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BIG THINGS TOMORROW!!!!
As you probably know by now, we have a big show tomorrow night at the Triple Rock as presented by The Current. Ill Chemistry, MPLS Dub Ensemble and DJ Bill Caperton are lined up to open. There are 2 shows.
Confirmed special guests for our set:
Desdamona, Bill Caperton, Dessa, New MC, Danami, Lioness, Mastermind of G.O.B.
5pm – ALL AGES
9PM – 21+
Presale tickets available at 5th Element(
http://www.fifthelementonline.com/
) , Triple Rock (
http://triplerocksocialclub.com/
) and Indietickets (
http://www.indietickets.com/tickets/customer/home.php
)
NOTE – 21+ PRESALE TICKETS AT 5TH ELEMENT ARE ALMOST SOLD OUT AS OF 12/24.
Heiruspecs is in the press at the moment….
The Onion calls Small Steps the best of the decade here:
http://www.avclub.com/twincities/articles/the-decade-in-local-music-2002,36271/
Also, we’re in the Star Tribune in a story where they feel we’re still the kink of the live band/hip-hop hill in the Twin Cities. Thanks!
http://www.vita.mn/event_detail.php?event_id=86185&elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUt:aDyaEP:kD:aUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU5PaEk:1cuU
and…………………………
It’s a holiday for many of you so I’ll keep this one short. Here’s a video of us playing at Sauce Soundbar a few months back. Good times.
Fancy.
You might be thinking; “Why has this website been so quiet lately?” or “Man these guys suck at the internet.” But you’d be wrong in thinking things are somehow amiss. In fact, the band has been back in the lab again working on a new album tentatively titled WE ARE THE FUTURE.
We have also been booking a few shows. 2 nights ago we were in Wisconsin. What’s next you ask? I can’t wait to tell you!
11-14 Heiruspecs is in Chicago at The Abbey Pub. More details can be found right here…
http://www.abbeypub.com/html/11_14_09.html
. We’ve now been to the Abby Pub a gazillion times and every time it’s a blast. Always, we see friends and family and every time those groups get a little bigger. Come down and join the fun.
11-21 Heiruspecs in in Souix Falls, South Dakota at Nutty’s North. More info for that is as follows…
http://www.thecollectiveeffortsunion.com/
More shows to come for sure including one or 2 in the Twin Cities. More info on those later this week. In the mean time, here are a couple of video’s from our CD release party that are good friend Alex was kind enough to edit together for us;
Lastly, here are a couple random shots to confuse you about what will happen on a new Heiruspecs record…
Good god I’m slacking on this…
Hey All,
Sorry for the long delay. We’ve all been very busy and I’ve been working on some music of my own. We just played at the MN State Fair thanks to the Current who put us in Carousel Park (spelling?) for Minnesota Public Radio Day. Good looking out!
Would you believe that after a largely slow month, we’ve got a bunch of shows coming up? True story… ….and there was much rejoicing.
9/12/2009 Heiruspecs will be performing at Pizza Luce in Duluth. www.pizzaluce.com
9/13/2009 Heiruspecs will be at the Concrete and Grass Festival (at Mears Park in downtown St. Paul) http://www.concreteandgrass.com/
9/18/2009 Heiruspecs will be at Sauce Spirits & Soundbar (3000 Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis) http://www.spiritsandsound.com/
9/26/2009 Heiruspecs will be live at The Aquarium in Fargo (226 Broadway – Fargo ND) http://www.myspace.com/theaquariumfargo is a good place to get more info.
9/12/2009 Heiruspecs will be performing at Pizza Luce in Duluth.
http://www.pizzaluce.com/
has you
covered if
you need more info. Our good friends Big Quarters will be joining us for this show and it’s gonna be fresh. Last time we were in Duluth, we played the UofM campus and it was pandamonium. Now imagine trying to cram all of these lovely folks into a smaller room; Exactly.
9/13/2009 Heiruspecs will be at the Concrete and Grass Festival (at Mears Park in downtown St. Paul)
http://www.concreteandgrass.com/
. It’s really worth noting that we are playing right after the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. There are a lot of kids we know in that bunch. See you this weekend!
9/18/2009 Heiruspecs will be at Sauce Spirits & Soundbar (3000 Lyndale Ave. S. in Minneapolis)
http://www.spiritsandsound.com/
9/26/2009 Heiruspecs will be live at The Aquarium in Fargo (226 Broadway – Fargo ND)
http://www.myspace.com/theaquariumfargo
is a good place to get more info.
Oh, but there’s more!
BIG TROUBLE will be playing too;
Friday Sept. 11th at Eclipse Records In St. Paul for the No Bird Sings (all ages) CD Release Party.
Friday Oct. 9th @ the Dakota for the Dakota Late Night series.
In other news, Big ups to New MC for using the Heiruspecs instrumentals in his solo set. I caught him at the Nomad the other night and it was awesome. Just to plug a long time friend of Heiruspecs, he can be found on
http://www.myspace.com/newmcsoloreleaseshow
and is constantly holding up rap shows in South Minneapolis.
Word on the street is that a lot of people were, and still are buzzing about our song GET UP being used prominently in P. Diddy’s Making His Band. We still get feedback on it even though it’s in it’s millionth round of re-runs. No, I’m not posting a pic of Diddy. That would be too easy.
More to come soon. Including details on a huge sale of some Heiruspecs Hoodies just in time for the cold to start creeping in. We live in the upper midwest, we know how to look good in the fall.
Awesome Enough,
Felix
Dammit, I’m late again… shame on me.
Well, it’s been slow enough over the last 2 weeks that I haven’t done a newsletter. Don’t be mad. Our fall is slowly starting to book itself without any help. How nice.
I am fresh off of a suprise hosting gig at Hot Import Nights Chicago at Soldier Field. I hosted the drifting event for HIN/Formula D/ClubFR/and TMF Opposition. For those of you unfamiliar to drifting, it’s all about sliding your car. I manage a team of these drivers on the side. It was an honor to host this event in front of thousands of people and set against the downtown Chicago skyline.
Coming up? August 22nd, Heiruspecs will play at the RED STAG in NE, Mpls in our first local show in some time. It’s going to be different. That’s all I’ll say on that for now. More to come later…
Crescent Moon returns in Big Trouble this Saturday at the Triple Rock. (Click on the picture to blow it up). It should be a blast with No Bird Sing and The Teddy Holidays.
Big Trouble has a record out with Crescent Moon which you should go find and buy immediately. This isn’t radio – that’s a call to action. DO IT!
The Star Tribune wrote up a great article on McNally Smith’s Hip Hop program (Which Sean Twinkie Jiggles McPherson is a huge part of) and it looks great. I bumped into DJ Judo on the street the other day and he said his part was a blast and getting kids to put their hands on turntables was great. Check out the article right here –
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/50484172.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUycaEacyU
Just a reminder, Heiruspecs back catalog should be available to you on iTunes so if you’re missing something, that’s gonna be the easiest place to find it. Get it now, before iTunes switches to subscription based service and artists have a harder time getting music onboard!
On the radar;
Medium Zach of Big Quarters has gotten himself engaged and is celebrating Sat. Aug 15th at Suburban World Theater with Anton, Espada, Noam the Drummer, and Miguel Vargas. Congrats homey!
Heiruspecs is confirmed for The Last of the Record Buyers on Sept. 17th. We were previously slotted for August 20th but the big switcharoo has been pulled. More to come on that.
SPOTTED – Get Cryphy July 3rd… Franz Diego and co. (photo by Wes Winship)
Right on time and feelin’ fine! – Newsletter published by Felix
Hey all, it’s been a slowish week for Heiruspecs and it looks like this week will be a little slow too. You can’t always be busy you know? That’s how you hurt yourself… or make yourself famous. We can’t have that now. Having said this, you would think there wouldn’t be much to say in this newsletter but you’d be wrong.
I can tell you that we’re starting to put together a bunch of shows for the fall already and we will be hitting places around the midwest for sure. I hope to see Chicago, Duluth, Fargo, and beyond this fall and am eager to see some more familiar faces.
WHAT?
Sean “Twinkie Jiggles” McPherson has published a blog post on the Twin Cities Daily Planet site outlining the 5 most uppercrust and embarrasing ways to get a black eye. It’s his response to several peoples snide comments on his recent shiner. You can check it out right here – http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/2009/06/14/black-eye-straight-guy.html
Sean is also judging a Drunken Spelling Bee being held at the 501 Club on Saturday, June 20th. Just think about how fun this could be for a second…. ok, now go over to
http://www.myspace.com/mplsdrunkenspellingbee
for more details if you are thinking you’re pretty good as a spellor. Rules and other tidbits are on the site if you’re curious. I’m thinking the drunk who was sleeping on my front steps last Saturday night probably wouldn’t have won this but maybe you can hold your liquor better than he can.
http://www.myspace.com/mplsdrunkenspellingbee
for more details if you are thinking you’re pretty good as a spellor. Rules and other tidbits are on the site if you’re curious. I’m thinking the drunk who was sleeping on my front steps last Saturday night probably wouldn’t have won this but maybe you can hold your liquor better than he can.
JUNE 27TH MARKS THE BEGINING OF THE MCNALLY SMITH HIP HOP WORKSHOP. Our good friend DJ Judo will be there teaching you how to use turntables.
http://www.mcnallysmith.edu/
is the place to go for more info.
http://www.mcnallysmith.edu/
is the place to go for more info.
There is some video of Big Trouble playing at Bryant Lake Bowl with Dave Campbell last friday night that may be worth a look if you haven’t made it out to see Big Trouble yet. If you’re still not sure what this is all about, Big Trouble is a band comprised largely by the Heiruspecs instrumentalists.
Video;
Still coming up for Big Trouble is a June 27th show with the Sensational Joint Cheifs. Date and showtime will be in next weeks newsletter.
DeVon “DVRG” Gray is confirmed in the MPR/Fitzgerald Theatre Organ Mentorship. The program features veteran players working with Twin Cities musicians to pass along the history and tradition of a dying art while not neccesarily playing in the olde style. They are excited to have players that are forward thinking and want to take this dying art and give it new clothes. We are excited for DVRG to be a part of it.DVRG will also be returning to his role as Apprentice Conductor with the Minnesota Youth Symphonies for 2009/2010.
Congrats again to our good friend Toki Wright who has succesfully released his album A Different Mirror on Rhymesayers Entertainment. I picked up the album, have you? A lot of people who may not know Toki will remember the Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop series that he has succesfully promoted with YO! the Movement in the past. He was the host on the main stage at Soundset this year and had a memorable set there as well. If you are curious to know more about him, please check him out online at http://tokiwright.com/
.
In pseudo fake news, I randomly found out we have a profile on “Who’s Dated Who” – Apparently a few of you are curious to see who Josh Peterson is dating. Not that any of that info appears on their website - http://www.whosdatedwho.com/topic/6331/heiruspecs.htm
. Will anything of factual actually be added? Who knows? It’s just funny to know it’s there.
Thanks to the Heiru fans that came down to Elko Speedway this past weekend for the Eve Of Destruction event and watched me host as TMF Opposition did their drifting demo’s. We put a car into the wall at 70mph and it was lots of fun. I’m going to have to start bringing Heiruspecs CD’s to sell down there.Other stuff of note;
DVRG’s Bach & Beer ensemble will be doing a concert Sat. August 1st at MacPhail. Program will include Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, the Beethoven Septet and more. DVRG will be featured playing bassoon.
Thanks for reading – Felix
Dammit, I am late again aren’t I? – Felix
OK, as usual, thank you guys for coming out to see us. Grand Old Day was a good time and we have all survived a week of confusing weather. Let’s get right into it…
iTunes has officially added up 10 Years Strong and Small Steps for your listening pleasure. This is perfect for those of you guys who haven’t been able to make it out to a show in a while or don’t have access to the older stuff at your local record store. Don’t hold me to it, but we may put Antidesestablishmetabolism up there too. Why the hell not? A big thanks to our friends over at Eclectone Records for actually doing the work of this. You may think there’s something happening there but we’re just lazy. In the coming month, you will start seeing some Youtube style video’s where some Twin Cities greats list off their top 10 Heiruspecs songs. I am very much looking forward to that. They’ll all be there on iTunes if you don’t have them.
Here’s a little something from the Bass-man – Sean “Twinkie Jiggles” McPherson;
Here’s my update about the McNally Smith Program:
The hip-hop summer workshop planning is going well and we are very excited to have St. Paul’s own DJ Judo teaching the fundamentals of turntables. If you are a student in a St. Paul Public School be sure to check out the St. Paul Connections program to see how you can attend the workshop for a very discounted price.
Twinkie is also hosting a new blog over at Twin Cities Daily Planet. Check it out here –
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/2009/06/05/welcome-new-slang-blog.html
. He stared off doing a list of the best things ever to happen at Grand Old Days.
Big Trouble News -
“On June 12 Big Trouble is joining the How Was the Show (howwastheshow.com) 7th Year Anniversary show. It’s a big celebration and Big Trouble will be joined by DJ Giving it to They Ass on vocals (aka David Campbell of the Current). Learn more on this awesome podcast. (http://howwastheshowcast.blogspot.com/2009/06/howwastheshowminneapoliscast-cd-reviews.html)
. There is a new Big Trouble track on the podcast called “Joshu” that you haven’t heard yet.
On June 27 Big Trouble will be helping the Sensational Joint Chiefs (firetrunk.com) play their first show club in a long time. The Sensational Joint Chiefs helped raise the Heiruspecs crew and gave them their first gigs at nightclubs in the Twin Cities way back in 1998. It is an honor for Big Trouble to be joining them. Be sure to show up early, these folks can still fill a room.
DVRG has an interesting new thing going on… it’s a Theatre Organ mentorship at the Fitzgerald. More on that to come!
Felix will be on a racetrack again this weekend, June 13th to be exact, this time with a microphone announcing the TMF Opposition drift demo at the first of many Eve of Destruction events at Elko Speedway. If you are into schoolbus racing and figure 8 stock cars, this is your jam. More info can be found at
http://www.tmfopposition.com/
.
What else??? I think that may really be it.
Big Quarters is out on the West Coast touring.
Toki Wright’s new album A Different Mirror is IN STORES NOW.
Maria Isa’s album Street Politics is IN STORES NOW.
I leave you with this; I just found out my cousin put out a rap video a while back. He lives in Amsterdam and raps in Dutch. He goes by the name of Prozak. It runs in the family. Check this out…
Thanks,
Felix
I am supposed to publish these on Wednesdays… dammit – missed again.
Greetings to all of you beautiful people. Another week is upon us and the time to party is now! This past week was pretty chill for us but we have work to do this weekend.
First and foremost, we are playing GRAND OLD DAY street festival in St. Paul this Sunday (6/7) at NOON. Its very important that I stress that we are playing at NOON. We’ll be on the Salut stage which is at 917 Grand Ave St Paul, MN 55105. True story. Full info to be found here –
http://www.grandave.com/grandoldday/
. Take advantage of another dirt cheap outdoors Heiruspecs show. Party with several hundred thousand of your neighbors. This is billed as the biggest block party in the country and it’s no joke.
Friday 6/4, Felix hosts GET CRYPHY in 1st Avenue’s VIP room with Jimmy 2 Times. Last time Heiruspecs played the Triple Rock, Jimmy 2 Times held down the turntables all night and Friday shall be even more rediculoid. With original mixes of classic rap and dance tracks, this should be awesome. More info and a taste of the music can be found here –
http://www.myspace.com/cryphygetting
. Details for admission are here –
http://www.first-avenue.com/
. Oh yes.
In the main room at 1st Ave on 6/4, our friend Maria Isa is having her CD release party. Congrats! If you want to go check it out please do. Maria Isa, Muja Messiah, Mayda, Danceband, Kill the Vultures, I Self Divine, and St. Paul Slim will be joining her on stage as well. If you’ve seen us in the Twin Cities or nearby within the last year, you’ve seen every single one of those acts at least once. Go check it out!
Maria Isa is featured on the Heiruspecs song “Lenses” and her band has been holding it down for Sota-Rico for a few years now. Go get em!
Heiruspecs is now on Twitter so come and follow us if you’re up on it..
http://twitter.com/heiruspecs
is the lick! Follow us. Why? Because it proves that we’re all up on this social networking thing…
I gotta plug Twinkie’s McNally Smith Program as well –
http://www.mcnallysmith.edu/newsevents/summerprograms.aspx
. Please check this out immediately if you have any desire to take part in rap related workshops and classes.
“Hip Hop Workshop. McNally Smith’s first ever Hip Hop Workshop will be under the direction of Sean McPherson, bassist and bandleader of Twin Cities Hip Hop heroes, Heiruspecs. Sean (a/k/a Twinkie Jiggles) will bring in many prominent emcees, producers, graphic artists and others to cover the essentials – and more – of Hip Hop. Instructor demonstrations and Q&A sessions will mix in with recording sessions and side trips to Twin Cities Hip Hop landmarks for a full week of instruction, insight and career guidance. The week ends with a final performance and a CD documenting each participant’s creations. The program is designed for ages 13 and up. Questions? Contact Sean McPherson or visit the Facebook Page.“
Coming up soon –
Big Trouble is June 12 for the How Was The Show 7th Anniversary at the Turf Club
Big Trouble is June 27 at Turf Club for the Sensational Joint Chiefs show
Thanks for looking! See you at Grand Old Days!- Felix
Oh, also… while randomly searching the interweb, I found this.
Hey all, it’s Felix -
Well, I feel like I just did the last newsletter a couple of days ago but I guess it’s been more than a week. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us at our shows over this past weekend. I have a soundset picture update coming late tomorrow. Heiruspecs doesn’t have any shows this weekend but that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing anything.
First off, I am proud to say that I am giving the commencement speech at Central High School here in St. Paul. Yes, that’s where Heiruspecs got it’s start so it’s a real honor to be asked to come back and say something good to the graduating class of 2009. This happens on Tuesday and I must admit I am a bit nervous. I have high expectations for myself mostly and I hope people don’t get bored with me like the expect to be with any speaker. To the rest of you Heiruspecs fans out there graduating this year, CONGRATULATIONS! Big things ahead for all of you, I know it.
Twinkie gave me the scoop on a show happening tonight (5/29/2009) at the 331 Club. BIG TROUBLE – 9PM to 1AM at the 331 Club in NE Mpls. The show is free and you can find them at
http://www.331.mn/home.php
. The place will fill with people for sure. Get there NOW.
Since we’re talking about Twinkie Jiggles, here’s something that hasn’t gotten a lot of light on this page yet. He is helping direct a hip hop program with workshops at McNally Smith College of Music - It features Toki Wright, Brandon All Day, New MC, Super Engineer Joe Mabbott and more. More details can be found here —>
http://www.mcnallysmith.edu/newsevents/summerprograms.aspx
I spy Muad’dib on the front page…
You’ve known it for years but now there’s a little something to prove that DVRG is a Minnesotan making an impression. It’s kind of nice to know that you work with a real live hero. Right? I mean you never knew Clark Kent was superman did you? DeVon is actually a classically trained composer and all around music lover. You know how some clubs play classical music to get you to leave at 3am? Well, guess who’s just getting started. But I digress…
You can read about it onthe MetBlogs page -
http://minneapolis.metblogs.com/2009/04/06/minnesotans-making-an-impression-dvrg/
and I bet you’ll be impressed.
As usual, more to come later!
Here’s a video of us at Soundset to tide you over.
My name is Felix and oh my… this is the May Newsletter. Late edition.
Time flies when you’re busy. Heiruspecs has been playing shows here and there and everyone’s side projects are keeping them really tied up. This is a good thing. Summer is just around the corner and I spy fun!
This coming weekend (May23-25th) we actually have 2 shows in driving distance from Minneapolis/St. Paul. It’s that time of year when the outdoor shows start happening all the time. It’s beautiful.
First up, Bella Music Festival is having us out on Friday night in Harmony Park. We’re playing at a great time and rocking it with Dessa Darling of Doomtree and Del The Funky Homosapien.
If you don’t know who Del is, that’s all the more reason to come through and check out the show. He’s been putting out records for a LONG time. He’s one of the founders of Heiroglyphics out in the Oakland CA area and longtime underground hero.
Although he’s played Minneapolis many a time in the past, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play outdoors before. It should be a good time.
If you like, you can even camp at this show. Bring a cooler, a tent, your good times, and your laughter too… More info -
http://www.bellamusicfest.com/Bella%20Madre/Home.html
On Sunday, we’re playing the Fifth Element stage at Soundset. If you aren’t sure what soundset is, that’s OK> Here’s the flyer. It looks like information overload, but trust me, we’re in there!
Last year this was held in the Metrodome parkinglot. I couldn’t be there but my homey St. Paul Slim (Congrats on your engagement homey!) told me it was amazing. This year, they’re holding it at Cantebury Park to allow for a larger crowd after drawing more than expected last year. You already know how to act, now show that you know your manners in public.
http://www.myspace.com/soundset
May 29th, Big Trouble will be playing at the 331 Club in NE Mineapolis. For those who don’t know, this is a mostly instrumental band featuring Twinkie, Peter, Josh, and occasionally others. There’s never a cover at the 331 Club. Just make sure you have a real ID.
On June 7th we’ll be playing at Grand Old Day street festival in St. Paul again. Last year was so fun we had to come back. We switched the spot to allow someone else to have a magical day down the block. This time we’re playing at Salut near Grand and Victoria. Salut is awesome, you are awesome, shouldn’t you be where you belong? Seriously, last year we had well over 5000 people watch us. This year I suppose we could try to top that. What do you think? -
http://www.grandave.com/grandoldday/
To switch gears a little bit, there is some news in what our good friends are up to. When we put out our album, Medium Zach from Big Quarters took the liberty of remixing one of our tracks. It sounds dope. I don’t think enough of you have heard it. Maybe I’ll get it on
http://heiruspecs.com/
sooner than later. Keep an ear out for that!
Big Quarters have released a new album called From the Home of Brown Babies and White Mothers. It’s ill. It’s worth a look at very least and you can check Big Quarters out at
http://www.bigquarters.blogspot.com/
Well worth checking out…
Speaking of friends, there’s a rumor going around that a guy wearing a Heiruspecs shirt just opened a new eatery in North East Minneapolis called, uh… NORTH EAST SOCIAL. I stopped in the other day and it was packed. Don’t tell everyone, they don’t have room. They do have our new album playing in the kitchen. The food is excellent and it’s on the corner of 13th St. and 4th Ave. NE. Now I’ve gone and said too much…
http://northeastsocial.com/
Stuff coming up or out over the next month -
Felix hosts GET CRYPHY on June 6th with Jimmy 2 Times and Plain Ole Bill -
http://www.myspace.com/cryphygetting
Maria Isa has a new album coming out – CD release party at First Avenue
Trivia Mafia is everywhere (pronounced; ER-VERR-EE-WHURR)
http://www.triviamafia.com/
For you speed demons, on May 30th, Felix and TMF Opposition present DDYK round 4 at Elko Speedway -
http://www.tmfopposition.com/
I feel like I missed something… I’m SURE I missed something. Updates to follow on
http://heiruspecs.com/
so stay tuned people!
