Farewell.

hunted,haunted

we fell off of the wagon. the wagon wasnt so bad. now i am going to go and get stuff to make breakfast because i woke up remembering what it was like to sleep over at my grandparents place, and i want it to be that way for April today.

the name of this blog shares the same name of a song that our friends in the band Print wrote. very fitting for this morning (afternoon). if you have the time, seek them out. they are fantastic. wait, this blog i supposed to be about us right?

we saw a photo of a kitten standing next to a microphone last night. it looked like our cat Wednesday. when we got her from the pound she was little and got very sick the day after we brought her home. she barely made it. much like the rest of us. anyway, April had to give her shots with this big needle in her neck because she was so dehydrated. much like the rest of us. here is a photo of her. she is the best.

Monkey riding a dog

April and I talk about this lots. This is pretty common at a rodeo. I haven't seen it live yet. April has. She seems to be less obsessed with it than I am. There are tons of video clips all over showing these little guys in action. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I didnt take this photo.

SXSW Tour

Black Horse is back from a killer tour down to SXSW where we barely escaped a post Vice Party balcony fiasco DUI trap, saw Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price kick out the country jams under the Texas sky, played with some great bands, and then toured up through the midwest and back to Brooklyn.
We'll be spending the summer playing the East Coast and preparing for our first album, The Black Arts of Black Horse, to come out this fall. Expect a substantial US tour to follow.
Mona Superhero will be doing the album art. Google her. She is insanely talented. Or talented and insane. Both actually.
In the meantime, we have posted several tracks from the album, as well as a little ditty we did for our friend Brian for The Funhouse Compilation, on our myspace site www.myspace.com/blackhorse . Brian is a kickass dj on KEXP's Sonic Reducer, and books the Funhouse, which is one of the most fun and deafening venues in Seattle. The track is up on the myspace page for download, for all of you that want a little piece of this for yourself.
Our most sincere thanks to all of our friends that put us up while we were on the road, helped with shows, and drank with us. Without you being on the road is just not the same. Without you we would merely be truckers. And to all of the bands we played with and the people who came to our shows, we are glad we could entertain you momentarily. If you liked it, let someone you love know.
Here's a gem of a billboard we spotted in Tulsa. Commentary courtesy of yours truly.....

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Thad Sand.

About

Black Horse is a two-piece rock band backed by a drum machine. Black Horse is April Goettle singing and playing guitar with A.P. Schroder (The Building Press) who also is playing guitar, singing, and programming snare, crash, and kick. Black Horse is Godflesh at 45 rpm with PJ Harvey sitting in. Black Horse is an 80's dance party on gold flake paint at 4 a.m. Black Horse is sex in the bathroom with someone you met a couple of hours ago. Black Horse is a band from Brooklyn, New York.