by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: I Is Another - "Prayed For You" (MP3)

Jonah w/ Far at Mercury Lounge in 2009 (more by Chloe Rice)

Jonah Matranga of Far, Onelinedrawing, New End Original, Gratitude, and who also has performs under his own name, has yet another project in the works. This one is a collaboration with Ian Love (Rival Schools, Cardia, Burn) and it's called I Is Another. The duo have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for their upcoming EP. They write:

This isn't a project we're planning to put on a label or tour with or anything. It's just friends making stuff and wanting to share it with you. We'll keep in touch as we go, sending each song to you via download as we complete them. A clip from the first one that feels done is up there (thanks so much to Mel Upstart for putting the cool video clip together). Along with the downloads, depending on how much you chip in, you can get limited edition CDs, vinyl and all sorts of other stuff. As of now, we're planning on recording and releasing an EP of 6 tunes. If everyone chips in enough that we hit our goal so we can pay for everything, then for every $1800 that gets chipped in beyond that, we'll record and release another song, straight to you. We'll make as many as you want (seriously). Let's make good stuff happen!

Thanks so much,

Ian & Jonah

I Is Another have revealed one song from the project so far called "Prayed For You," that sounds like the kind of classic emo you'd expect from Jonah and Ian given their previous projects. You can download that track above, and below there's a trailer video for the EP which features a clip of the same song.

There's no live dates announced for that project but Jonah has some shows of his own coming up, including one in NYC on February 12 at the Gershwin Hotel (7 E 27th St). The show starts at 8 PM and admission is $10.

A list of all dates and video below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga forms new project w/ Ian of Rival Schools, playing solo shows (dates, MP3)"

Ian Love of EX-Rival Schools fame (more by Chris La Putt)

Rival Schools will be down one pivotal member when they embark on their tour this October with Hostage Calm...

We regret to announce that our good friend Ian Love has decided to part ways with Rival Schools. He is a tremendous talent who will be missed greatly and we wish him well in his future endeavors.

Meanwhile, the rest of us will be continuing Rival Schools a pace, gearing up for our October US tour which kicks off October 14th in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church. We're looking forward to the new music we're working on, new recordings and the next chapter for Rival Schools.

-Walter, Sammy & Cache

No replacement at the moment. They'll play as a three-piece on this tour that hits The Bell House on October 27th. Tickets are still available. All dates are listed with some videos below...

Continue reading "Ian Love leaves Rival Schools (they'll tour as a three piece)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Caspian - "Ghosts of the Garden City" (MP3)

Caspian

Caspian is crescendo-ing their way through a US tour that placed them in Austin during SXSW, and will land the soaring post-rockers in NYC on April 15 at The Studio @ Webster Hall. Arms & Sleepers are along for the ride, and will team up with Sainthood Reps and Golden City for the date. Get yer tix.

Caspian is supporting 2009's Tertia, which the band initally gave away for free, and is now streaming in full. Download one of those tracks above.

Golden City's debut 10" on Magic Bullet Records was recorded by Ian Love who plays guitar in Rival Schools with Walter Schreifels. Look for Schreifels to make a solo appearance on May 5th at The Studio. Tickets are on sale. Meanwhile, Rival Schools is scheduled to play Union Pool on April 23rd, though tickets for that are now sold out.

Find Caspian dates in your area and some video below...

Continue reading "Caspian on tour, Walter Schreifels adds a show (dates) "

Photos by Tim Griffin, Words by Black Bubblegum

Jonah Matranga (Onelinedrawing) played his second show in two days in BOTH event spaces at the eclectic Gershwin Hotel on Tuesday, November 11th. Joined by his old friend and past congtributor Ian Love (Rival Schools/Cardia), a drum machine, and an acoustic guitar, Jonah ran through solo material, covers, and songs from his-old-but-currently-reunited band Far. He also paused for a moment to reflect on the recent events with Deftones bassist Chi Cheng. Along the way Ian Love added some amazing effects-heavy guitar, reminiscient of recent Stars Of The Lid... adding tremendous depth and emotional (I did NOT say emo) power to his set. Partial setlist, beaucoup photos, and video of Jonah performing the Deftones' "Be Quiet And Drive", below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga @ the Gershwin Hotel - pics, video & setlist"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Chris La Putt & Zach Dilgard

RS by Chris La Putt

RS by Zach Dilgard

After running up and down the stairs of the Knitting Factory to run an errand for the band, I ran backstage and caught a huddled Rival Schools preparing for their set. Whispering back and forth for a moment, the four of them ran up the stairs and hit the stage.... to be greeted by cheers & applause. Definitely a moment that I won't soon forget. I quickly headed upstairs to the balcony in time to catch the band tear into the day's, and United By Fate's, opener "Travel By Telephone". Over the next half hour or so, Rival Schools graced the BrooklynVegan day (now night.. we were a little behind) show with the first six tracks of United By Fate (closing with "Used For Glue") (video below), a cover of The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" (made famous during Walter Schreifels' stint in Quicksand), as well as revealing a few new arrows in their quiver ("Big Waves"). All in all, it was what you would expect to see from a Rival Schools show... the Schreifels pogo, Sammy Siegler bouncing up and down on his stool like it was spring-loaded, well-executed start-stop dynamics, and a good-time-by-all.

My only complaint was the mix... I was able to catch the band at Rebel a few days prior (with Trail of Dead and Margot & The Nuclear So & So's), and what I enjoyed the most about that set was how well it highlighted Ian Love's effects-heavy guitar flourishes, something that was lost in the outward mix at the Knitting Factory.

As Walter kindly pointed out on stage, you can check an interview with the band right HERE (part one anyway). Try and catch them in Novemeber at Mercury Lounge and Maxwell's if you can, but if not (both shows are sold out), Walter promised they'd be back much more including with a new album. More pictures, including one of the setlist, and a video from Knitting Factory below...

Continue reading "Rival Schools @ Knitting Factory (BV CMJ) -pics/setlist/video"

Photos by Bryan Bruchman

Sammy & Walter

We have been kind of talking about getting back together, or really continuing on from the work that we had done, for like years. We did some rehearsals like maybe a year and a half or two years ago, and then we did some demos and we have been taking these baby steps. Earlier in the year Sam just said "Hey dude, lets play some fucking shows and shit's gonna happen". [Walter Schreifels]

Rival Schools and Trail of Dead played the invite-only, annual, CMJ-eve Syndicate Party at Rebel on Monday night (10/20). Rival Schools next show is Saturday, October 25th (tomorrow) at 5pm at Knitting Factory. It is public, all ages and FREE.

More pictures of Rival Schools from Monday night below...

Continue reading "Rival Schools @ Rebel (the Syndicate Party), NYC - pics"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Rival Schools - "Take One For The Team" (MP3)

"So yeah, I draw the line at Quicksand". - Walter

Walter Schreifels. Sam Siegler. Two names of a very select few who defined a sound and a movement in the late 80s and early 90s, New York Hardcore. Building upon the zen-like teachings of prophets with names like HR, MacKaye, and Raybeez, Walter Schreifels and Sammy Siegler cut their teeth in the blooming NYC scene with the legendary Gorilla Biscuits, Youth Of Today, and Judge, as well as Side By Side, and Project X.

Quicksand and CIV, as well as MTV support, multiple LPs and music videos followed, culminating in the reunion of the two Youth of Today bandmates in Rival Schools. Sam and Walter formed the band in 1999, with their lone LP United By Fate coming in 2001. The band split the following year, scrapping existing recordings that were believed to be the basis of the new album. Six years passed, and Walking Concert, Nightmare of You, Head Automatica, and solo work followed until early 2008, when Rival Schools announced their reformation. The announcement was followed by festival dates in Europe, ultimately leading to a handful of US shows.

Which leads us to NYC... The band have lined up a pair of shows at Maxwells and Mercury Lounge in early November which sold out quickly, but the band have also agreed to headline the free BrooklynVegan day party at Knitting Factory on Oct 25th! In part one of their first joint interview ever, we poked and prodded Sammy and Walter about their past & present projects, the old days, and blow-up dolls...

Continue reading "an interview w/ Rival Schools (Walter & Sammy) (part 1)"

by Black Bubblegum

Walter Schriefels' short-lived post-Quicksand project, Rival Schools, have reunited to record some new tunes and lined up a seven date tour of the UK leading up to an appearance at the Hove Festival in Norway. Here's Walter from an interview posted @ RockSound:

"We have got this June tour and we still want to play some shows in the States. Especially if we are writing new songs it would be good to live in them a little onstage before we come to record anything. Whether the album is out first part of the year or spring we are not yet sure but we want to play out with new material to test it all out so expect a few more dates to be announced."

Awesome..... US dates are comin'! Full tour dates, most history and videos below.....

Continue reading "Rival Schools - reunited, recording & touring (dates)"