local kids are oh so dreamy.

"Everyone has dreams and everyone's goal is to bring their dreams to great heights. Dream Balloons are the vessels in which your dreams can rise to realities." - Trevor Down

if you ask the boys from Dream Balloons how long they've been a band you'll get many different, and interesting, answers. according to guitarist/vocalist Bradley Ferreira they've been together "since the (indian) summer." but, just ask keyboardist/vocalist Trevor Down and he'll give you a more specific answer: "sam, adam, and i got together and wrote the intstrumental part of our songs less than 3 weeks before our first show on august 2nd '07. brad joined that band and wrote the guitar parts/lyrics 5 days before august 2nd." despite how long they've actually been making music they do it in a very unique and fun way. i sent all the guys some surveys to fill out and i was not disappointed with the answers i recieved in return. Dream Balloons is a local high school band with personality. they love to play their music because they "want to be able to meet new people and new bands by playing our shows. any show that we dont leave with a new friend [is] consider a show wasted (Trevor Down)." DB drummer Sam Funston says "i am only in the now" but, his goal in creating the music is "to create something we can all enjoy with utmost originality." however, when asked where DB wants to go with their music Bradley Ferreira's answer was my personal favorite: "solid ground cafe," he stated. how's that for some local love? bassist Adam Bedke says that he wants people to hear their music and "dance, experience epiphanies, [and] want to change their lifestyle to ours" to which he adds that "maybe [he's] being just a tad bit delusional." but, why wouldn't you want to change your lifestyle to theirs? DB is a go-with-the-flow sort of band. they describe their music as "different (Adam Bedke)", "[a] flow of neon silk notes woven to form rays from stars and nebulae in the universe (Sam Funston)", "a fusion of 4 people stretching a song into our own personal directions (Trevor Down)", and "a mixture of watercolors and pop rocks with some animal collective/clap your hands say yeah! vocal oddity (Bradley Ferreira)". if you can come up with a more accurate description i will be quite surprised. another great thing about these guys is that even though they are in the music biz for the fun and friends they also believe music has a purpose. Bradley Ferreira believes that "music needs to be created because it's a class independent art for the masses" and Sam Funston says it's important to create music to "put with emotions, moods, feelings, events, stimulating the mind, influencing people around you. everyone can understand music. it is one language, it is a universal language." so these boys are smart, as well as musically gifted. i want to go on and on about the wonderful Dream Balloons but, to get the full effect you need to see them live. they play many local shows around salt lake and they never fail to put on a good one.

p.s. the boys can't seem to agree on what animal Dream Balloons would be. go vote on our poll!

new shows

be sure and check our myspace or the list here on the blog of our upcoming shows. we just added about 10 shows over the last few days and there are some good ones. tickets for almost every show are available online at 24tix and as the dates get nearer we'll likely have tickets for sale during other shows at the cafe. we try to keep the cost of tickets as low as possible and only do higher door tickets when necessary. don't miss out on a good show by waiting too late; some of our shows could realistically sell out.

Recently (recently as in like a month ago or more) I got ahold of the new Mars Volta record The Bedlam in Goliath. I have been trying to write this review for a month, but every time i listen there is so much more i want to write about. The Mars Volta have always been one of those bands that was so hard for me to get into, but once i did it was like it opened the floodgates to creativity. Listening to the Mars Volta is like watching your older brothers band practice in the garage. You don't quite understand it, but you know its way better than those Hannah Montana tapes in your bedroom. For those of you that aren't too familiar with the Mars Volta, they are a progressive/experimental band from California. The Mars Volta tend to ignore the music "standard" for song writing. Their songs usually run an average of 6-7 mins long and usually tend to have long jam sessions with all kind of instrument solos (guitar, bass, saxophone, etc). The Mars Volta have always been a creative band that has such a unique sound. Its hard to mix prog rock with 70's music, but somehow it works when The Mars Volta do it. Though it seems impossible The Bedlam in Goliath record took them into new territories. While on tour Omar bought a ouija board at a Jerusalem curio shop. This opened up the doors to new territories for them, they used the board to speak with the spirits. Through the board Omar was talking to the same spirits, and these spirits were an influence on the lyrics as much as the music. When the band headed into the studio to record The Bedlam, they encountered all kinds of problems with malfunctioning equipment and the studio even flooding. This scared Omar so he broke and buried the board. Listening to this record definitely feels like there was some interesting help. i recommend checking out the second track "Metatron" and also never playing with ouija boards.

Nice Form

Let's give it up for A Novel Form. Not only are these four guys showing up at the cafe to play, even though some others have cancelled, but they've created a sound that's easy on the ears. It's upbeat and (dare I say..?) poppy. And i've heard it to be compared a little bit to The Umbrellas. But as I always say you will just have to come and see for yourself; Wednesday, March 5.
P&L

free music mondays...

this may not be the normal free music you expect on the ship, but this has intrigued me enough that i thought i'd pass it on (and it's certainly no secret).

trent reznor and NIN, now free from the constraints of a major label (see: corporate devils, downfall of society, crooked, evil) is free to do as he likes with his music. and did he go big with this new stab as a label-free artist.

click here and you can buy ghosts: I-IV: four discs worth of instrumental music (described by umbrellas drummer sammy sharon as "reminiscent of thom yorke's eraser only with no lyrics and with a dark, nin feel to it"). or if you're like me and unsure of what you'd do with four discs from trent reznor, you can download the first disc for free. the site already says that they're experiencing high traffic so it may take you a few tries. let us know what you think when you get it, because we're currently trying to download it as well.

here's a quote from reznor that's certainly refreshing and certainly a spur in the side of the industry: "we encourage you to share the music of ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. it's licensed for all non-commercial use under creative commons."

i don't agree with reznor often, but i love his commitment to create his art and make it available to his fans in the simplest, fan-friendly manner. and for you die-hards, you can buy a $300 record collection of it all that is limited edition and signed by reznor.

march 1 at solid ground cafe.

so if you read up on the ship like a good kid you will already know that there was an amazing show tonight at the cafe. the photo atlas was definitely a crowd pleaser. if you were there: thanks so much for supporting music and our little venue. if you weren't: you suck. :/ not really, because we still love everyone. right right?!? (except high school kids that get the cops called on us, obviously.) alright well, it's 1:30 in the morning and it's been a long day. here are some sneaky peakys of a few shots i got tonight:

-check out the rest here or at our myspace-

get destroyed...

other than and you will know us by the trail of dead, this will destroy you is my favorite name for a band. not just because it's funny and out there, but because it's such a misnomer for they type of music they play.

this will destroy you is an incredibly chill four-piece from texas very much in the style of explosions in the sky. their music is wordless, but still delivers emotion and heart. simply put, they just don't need vocals; they would only get in the way of their instruments. it's not so much that it's wordless, but that it's a half-painted canvas and i get to fill in the words myself. i have to admit that lately i've really been into wordless music (see te' and also maiou) but it seems that there is definitely a trend to have a side project that's experimental rock.

supposedly, according to an unnamed source (who also has a funny story about bailing twdy from a small county jail for undisclosed crimes), twdy has quietly sold 15,000 units of threads. according to their myspace, they have lined up a month long tour in europe for later this spring.

catch this will destroy you tomorrow night at kilby court. i already have the feeling that this will be one of those tiny shows that is incredible for those who are there, but missed by most everyone else who, a year from now will curse themselves for not being there.