ubik. in Everett on Friday

so it's to be another northward trek for us on friday-- which is cool, because we've only played Everett once before. The tagline on this show is "Girls Rock!" (which, though true, only applies to 1/4th of ubik.), so we're opening for two other female-fronted bands out at Flights Pub. It's a free show, but we are opening, so broke is cool, but late isn't going to work out.

Here's the show post:

October 3rd
ubik. @ Flights Pub
w/ Truth Failed
& Holophrase
9:00 - FREE! - 21+

hmmm... online music sales

no one in ubik. really uses iTunes, so we're a little out of this loop... but The World Is A Glorious Biomechanical Nightmare is actually available for sale at the iTunes store. Lots of people use iTunes, so if any of you lovely, wonderful people are logged in, plugged in, and iTuning, you can shoot us some reviews in the iTunes world, and we'd love you for it.

ALL AGES show this Friday

We don't play nearly enough all ages show, so it's excellent to have this one in the mix.

September 26th

ubik. @ The L.A.B.
w/ Point Blank Range
& Enemy Camp
7:00 - $5 - ALL AGES!

Come to the High Dive: Sunday, Sep 21

Okay, so a little late on the show post... but we've sent out the mailing list and done the MySpace event invites, so everyone's probably already in the know.

But show posts are a tradition, so:

September 21st

ubik. @ High Dive
w/ 200 lb. Spider
& The Ever Changing Sky
7:00 - $5 - 21+

Shows coming up

Remember-- there isn't a show at the LAB on September 13th. (well, there is, but it doesn't have anything to do with us, and is therefore meaningless. Ha!) I know this stuff is on our shows page, but we don't want anyone's night to go south because they didn't know.

We are, however, at the LAB on September 26th... it's still a weekend (a Friday), it's still, all ages, and it's still free.

Even before that, though we're at the High Dive on Sunday, the 21st (which will serve you booze and charge you money, so it'll be sort of a different vibe), where we will be debuting a new song... if all goes according to plan.

...and then we go to Everett


Also-- ubik. is in the market for a practice space again, so if anyone knows of a place we can play on Wednesdays and Sundays (usually after 7:00PM), let us know.

new toys! ubik. on Twitter

Not to be left out of the thundering progress of the internet machine, ubik. can now provide all of you wonderful people with Twitter status updates. What's cool about this, you ask? Well twitter is a micro-blogging tool that does short bursts of info (I think it tops out at 150 characters), but is integrated into pretty much everything, and is a big deal in the Web 2.0 landscape. It's already the default Status ticker at ReverbNation, for example, and we've got it at the top of our News page as well.

Since Twitter can be updated by cell phone, it's pretty keen for at-the-show updates (as in: when we are going on) and keeping people posted while we're on the road and away from computers.

Abort! Abort!

Okay... a couple boffs, mix-ups, and random hits have taken a few shows off the boards.

First-- There is no show on September 6th in Queen Anne. We're not going to play that show, but will probably play Floyd's in Queen Anne at a later date.

Second-- No all-ages show at the L.A.B. on September 13th. There's a really crappy story behind that, but we're not there on the 13th. We are penciled in for September 26th, and we will probably be playing then.

It's better to play shows than not, but these things happen.

CD for sale online!

CD IN STORES NOW!

ubik.s album The World Is A Glorious Biomechanical Nightmare is available now both online and at record stores around seattle. Buy it online here:

... or you can find the CD at these stores in Seattle:

Cellophane Square - University District
4538 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 634-2280

Silver Platters - Queen Anne
In Lower Queen Anne (at the old Tower location)
701 5th Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 283-3472

Silver Platters - Northgate
9560 1st Ave NE,
Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 524-3472

on sale now: our new album!

the first ubik. album, The World Is A Glorious Biomechanical Nightmare, has just been released, and is currently available at Silver Platters record stores in Queen Anne and Northgate. We'll have these available at our shows, of course, and we're going to have them for sale online very soon (for anyone outside Seattle). For now, we're just happy to have the discs in-hand, and thrilled to have them in stores.

This is where you can get them:

Silver Platters - Queen Anne
In Lower Queen Anne (at the old Tower location)
701 5th Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 283-3472

and

Silver Platters - Northgate
9560 1st Ave NE,
Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 524-3472

Come play with us on Thursday

We're setting up at the Funhouse again this Thursday (August 14th), going on with the King's Cabaret and Burlesque show. Kind of an unusual gig for us... but that's a good thing. Points for variety and the rest of the fun stuff.

The show post looks like this

August 14th

ubik. @ The Funhouse
The King's Cabaret Burlesque
w/ Dino Haak
9:30 / $5

...but that's not even the half of it. There are tons of performers and acts for this one, so this should be a fun night out.

keeping it going...

Many thanks to everyone who came out to see us at the Rendezvous-- It was a Wednesday show (never anyone's favorite going-out-night), it was too hot to move (and even hotter in the Jewelbox Theater, where we played), and we didn't start until after 1:00AM... so, for everyone who saw us, you are the die-hards, wonderful people all.

Sorry we only played for about 20 minutes, though; it was just the way the night went, and we had to shut down before we could play all the songs on our setlist simply because the Rendezvous was closing down.

If you want to see a bit more, though, we're playing again really soon: an all ages show this sunday at the Squid & Ink, down in Georgetown. It'll be a longer set (promise), and it's always good to play all-ages shows.

last wednesday, this wednesday

ubik. had a great show at the final party at the Happy Lucky houseparty-- we love playing house parties, and were really lucky to have Jinza there to keep people off the pedalboards and to keep the mosh pit off the band. We'll be reuniting with the King's Cabaret later this month, even though the Happy Lucky Place is shut down, we're getting together at the Funhouse on the 14th.

...but that's still to come. This Wednesday we're playing a Ladies Choice Presents show, returning pretty quickly to the Rendezvous. That mean's we're running the visuals with the show... though it's important that the class not get so rowdy the teacher has to flip the lights on during the filmstrip (that was a real buzzkill last time).

oh, wow...

jesus... now that was a fucking Monkey Pub show!

the show completely kicked ass, several of us drank way too much afterward-- the whole night was a big ball of good. We have to thank everyone that came out, not only skipping the Capitol Hill Block Party (which, as far as we can tell, is largely haircut based), but also The Melvins. For as much as I love me some Melvins, saturday was one of the amazingly fun ubik. shows. Yay!

we've got a lot on our plate right now-- we have a house party to play on wednesday, to a Ladies Choice show at the Rendezvous on sunday, and more... check out our shows page for more details.

Also, the CD is at the pressing plant, and we're pretty excited to get those discs pressed in everyone's hands.

Saturday show at the Monkey...

It's Monkey Pub time again-- this time ubik's up with the B-Side Project. Everyone probably knows by now how ubik. feels about The Monkey, but this time it's enhanced by a panda suit. Joel will be in full panda garb, matched by Monkey Pub stalwart (and bartender) Anthony in a bunny suit.

This will make everyone else in the room look comparatively normal. Face it-- you can't pass up that kind of opportunity.

Here's the show post:

July 26th
ubik. @ The Monkey Pub
w/ The B-Side Project
$5 / 9:30

Thanks for all the orders

Okay, crew, the pre-orders on the new ubik. album are now closed-- thanks to everyone who placed an order, but now it is time to count our pennies, fill out the forms, and send that puppy off to be mass produced. So if you didn't pre-order a disc, you'll have a crack at the instant gratification version (hand us money, get a disc!) in another show or two. We'll also be selling them online.

Coming slightly sooner than the album, ubik. does have an upcoming show at the Monkey Pub, with the B-Side project. It's a saturday night show at one of the few bars we always go to-- the people are good, the drinks are cheap, and (when we're not playing) the jukebox is fantastic.

Last Chance to order

ubik.s just about ready to send our stuff off to the plant. This disc is ready to go, and go it shall. We've got to get these into production in order to get the pre-order people their copies by early August (as promised)... therefore, this weekend is your last chance to get on the pre-order bus.

Come monday, you'll just have to wait.

The link's still the same... but here it is, regardless:

$6.50*

*The pre-order has closed-- we're putting in the order and will have physical CDs for you soon.

Pre-order the new ubik.EP today!

The 6-song CD, The World Is a Glorious Biomechanical Nightmare, is finished and will be packaged and printed before the summer is out. Pre-ordering helps a band finance the physical production of the disc, and speeds up the process of getting them produced.

The CD sells for $5.00, but we need to cover shipping and packaging (we need to buy a bunch of CD mailers), as well as covering PayPal's back end, so the flat price for the Pre-Order is $6.50. That gets the disc on your doorstep as fast as the postmaster general gets the CDs to us.

$6.50*

*The pre-order has closed-- we're putting in the order and will have physical CDs for you soon.

Benefit show on Saturday

ubik.s playing the Benefit Show for Metal in Iraq this saturday, which is a benefit show for Acrassicaudi (the band that is the subject of the documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, which played at SIFF this year).

July 5th
ubik. @ the Rendezvous
w/ The Keeper
& Shogun
$5 / 10:00PM

The Rendezvous is one of our favorite places to play, and we'll have our video backdrop rolling for the set (the Rendezvous is fantastic for video).

mutantfest pics, anyone?

so... ubik. had a great time at the autonomous mutant festival, but we don't have any pics of the shows. I know, I know, if we wanted photos, we should have made arrangements, but if anyone has any ubik. at mutantfest pictures, please send them to us.

We're at ubikband@gmail.com

MutantFest 2008

ubik. partook in the Autonomous Mutant Festival (or AMF) last weekend, and man, what a weekend. We pulled in on Friday just in time to catch (A)symetric Warfar(e) start their show at Wondercamp at sundown. Then it was Red Rapture, then ubik., then In The Age Of Terminal Static, Wondercamp's hosts. That first night was fraught with difficulties as we tried to work out generator power and basic Show At Camp fundamentals (which we'd never had to deal with before). Michelle's processor hates generators, and we powered her with the electricity from (A)symetric Warfar(e)'s completely kick-ass tour van (a former bread truck).

ubik.s sound is fairly dependent on Michelle's ability to echo and distort... that Digitech vocal processor (the purple people eater) has been tweaked and customized over time to the point where Michelle really plays it like an instrument over several songs-- recording the EP (almost done!) was a crash course on how inimitable that thing is. You can't take a dry vocal and make it sound like Michelle sang it through the Purple People Eater with post-effects-- you have to use the original effected vocals. We can't live without it.

We played pretty much every song we knew that night... we didn't have a setlist, and everything ended with "what should we play next?" We didn't exactly put on a "show," but we played for a long time, to a big crowd, and everyone had a good time. We closed with The Planet's Kerploding!, and since Tyler's toes had frozen, we had to stop.

Saturday night at AMF went more smoothly, after we'd learned about generators, camp setups, and how to get all of this done. Red Rapture, ubik., and then In The Age Of Terminal Static again at Wondercamp-- (A)symetric Warfar(e) played over at Unicorn Camp that night, to one of the best mosh pits I've seen in years. ubik.s set leaned towards the mellow and the trippy, simply because Michelle's scream seems to scare off some of the more chemically enhanced campers. Of course, we still played Seven Feet Under, and we closed with No Such Thing As an Open-Ended Equation, but it was the kind of night where we brought out Silence, which isn't on our setlist too often.

The voyage was... eventful. After testing the ubik.van (now possibly named Rita, Edith, or Bruno) past Portland, plus another hundred-plus miles on Route 26, we learned that we do, thankfully, have a spare tire in there somewhere, but no jack. ubik.van was also carrying Andre, of Red Rapture, and Andre and Joel worked out a frightening-looking contraption out of a rock, a piece of lumber, and two borrowed jacks... and the wobbly, oversized spare tire happened. After limping to Madras for nearly an hour on a temporary spare (emblazoned with "do not exceed 55mph"-- I don't think we exceeded 45, due to wobble), we did learn that Les Schwab is the most awesome franchise in the country-- those guys had us rolling again in less time than it took to buy camp groceries.

We also had an odd issue where the van lost power and needed a jump. A nice woman attempted to pray over the engine (lord, please let this car start), but, for some reason, that didn't help. Jumper cables did, though. I think our van is more into Science than jesus, but, hey, whatever floats your boat. They were going to look us up on MySpace, and we don't want to seem ungrateful (we really needed that jump), but I can't imagine them digging a song like External Retraction... which is fairly overt in its anti-religious message. (unlike Glitch. I had to have that one explained to me.)

Regardless, we made it, there and back again. Andre maintains that the four of us actually manage to be more odorous than Jeremy (the other half of Red Rapture. If you're not listening to Red Rapture, it's your loss. Seriously)... but that was after a few days of camping. We're all really happy to be back in the land of toilets and showers again. Playing out of state let us meet some Oregoneons, and hopefully have a line on playing Portland sometime soon, which we've always wanted to do.

ubik.s playing in Seattle again in about two weeks, 4th of July weekend, and we're all geared up for the Autonomous Mutant Festival next year, too. We might stay longer and play later. We'll work it out.