Hi everyone! I’m super excited to bring you all of this news. I’ve been slacking a little bit on the updates, but it’s because I’ve been busy doing promotion for my new album, Motherfuckers Be Bullshitin’, which is of course available on vinyl, CD and digital download at marcwithac.bandcamp.com. In the meantime, here’s some other stuff I can tell you about. Including a show that is happening TONIGHT (Tuesday, August 16th, 2011) in Orlando!
NEW AWARDS – Folks, I have to thank you wholeheartedly for voting for me in the yearly Orlando Weekly “Best Of Orlando” poll. For the second year in a row, you gentle souls have seen fit to vote that I, Marc With a C, am Orlando’s “Best Indie Act”. No, really, I’m still super blown away by it, I’m humbled, I’m flattered, and I love you guys dearly. Check out this link that proves I’m not totally out of my mind: http://orlandoweekly.com/boo/arts-entertainment/music-readers-picks-1.1174942
NEW-ISH SONGS – Later this year, I’ll be releasing my first ever outtakes/rarities album. It’ll contain songs recorded for various projects that I liked very much, but either a label dropped out, they didn’t fit in on the releases they were intended for, or they just didn’t fit anywhere else. I’ve been letting a few of the songs stream a few places. Here’s how you can hear some of them
“Show Me How To Shine Shoes” (http://retrolowfi.tumblr.com/post/7951131298/rappy-mcrapperson-and-mc-wreckshin-wrote-what): Rappy McRapperson and MC Wreckshin wrote what might be the catchiest song of 2010 with “Show Me How To Blow Dudes”. Unfortunately, you can’t play it on the radio, and you can’t sing it around the water cooler. To remedy this problem, Marc With a C humbly presents this to you…
“No London In Da Club” (http://retrolowfi.tumblr.com/post/8524773716/ive-been-literally-going-through-every-unlabeled): Around 2003-ish or so, my pal Chris Zabriskie was dabbling in a side project called DJ Hand Me That Allen Wrench. One day, he surprised me by making a “club mix” of the *demo* version of my song “No London In Brazil”. I’m still just as surprised as you are by it right now.
“Making Bacon On The Beach” (http://retrolowfi.tumblr.com/post/8017765616/in-2005-i-made-a-big-deal-out-of-quitting-my): In 2005, I made a big deal out of quitting my brand of acoustic-based sarcastic indie pop. My plan was to reinvent myself as the first lo-fi glam/hair metal artist to ever come out of Florida. It was clearly a joke, and one that I may have taken too far, as I didn’t even let on to some of my friends that I was kidding. My new stage name was to be Marc With a Perm. This song was to be my first single. It’s called “Makin’ Bacon On The Beach”. This is the first time (to my knowledge) that I have ever posted it anywhere without a heaping amount of bullshit stories surrounding it. (Really. I even had my closest friends going on this, and surprisingly, most of them still talk to me.)
NEW REISSUES – Share The Covers, Bitch!: Back in 2006, I released my first ever collection of covers by “various artists”. It was called Share The Covers, Bitch!, and it consisted of things that I mostly recorded for fun without ever really intending to release. For various reasons, the existing online versions were mastered from very lossy sources, and were somehow missing a song from the tracklist. For the first time ever, it’s now available from the master source, and you can download it for absolutely any price you’d like (which also means free, if you want) at marcwithac.bandcamp.com!
NEW SHOWS – Oh my, get a load of this upcoming list of gigs. More are coming, too!
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 @ Wills Pub, Orlando, FL 1042 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL 32803 Also appearing: Hamell On Trial, Lauris Vidal
9 PM, 18+, $8
Thursday, August 25th, 2011 @ McRaney’s Tavern, WInter Park, FL 1566 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789-4602
Also appearing: Adam Balbo, Chris Zabriskie
8 PM, 18+, $5 (This is Chris Zabriskie’s first solo show in three years!)
Saturday, August 27th, 2011 @ Devaneys, Winter Park, FL 7660 University Blvd, Winter Park FL 32792
Also appearing: Emergency Pizza Party, Rappy McRapperson, HD Ninja, Shinobi Onibocho
7 PM, free for 21+, under 21 = $2
Sunday, September 4th, 2011 Private event, not open to public
Friday, September 23rd @ Natura, Orlando, FL 12078 Collegiate Way, Orlando, FL 32817-2157
Also appearing: Patrick Scott Bell
All ages, free, doors @ 8 PM, show @ 9 PM (Be prepared for a long set, okay?)
October 15, 2011 @ Athens Popfest, Caledonia Lounge, Athens, GA
256 W. Clayton Street, Athens GA. Also appearing: The Dead Milkmen, Throwing Muses, Tunabunny, Olivia Tremor Control, Bob Mould, Man Or Astroman and many, many more.
More info to come.
Halloween Weekend, 2011 @ Universal Citywalk, Orlando, FL 6000 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, FL, 32819
Opening for: The Rich Weirdoes presentation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show!
This is the eighth year I’ve opened these shows. Once the exact dates and times are announced, buy your tickets immediately. THESE SHOWS WILL SELL OUT.
AND FINALLY, A NEW VIDEO – In case you get bored, my one-shot video series continues with another new one from Motherfuckers Be Bullshittin‘, and this time it’s “Since I Left My Baby, I Can’t Stop Flossing”. It’s not for the squeamish, but here it is:
All right folks, I think that’s about all that I can muster right now. Hope to see you at the upcoming shows, and please, don’t forget than anytime you want to, you can stream or download any Marc With a C album for free at marcwithac.bandcamp.com. You rule and are good at things.
As a musician that is not Jay-Z or Mick Jagger, I have less money than most people do. But as I’ve spent the bulk of the last few years recovering from various illnesses and injuries, I’m now at a point in my life where having a boring desk job is not only enticing and necessary, but also weirdly exotic.
I’ve been spending days trying to work up the best cover letter possible for my resume, in hopes of landing a job I can simply stand to go to every day. All the guides and workbooks tell you the same thing: “Be honest and original, yet professional. Convince the hiring manager that they need look no further in their pile of applications: You are what they want”.
It’s become increasingly clear to me that if I take that advice, I would end up with a cover letter that would likely be considered a joke, and would ensure never getting anyone to call me back, ever. But after much frustration and agony, I decided to write something completely honest, that displays my intentions and value openly, honestly and succinctly. Mostly just to get it out of my system. For your reading pleasure, here it is…
Hello, everyone! Hope that your new year is progressing in a spectacular fashion and such, so far!
Folks, it’s been a little while since I did one of these all-inclusive newsletters, and there’s a few things that I’d like to tell you about, if you’re up for it. I’m barely up for it myself, as I’m typing this to you with a pretty severe case of bronchitis, but I was feeling pretty guilty about my relative lack of communication as of late. I assure you that I’ve been been busy, though!
1. I’d like to thank everyone for watching and enjoying the video I was in with Sci-Fried, “A Star Wars Christmas“. I had a really good time during the filming, and we cleared over 20,000 views in about two weeks. We were even featured on I Can Haz Cheezburger! It was really awesome of Sci-Fried to offer me a spot on their holiday tune. My four year old self would totally want to give me a high-five over this.
2. I only have one upcoming show that I can announce at the moment, but it’s a pretty awesome one. On Saturday, January 22nd, I’m returning to The Laboratory in Gainesville, FL for a short set opening for MCRT, Rappy McRapperson and Emergency Pizza Party. You should totally come to it, if you can. It’s $5, all ages, and doors are at 9 PM. I’ve heard tales that this is going to be MCRT’s final show, so you may not want to sleep on this one.
3. Today, I’ve released an online only digital reissue of the soundtrack to the 2009 Wallflower Theater play that featured many of my songs. It’s called “Music From ‘Sex Times Three’“. I re-recorded these older songs for a special limited edition soundtrack that was only sold at the initial run of the play itself, and it has since been totally unavailable. It’s uncharacteristically restrained for me, but I must say that I prefer some of the reworked versions of the songs to their original recordings. You can get it at marcwithac.bandcamp.com on a “pay what you want” basis, which means that if you don’t want to pay for it, you don’t have to. (However, if you *did* want to throw some spare change my way, I am trying to raise money to release my next album, so I wouldn’t be offended, haha).
4. Speaking of albums that don’t cost anything, my best friend and partner in crime Chris Zabriskie just released a new album called “Stunt Island“. It’s fantastic. You can get it for no money whatsoever at his website. Your life will be better if you do.
5. And also, speaking of new albums, I hope to start recording my brand new album of new material soon. It’s a little more ambitious of a project than one might expect from me, so I’m taking a little extra time with it. I want to release it by the end of summer 2011. Earlier, if possible, but I’m not making any promises that I can’t keep…
6. …but I can pretty much promise that my new song “You’re My Princess” will make it to the next album. And would you believe that while I haven’t even released an “official” version of it yet, that it’s already been covered? It’s true! Benjamin Bear just released a new album called “Everything Left” that has his version of the tune. Aaaand his whole new record can also be downloaded freely! You can get it through this “Nerdcore Now!” link. Also, keep your ears peeled for my guest spot on his song “Broken Windows”. It’ll be coming out on his album “Tuesday“… I dunno, soon? But seriously, “Everything Left” is a pretty cool album, and odds are that you will enjoy it.
7. In case you missed it, over the holidays I released a new collection of covers called “Share The Covers, Bitch! (Part Three)”. It has my renditions of tunes by Jim Reeves, Guided By Voices, Jonathan Richman, Unicornicopia and – whaddya know? – the hip hop group that Benjamin Bear is in, Emergency Pizza Party. It’s available at marcwithac.bandcamp.com (as well as marcwithac.com). And so far, I’ve made two lo-fi videos for the album. One is for “Shine Avenue” (where you can check out my winter beard) and the other is for “La La Like You“. Like all of my digital releases, it’s “pay what you want”, which means that if you want it, you can just take it. No, really. Just have it. It’s for you!
8. And finally, WPRK’s Freaking Geek Show had a poll where folks were able to vote for their favorite nerdy things of 2010. And my friends, my album “Pop! Pop! Pop!” was voted “Alternative/Nerdy Album Of The Year”, receiving 52% of all of the votes in that category. Thank you so, so, so much. You can view the results right here, if you want!
And with that, I’ve gotta drag my sick ass back to bed. Hope you’re all doing well, and I hope to see you all soon. Thanks for reading!
Hello everyone. Long time no talk – I promise that I haven’t been avoiding doing my long-winded journal/blog entries, I’ve just been busy. Here’s a list of things that I’ve recently thought “hey, I should totally publish my feelings about this subject on the world wide web”.
1. I really love when I’m doing laundry and I find like a wadded up five dollar bill in the hamper, because then I feel like I’m getting paid to do housework. Read on »
Last week, I was voted “Best Indie Act Of 2010″ by the readers of the Orlando Weekly. That made me feel really good, and not more than just a tad bit shocked. If you voted for me, thank you very much. It goes to show that there are always way more people paying attention than I expect, and I’m glad that I have left enough of an impression on *anyone* to be called “the best”, let alone a whole city. You guys rule, seriously.
Also, in this last weeks issue of Orlando Weekly, my 2004 song “No London In Brazil” was voted as one of the “50 Best Orlando Songs” by none other than my pal Hex of Nerdapalooza fame. The fact that ANY of my songs was considered good enough for this honor is pretty humbling and exciting, but I’m really flattered that one of my personal favorites made the cut. I never get sick of that one, and I’m glad you folks haven’t either.
THE BAD:
You’ve probably heard about this by now, and if you haven’t… heh, pull up a chair.
Last weekend, I made my third appearance at the yearly Nerdapalooza festival. To say that it’s one of my most eagerly anticipated shows of the year by both the audience and myself would be a massive understatement. And while I would love to be spending the next few minutes telling you all about how awesome all of the acts were this weekend, (which they were, and I was especially blown away by Devo Spice, Dr. Awkward, MC Cool Whip… not to mention the absolutely mindblowing Sunday Service set by Emergency Pizza Party), and I would really love to go on at length about how much fun I had sharing the stage with Sci-Fried during their BLISTERING Saturday night show, (which you can see clips of here, including the premiere of the song I helped out on called “Foiled Again”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_VOWpuW4Ik), but instead… I’ve got to talk about the news of the moment.
At about 6 PM on Sunday night, I climbed onstage for my Nerdapalooza set. I had the thankless task of following the utterly explosive performance by Zealous1 & The Bossfights, and I was ready to take the task on headfirst. After a rousing introduction by Hex himself, I jumped into “Chicken Pox & Star Wars Guys” and everything was going pretty swell. Exactly halfway through the first verse of “Stairway To Rudolph”, I twisted to the right slightly, and at the exact same time the somewhat wobbly stage shifted under my feet (best as I’ve been able to put together, at least… this all happened really fast). At this point, I lost my balance and my kneecap popped out of socket. While trying to keep my feet planted on the ground to avoid the fall, I could feel a few more pops in my knee, and next thing I knew, I’m crumpled in a ball on the stage and my guitar has just bonked me on the head. I reach down and – without thinking – I pop my knee back in place by hand and ask one of the numerous people that had rushed onstage to check on me to get me a chair. As soon as I could hop onto the seat, I tried to pick up where I left off in the song, but my knee was throbbing pretty badly and I’m sure I butchered the rest of it.
I performed the rest of my set trying to balance mostly on my right leg, and I had to be pretty much carried off the stage after “Happy To Be Alive”. I did cut one song, to be fair, but I still played for about 25 of my scheduled 30 minutes. I know that a lot of people had come just to see my set, and even more folks had flown from all over the world to be there. I did my best not to let you all down, and I hope that you enjoyed the show despite the very, very obvious setback.
Within an hour of the end of my set, I had to quickly depart to go to an emergency room. My knee had swollen to the point where I could no longer pull my pants leg over it, so I knew it was pretty serious. We ended up at an ER near my house because apparently most walk-in clinics are closed on Sunday nights. They referred me to an orthopedic specialist, prescribed me a glorified bottle of Aspirin and sent me on my way. The following day, I pretty much couldn’t bend my leg at all.
THE REALLY, REALLY SUCKY:
By Tuesday afternoon, it was pretty clear that something was much, much more screwed up than we’d previously anticipated. After an MRI, I was told that my anterior cruciate ligament had been practically torn in half, and as was visible on the x-ray, there was a good inch and a half of fluid surrounding all parts of my knee… and my patella was at about a 45 degree angle from where it normally is.
In short? My knee is really fucked up. I’ve been ordered to stay off of it as much as possible for the next six weeks. Which means that I HAVE to cancel the August 7th show in Orlando where I was to play the “Normal Bias” and “Bubblegum Romance” albums in their entirety. Anyone that knows me can vouch that canceling anything EVER is abhorrent to every bone in my body – I’m pretty sure that I proved this on Sunday night with my Nerdapalooza performance. But in this case, I’m in no shape to perform a marathon show, and I certainly couldn’t even carry my own amplifier. In order to do the show, I’d be stricken to a chair, and it wouldn’t be any fun to watch…. hell, I’d probably be in too much pain to even sing well for any period of time, honestly. I am not going to waste anyone’s time when I know in advance that I will not be able to put on the kind of show that you have come to expect from me. And on top of that, if I *did* try to perform, I’d run the risk of screwing my knee up even worse than it is, and as much as I love playing my songs for you… I’m gonna need my left knee in the future.
So yes, to reiterate: my August 7th show at Stardust in Orlando, Florida is 100% canceled, I will reschedule it for later in the year, and maybe I’ll do it for this year’s annual holiday show, if you’d like. I will return to performing in early September. I hope this doesn’t disappoint or inconvenience anyone too badly.
Finally, I’d like to thank everyone for their super kind emails and well-wishes over the last few days. And especially Dr. Vern from Sci-Fried who made sure that I had crutches waiting for me offstage at the end of my set. So many people were amazing about coming to my aid that day, and I want you to know that I appreciate everything you all have done very, very much. I hope that I can get back to performing sooner than later, and that you’ll all be excited when I’m able to get back to doing the shows.
Love on ya,
Marc
PS: Since I had to shut down merch sales directly after my Nerdapalooza set (for obvious reasons), many of you had inquired about whether or not they could still get the RetroLowFi vinyl at the lowered pre-sale price, or if there were any left at all. The answer is: there are plenty left, and I’ll keep the price at twenty bucks for a few more weeks. Thanks for understanding.
