july 20th, 2001 alright yall, it seems as though a last-ditch effort to save the akeldama comp is underway. there is an individual named kurt morris who would like to help us out. he runs an amazing online zine with brian who used to be in mara'akate called actionattackhelicopter. go check it out at www.actionattackhelicopter.com it is neat. anyway, kurt is willing to throw us a significant chunk of change, so as long as i can get my butt in gear and raise my part of the loot, the cd might finally come out. MIGHT. my friend aaron noochfield is also gonna kick it a little bit of loot. in other events, my zine holy shit! #2 will be hitting the streets sometime this fall. so be on the lookout. and finally, there are a butt-load of good shows going on in g.r. this summer. july 21st at pop cafe: with arms still empty, john brown battery, halos for martys---------------------------------------------- july 26th at ten weston: malefaction, don knotts, shoot the hostage------------------------------------------------------------ july 28th at ten weston: forstella ford, since by man, the now, with arms still empty------------------------------------------- july 29th at pop cafe: the stryder, junction 18, dynamite boy------------------------------------------------------------------ july 31st at ten weston: tommorrow feels like sunday, two stars burning sun, repel, enkphalin----------------------------- august 8th at pop cafe: milemarker and aloha------------------------------------------------------------------------------- august 11th at pop cafe: true north, small brown bike, biddy biddy biddy--------------------------------------------------- august 15th at weston: the assistant, seven days of samsara, light the fuse and run------------------------------------------- september 1st at weston: the sewing terrorists and others---------------------------------------------------------------------- so please come to some of these shows. if you need more info any on of them, email me at xpamojakidx@hotmail.com there seems to be a pretty cool independent scene here, even though it is very small. so get off your butt and support it please! love eric xxx
may 14th, 2001 basically folks, akeldama records is dead. i have not talked to ronnie from cloud over head for a while now and i'm assuming if they really wanted to help us with the comp he would have contacted us by now. so that sucks. basically, the situation is that the five of us have really grown apart over the past few years. yeah, it sucks. i guess i'd like to say thanks to all the bands we worked with, all the distros and labels that helped us out, and any kids who ever wrote us expressing interest or encouragement. and another big sorry to all the bands we screwed over on the comp. if you are wondering what we all do now, here's the scoop. brian kroll works lots of hours and spends his money on new clothes. you can email him at XBrian616X@aol.com jeff vanderkooi supports his wife and two children and works at his church. his email is jeffvanderkooi@yahoo.com matthew swacina still has one more semester of college left. you can reach him at xswacix@hotmail.com i have no idea what michael mellon is up to these days. i have not seen him in forever. last i heard he moved back in with his parents. i don't even know what his email address is any more. as for me, eric scobie, i am graduating from college in a few days, and then hopefully finding a teaching position or doing a year of social service with americorps. i'm starting a new label this summer with my friend art henke from milwaukee called "the nuance formula." you can check out our website at www.angelfire.com/geek/nuanceformula i'm playing in a couple of bands and going to shows a lot, just like i have been doing for what seems like forever now. if anybody needs to get ahold of me for any reason whatsoever you can email me at xpamojakidx@hotmail.com that's all kids. akeldama records r.i.p. love and god bless eric xoxo
march 17th, 2001 the rainer maria show in detroit was amazing. they were absolutely fantastic i thought. unfortunately, i did not see ronnie/cloud over head at the show, so i could not talk to him about the comp. in all honesty, i do not think the comp is ever coming out. the only way i can see it happening is if i get a full-time teaching gig next year and decide to foot the bill myself. it will cost around 2 thousand, but if i'm teaching, i might be able to do it. however, if that did occur, it would not be for another 6 months to a year, which is ridiculous. sorry to all the bands we have screwed over with endless delays and excuses. anyway, on with more bad news. i was informed earlier this week that hunter rose totaled their van while in nevada on tour last week. yann, derek, jeff, and tony are all okay, but their van is totaled and most of their equiptment is wrecked. this is a truly sad thing for us in grand rapids, because hunter rose is a great band and now they won't be able to play for a while most likely until they can save up cash and get new stuff. it also means that with arms still empty probably can't play for a while either since jeff and yann are in with arms. sucky. no more bad news from me. cya eric
march 9th, 2001
the show on wednesday was alright i suppose. the booking agent of the grey am emailed me two days before the show and told me they had "personal circumstances" which prevented them from playing. when i emailed him to inquire further, he was equally as vague, but said they were really sorry. yeah, so that kinda sucked. but otherwise, absence of a silver lining, swimming to pinpoints, and halos for martyrs all rocked the house. the kids who were there seemed to have a good time too. so it was sweet. i will hopefully be bumping into ronnie from cloud over head tommorrow night at the rainer maria show in detroit. so maybe we can figure out this comp business after all. we'll see. not much else is up. stop reading this and go read a book. love eric xoxofebruary 14th, 2001 (valentine's!)
a tragedy has struck the hardcore scene, particularly for us kids here in the midwest. toledo, ohio's blueskiesburning have called it a day. drummer problems and other complications eventually led to their demise. if you are unfamiliar with them, bsb was by far one of the most active bands in the midwest for the last two years. you'll never meet a nicer group of kids, or a group of kids who play more awesome emotional hardcore. thanks to scott, jason, ryan, danny, derek, nick, and john for making amazing music, being amazing people and giving me such great memories. in comp news, we are supposed to meet with the cloud over head boys on march 3rd at a show at the underground in lansing. we'll see if we're able to actually hook up and get stuff figured out. hopefully. love eric xoxojanuary 24th, 2001
hey everybody! the 7 angels 7 plagues, promise of restoration, dusc, richard & sylvia show went excellent back on jan. 10th. thanks to everyone who came to that show as well. it looks like our friends cloud over head records from toledo, ohio might be helping us put out the comp. we have to figure out the details, but we're excited about possibly working with them. marc and ronnie are awesome kids and they have some cool stuff coming out, namely a four way split seven inch with hyde/curse of instinct/the plague/the parallax view as well as cd's from promise of restoration and tommorrow feels like sunday. me and my friend aaron might be booking the grey am on march 7th. check the shows page for details. finally, my zine is coming along slowly but surely. i've got the interview with scott from blueskiesburning done and should be interviewing david from stretch armstrong via email tonight. i might try to have it out by april depending on how my semester goes. that's all for now. bye-bye. ericjanuary 7th, 2001
words cannot express how amazing the hopesfall/blueskiesburning/with arms still empty show was on thursday. i really want to say thanks to all the kids that drove out, whether it was five minutes or five hours. i really urge you to support all those bands, they are great. me and some friends drove out to illinois on friday to see hopesfall, 7 angels 7 plagues and end this day. that show rocked too, except the club totally ripped off all the bands, they took 80 percent of the door. ridiculous. well, the akeldama kids didn't get to discuss the comp at the hopesfall show as we had planned, but there are some possibilities of other labels helping us release the comp. more news as it unfolds. please come see 7A7P, promise of restoration, dusc and richard & sylvia on wednesday. love ericjanuary 3rd, 2001
well happy new year everybody. i hope you all had a good holiday season, cuz now it's all depressing winter for the next couple months. anyway, tommorrow is the big hopesfall show i'm booking at the weston. to say i'm excited would be an extreme understatement. hopefully the other four gentlemen that form(ed) the entity known as akeldama will be present so that we can make a final decision as to whether or not we will be releasing the long-hyped "testament to broken walls" comp cd, and if so, how we will raise the funds, which are now lacking. as far as the website goes, i've fixed up the links section a bit after receiving an email that the slacker 66 link was popping up as porn. while i was deleting that, i also deleted some links of crappy bands like hatebreed and also took off some old links. in addition, i added some cool new links for you to check out, so please take a peek. finally, i updated my bio page with some rants that are sure to make everyone hate me. in other events, i start my student teaching in less than a month, and i'm sooooo nervous. and oh yeah, go buy the new orchid 10" on ebullition, it rocks hard. that's all for this time. bye-bye eric xoxonovember 20th, 2000
hey everybody! we've been having some major complications with the release of the comp for quite some time now, and it's really getting frustrating. the five of us are going to try to sit down and figure some stuff out real soon. we'll keep ya posted. despite label struggles, i'm booking a few shows in january. both will be at the ten weston theatre. on thursday january fourth it's gonna be hopesfall, hunter rose, and a couple others (hopefully mara'akate). then on wednesday january 10th it's gonna be 7 angels 7 plagues, dusc, and one or two others. please come to the shows if you can, they are gonna be rad. also, yann is doing a show on december 15th. it will be small brown bike, seven days of samsara, and one other. since by man was gonna play but they lost their practice space so they canceled. not much else is going on, school is driving me insane right now, and i'm looking forward to thanksgiving vacation. oh yeah, i turn 22 in a couple of days. i beat the "true till 21" curse. ha, ha, still edge. please drive safely over the holidays. a big thanks to all the bands on the comp for being ever so patient with our inexcusable lameness. that's all. love eric xoxooctober 26th, 2000
the show i was gonna book for my birthday is now not going to happen. arco iris got evicted, so my venue is gone. yann was gonna try to help me get the weston, but it's expensive and i wasn't expecting a lot of people, so it didn't work out. ): in other show news, yann is having a couple of shows at the weston within the next month or so. november 18th is forstella ford, dance & destroy, with arms still empty, and a couple others. december 15th is the movie life and seven days of samsara. i don't really know what's up with the comp, but you don't care anyway. moving on to some exciting news is that me, yann kerevel, and anthony underwood are going to try to start a fast straightedge band. we are practicing on november 12th in my basement. we don't know if it will work, cuz me and anthony don't really know how to operate our instruments, but it's punk rock, so i don't think we really need to know how. critical mass is tommorrow, should be fun. everybody have a great halloween and remember to vote nader on november 7th. love eric xoxoseptember 29th, 2000
good news!! zao recorded us a song while at poytner's palace in arkansas last week. i have heard the final product and am pleased to say it rocks pretty hard. the song will not be on the new solid state cd, it will be exclusive to the akeldama comp. wahoo! in other events, i went to toledo on monday to see blueskiesburning, the movie life, and kill your idols. the new bsb cd is out now....it is utterly amazing. crystal clear recording, beautiful layout, and personal essays written by each of the kids. inspiring stuff. so do yourself a big fat favor and go get that cd. narcissus jumped back on the project 86 show at my skool so they'll be playing g.r. tonight and then having a sleepover at my house. good times. bye-bye ericseptember 23rd, 2000
not a ton of news right now, but a few quick updates. brian talked to jesse/zao the other day, and they did record us a song, they will be sending it out to us on monday. yeehaw!! in record contracts, mara'akate have just signed a deal with onedaysavior records from new york. they will be doing a cd sometime. meanwhile, be sure to grab their split with fable and the new seven inch on redwood records from cali. both records destroy like no other......for real. in show news, on october 22nd at the community media center in grand rapids there will be a show with swimming to pinpoints, the sewing terrorists, and with arms still empty. i think there will be some speakers and stuff too. check it out. also, i am in the process of trying to set up a golden birthday bash show for me and my friend travis on saturday november 25th in grand rapids. i will be turning 22 on nov. 22nd, travis will be turning 27 on nov. 27th. keep your eyes peeled for info on that. and if you find some good vegan cake recipes, be sure to send em to me, cuz we are gonna have some cake at this show.....along with kazoos, paper hats, and all that good b-day paraphanalia. oh yeah, narcissus is no longer playing the show on the 29th with project 86. ): and i shaved my head the other day cuz i wanna look like ray cappo. homework calls.....love ericseptember 11th, 2000
okee dokes.....so zao went into the studio yesterday to record their new full-length for tooth & nail. we will hopefully be getting a song from that session. we should have it hopefully by the end of the month. we basically have everything else. matt from subsist had to focus on getting the layout done for their final cd, so he was sidetracked on the layout for our comp. however, he has assured us that he will resume progress on the comp layout now that he is finished with subsist. speaking of subsist, their final show ever was last saturday in peoria. i could not attend due to the fact that i had to drop my little sister off for college in new york, but word has it that it was a steaming HOT, emotional, well-attended, beautiful event. the final subsist cd, "the rythm method" is out now and can be ordered from them via mail. speaking of new records, i believe the new blueskiesburning cd e.p. is out now on onedaysavior. the bsb has parted ways with derek, long-time bassist and target of uncontrollable amounts of female attraction. he has been replaced by nick, who used to play guitar for achariyth. as for breaking news, mr. matthew matera has informed me that 7 angels 7 plagues will most likely be signing with uprising records. not much else is up. yann is having the jazz june and others play this friday at the ten weston. on friday september 29th there is a huge rock n roll show at calvin college, my school. this is funny.....it is gonna be project 86 and my friends narcissus from cleveland. come see it if you can. other than that, i am back to having a nerd-style monk haircut. the phone calls should start streaming in at any moment......or maybe not. bye-bye eric xxxaugust 16th, 2000
well, the show i booked on the 7th with fed by ravens, dusc, and the sewing terrorists went really well. thanks to everybody who showed up. my zine, called "Holy Shit" is out now. it's full of d.i.y. scrubbiness and flavor. i went to furnace fest this past weekend and was kinda jaded with the business aspect of punk rock which was so very evident. strongarm got paid 5 grand to play and didn't seem into it, the juliana theory kids were selling the pensive/seasons split for a whopping 16 dollars, and there were talks of "guarantees" everywhere i turned. BLAH, YUCK! what is going on?? anyway, jessie from zao is sending us some stuff this week so hopefully we'll have everything we need for the comp very soon. wahoo! if you are able to make it, go see subsist's last show in peoria, illinois on saturday september 2nd . they are playing with mara'akate, nemo-non, aciel, and one other band whose name i can't remember. sorry. okay, that's all the news i have right now. oh yeah, go get the new glasseater! love eric xoxoaugust 1st, 2000
design guru matt hartman has informed us that he will hopefully be completing most of the layout this week. we are still missing a few pics and whatnot, but most of it will be in place. so as soon as we get all the contracts and figure out what is going on with zao, we should be ready to go as far as pressing the comp. happy-happy, joy-joy!! blueskiesburning, with arms still empty, and others are rocking this saturday august 5th at the ten weston in grand rapids. fed by ravens, the sewing terrorists and dusc are rocking arco iris on monday august 7th. please support these bands. also, my zine is coming along slowly but surely. it should be out by the show on monday. i know, you can't wait. that's all. love eric xoxofeb 20, 2000
unfortunately, three bands have
been dropped from our comp roster:
narcissus, process is dead, and spitfire. the narcissus crew was
considering the
donation of a live track, but after further thought, decided
against it. process is dead has a seven
inch in the works w/ witching hour records outta indy. the
spitfire rockers
will be saving all their new material for a rumored split with
burn it down,
possibly to be released sometime on ferret.
january 5 2000
as many of you may have heard, intercede and castahead have
both called it quits.
intercede died because of musical differences, castahead was due
more to personality
conflict. while we are pretty upset and bummed out about this
recent turn of events,
there's not much we can do about it. and on a happy note, most
everybody is still
gonna be bringin' the rock, so it's all good. here's what
everybody is doing. bill-bo,
portdawg, and joe from intercede have started a new band called EndThisDay.
they have jason knies from goshen, in. on bass, some kid named
matt on one mic,
and aaron, who you might know as the one-man intercede dance
squad on the other mic.
i've heard one new song and it is pretty rockin'. very much in
the vein of
prayer for cleansing or other black metal/hardcore hybrids. temo from intercede
has teamed up with jared, matt, and dave from intercede to start
a new band
called seven angels, seven
plagues. jared informs me that it's an
emo-metal
combination and that everything is working out great. they are
playing their first show
tommorrow night in milwaukee at the bremen house basement with kill the slavemaster
and some new band that has ex-members of endeavor
supposedly. andy from
intercede is currently screaming for a new band that has a korn
or slipknot feel to it.
don't make jokes, andy is seriously the nicest kid EVER. steve
from castahead
is rumored to be starting a pop-punk band. (atleast that's what
somebody told me)
and i'm not really sure what good ole kyle is up to. the castahead/intercede
split cd is
still available for six dollars ppd. if you have a distro and
could help us or run
a label and would like to swap, we'd more than happy. (we still
have subsist cd's too)
speaking of subsist, they are
back in full swing. they played their comeback show
in peoria, il. on december 11th and i got to see em at the
fireside in chicago on the
28th. the new stuff is amazing. it is completely different from
the cd however.
their new material is very chaotic and off-time, influenced by
the likes of botch and
coalesce. they are playing in arlington heights, il. on january
21st and are rumored to be
playing in indianapolis the first weekend of febuary with zao. they have
recently relocated their website to www.freespeech.org/subsist if you would like
them to rock in your local arena or stadium, drop them a line at xsubsistx@hotmail.com
on to other matters. our good
buddies fable and mara'akate will be releasing a
split seven inch on happy
couples never last, out of indianapolis.
expect this
thing to rule, cuz both bands are simply amazing. if you have
seen them play lately,
you know what i mean. absolute carnage. there have been some
talks of a fable
full-length some time in the future on akeldama, but if that
happens
it will be a long time down the road.
one final thing that i have to
tell you about is the next akeldama release!!!!
it's gonna be a comp cd called "a testament to broken walls". we are so
freakin' excited about this thing. it will have twenty
bands......and here they are:
zao, spitfire, subsist,
burn it down, upheavel, blueskiesburning, process is
dead, the silence of fall, narcissus, endthisday, castahead,
entrust, fable, mara'akate,
achariyth, shiloh, blueskieslie, incision, fate of icarus, and
circle of dead children.
all these bands are people we have met in our time doing akeldama
and it means
so much to have them all on one cd. all the songs will be new
except two.
the burn it down song was originally on
"eat.sleep.mate.defend" but has been
re-recorded, and the incision song was originally released on a split seven inch with
ignorance never settles on onedaysavior. three bands have yet to record, and once
we get all the stuff in, we'll send it out to our good pal matt
hartman from subsist
who will be doing the layout. we hope to have this baby out by
april or may.
accompanying the comp, there have been talks of a fest with all
the bands that are
on the cd. if this happens it will be in grand rapids in late
april or early may.
we'll keep you posted on how this progresses.