RIP Antibubbles (2008-2013)
Hi everyone -- long time no talk. After some thought, I've decided to move Antibubbles down a notch from "not doing anything for a while" to "definitely probably not doing anything for a while." We were already pretty much broken up as a band, but until now I still had the concept of Antibubbles on the backburner, with plans to get it going again sometime in the near future. It's been a long journey since Osamu, Matt and I got together in Devour's old practice space back in the summer of 2008, and I think I'm finally ready to open the window and release Antibubbles back into the wild.
To all my friends who have played in Antibubbles -- Matt L., Osamu, Judy, Geoff, Matt H. Anne, Seth, Brandon, Joe and Jon -- I couldn't be more thankful to you for helping to realize my vision, or more happy with how it turned out. Thank you all so much.
The aforementioned 10 individuals are all awesome and talented people, and I heartily recommend checking out the bands these people have been in post-Antibubbles, if you haven't heard them:
Matt L. (the original drummer of Antibubbles) also played with me in Devour, which was active from 2008-2011. After he played drums in Antibubbles, he pretty much set the bar for intense hardcore vocalists in Raleigh in the band Stripmines. He remains an all-around tight dawg with a fiery passion for adorable cats.
Osamu had to resign as Antibubbles' first bassist when he moved to Wilmington in 2009, then taught English to schoolchildren in Japan for a couple years before moving back to NC. About a year ago we started a power-punk (somewhere between power pop and pop-punk) band called No Love -- I play drums, and he plays bass and sometimes makes me rice balls in exchange for driving him to practice.
Geoff now plays guitar in Last Year's Men, a super good garage rock band based out of Carrboro. They've been pretty noteworthy in the Triangle area over the past few years. Check 'em out!
Matt H. lives in San Francisco and plays in an "Arabic surf rock" band called the Arabs. He's one of the most talented musicians I've ever had the pleasure of playing with, and a generally awesome person. The last time he was in town, my dog chewed up (and broke) his phone, which I still feel kinda terrible about. Sorry Matt! :(
Anne is playing in a folk-punk band with her brother called (appropriately) My Brother, My Sister and she's ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED! CONGRATS ANNE! :D
Seth continues to be a staple of cool/fun things that I enjoy about Raleigh. He plays bass in Black Zinfandel and guitar in No Love.
Brandon has become part of a very successful indie video game developer whose first hit was Flight Rising, which is kind of like Neopets but with dragons. I'm eager to see what he'll cook up next!
Joe moved back to Ohio recently, which makes me sad. In NC after Antibubbles, he was in an alt-twang band called Rockville Records for a bit. I'll miss his basslines, his impeccable taste in music and his sweet and hilarious demeanor. I'll never forget how he brought us a cookie cake with "Pick me bubbles" written in icing when he showed up at our practice space for his bass audition. Is it any surprise that he got the spot!?
Jon was only a part of Antibubbles for our last show, but it was great getting to know him during that handful of rehearsals and through playing in a Pixies cover band with him for a Halloween show the October prior (2012). He's a helluva drummer and a very talented and nice young man.
Some of my fondest Antibubbles memories include geeking out over opening for Anamanaguchi twice, partying hard at that one house show we played in Asheville, NC (the farthest from home we've ever played), having an excellent time hanging out with Brick Mower and Bridget & the Squares, both times that both of those (unrelated) bands (from separate cities) came through and played shows with us, recording an absolutely ridiculous Christmas album, being Weezer at the Halloween show at GSS House 2 in 2010, and playing an outdoor show at Ultimate Comics in Chapel Hill on Free Comic Book Day, having agreed beforehand that all 4 of us would wear cutoff jorts, tank tops and shades. Memmmmorrrieeessss.... *sniff*
Antibubbles.com is set to expire sometime in April 2014, and I do not plan on renewing it. It's been swell, everyone. Even with Antibubbles not "a band" anymore, I will carry its spirit with me in future musical endeavors. You can probably expect to hear some similar projects from me at some point in my life.
Oh yeah -- I have boxes upon boxes of unsold Antibubbles merch that I'll be happy to part with for super cheap. How does free sound? Well, not totally free if you want me to ship it to you. If you live in the area and want some free Antibubbles stuff, just ask and ye shall receive. If you don't live in the area, shoot me an email and let me know what you want, and I'll gladly ship it to you for just the price of shipping!
Here's what I've got:
Pop LP (2009) -- Our first record. 500 pressed on candy apple red vinyl, includes full-color lyric sheet and a CD of the album!
Planet Xanax 7", 2011. Planet Xanax b/w New Side of You. 300 pressed on pink marbled swirl vinyl. Includes a digital download of the two tracks + two bonus tracks!
Catawampus 4-song CD EP, 2012. Probably our best work. Has lots of cats on it.
T-shirts designed by Laurie Shipley. High-quality navy blue American Apparel shirts with black, white and yellow ink. Size M, L, XL. (we sold out of size S -- sorry! These shirts do run small though, so if you're on the border-line between S and M and want one, a size M should fit you just fine)
Big, fancy, full-color, 4" x 4" stickers!
OK, that's all. Bye!
Dave
(Oh, P.S., we also have really cool black buttons with our white cat silhouettes logo and Japanese characters that are pronounced something like "Antibubble." I don't have pictures of them, but trust me, they're cool and you want some.)
