View The Blog

One last show before the equinox...September 16th

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 07:05:00 GMT

Hey all! Thanks for so much support over the summer...we had a string of great shows (thanks to you all), and had a blast! We're honored to be the special guests for the inaugural Oddfellow Music showcase with our good friends October Babies, Dragon Wagon, The Afternoon Round, 16 More Miles, and Satchel Jones! This is definitely our last show before the equinox (you know - September 23rd - the official start of autumn), and it may be our last show this year. We've got some plans to record this fall that will probably keep us busy through the end of the year. If you've been thinking of catching a View show this year, this may be your last time to do so. We hope to see you! - View - Aric, BJ, Erik, and Justin

Still kickin'

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:55:00 GMT

Hey folks...BJ here. just wanted to update you on what's happening in the View world!

We're hoping you're having a stellar 2011. Yeah, it's only March 1st, but we set the bar high.

We've been working on a slew of new songs - seven complete, a few more close. We'll be looking to test some of these new songs in front of an audience or two in the coming months...so keep an eye out for that!

We've got some summer / fall shows in the works - some outdoor / family friendly, and some indoor / not so. When we know more, it'll be posted here.

Here's hoping spring is coming to your part of the world soon...

BJ / View

Whew!

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:51:00 GMT

Hi all! BJ here. We're in the midst of a marathon of shows, with last night's show in Canton being the kickoff. Thanks to all who listened - you were a great crowd! Tonight we've added a last minute show at the Wayne County Fair in Belleville, MI. We're on the Canton Live Stage from 5-7pm. From 5-6, it'll be Erik and me acoustically, and we'll be joined by Justin for an electric set from 6-7pm. Admission to the fair is free - parking is $2. On Friday, we travel to Jackson for a show at the Jackson Coffee Company. Our friends Karen and Bart Hawley over at JTV (aka Jackson TV) will have a couple of live videos of View on the show today from 1-3pm. The show will replay at 5, 8, and 11 PM today, and again at 2 an 5 AM on Friday. You can watch it over at http://www.jtv.tv. After this, we've got a bit of a break, with a couple of babies expected in the next two months. We're planning on writing, and possibly recording through the winter, so we'll have some new music to share. Thanks for all your support! Aric, BJ, Erik, and Justin

Thanks!!

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:15:00 GMT

We want to say a huge thanks to everyone who voted for us in the FOX Rocks / Bon Jovi contest! Although we didn't win, we really appreciated all the support and votes!! We were truly amazed at all the support...thanks! What do you think of the new website design? Let us know in the comment section below! We've got some new shows coming up, with our next show on March 27th at Goodnite Gracie in Ann Arbor. (More info on the Shows page.) Also, we've posted some new live recordings and an interview on the Music page. Check 'em out, and come see us soon!! BJ, Erik, and Justin View

We had a great time...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:05:00 GMT

...on the MItch Albom show. Thanks for listening and checking out View - and thanks to Mitch, Ken, and Ray (studio sound wizard at WJR) for having us on the show and making us feel welcome!

Ray was kind enough to provide us with our excerpts from the show, so if you missed it, you can check it out here:

http://www.viewtheband.com/go/music-album-download?id=30821

The link is a download of all the excerpts, or you can find it on the Music page.

Thanks again for listening, and we'll see ya at the Keystone Underground Martini Bar on Wednesday!!

- BJ, Erik, and Justin

BIG News From View

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:55:00 GMT

First, Happy New Year everyone! 2009 was a challenging year, but we all made it through - and we even have a sweet new CD to show for it!

Let's cut right to the chase - we have some great news to share with you. View will be appearing on The Mitch Albom Radio Show on Tuesday, January 19th!! We will be providing musical entertainment interspersed throughout the entire 5pm-7pm broadcast on WJR 760AM.

Mitch Albom is seemingly everywhere - in books, on the radio, on television, on the Web. He is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, and the current smash Have A Little Faith. You can find Mitch's fine sports writing in The Detroit Free Press. Perhaps you saw ABC Televison's airing of The Five People You Meet In Heaven back in 2004...or maybe you've watched one of the delightful "Mitch Albom Live" webisodes sponsored by Borders. Then there are Mitch's service endeavors, such as The Dream Fund, which helps provide funding to expose children to the arts. And of course, there's Mitch's daily show on Detroit's WJR 760AM News/Talk Radio.

No matter how you look at it, Mitch Albom is an amazing talent - and a great advocate for Detroit. And we are thrilled to be a part of one of his broadcasts! Be sure to tune in to WJR 760 AM on Tuesday, January 19th between 5pm and 7pm to listen to the latest from Mitch Albom, and hear some of the latest music from View. Live outside the Detroit broadcast area? No problem! You can listen live on the web at either www.wjr.com, or on Mitch's web site at www.mitchalbom.com. Can't listen live? No problem! You can also download PodCasts of the show at the same web sites.

Obviously we're VERY excited, and we hope you are too. Please tune in and enjoy the show on the 19th!

-BJ, Justin, and Erik

Upcoming for View

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:25:45 GMT

A couple months and no news from View? Well, we've been busy in our absence.

Right now here's what we're doing:

Getting ready for our gig on Thursday at the Club Above. Make sure to come out for that one!
Wading through hours upon hours of new ideas looking for something that might stick.
Updating the website (look for that later on this month)
Some other top secret things we can't discuss til next year. Keep an eye out!

See you all on Thursday!

BJ, Erik, and Justin

Thanks - the album's now available!!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Thanks to all who came to the CD release party at Frenchie's on Saturday! We had a great time, and from the looks and sounds of it, you did too!

Please keep spreading the word on this new music! The album is now available for digital download under the Music link...and can be ordered as a CD under the Merch link.

We hope to see you soon!

BJ, Erik, and Justin

Update...

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:05:00 GMT

Congratulations to the Electromags for winning the 89X Battle of the Bands last night!

Thanks to the Necto, 89X, Miller Lite, and the Specs Howard team for putting on the show, promoting it, doing interviews with us afterwards, and generally treating us all like rock stars!

And thanks again to all of you who came out and supported us (and the other bands) last night...you're the reason we keep playing.

Look for an announcement on our CD release party shortly...you can save the date Saturday, October 24th...

Thanks...

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:15:08 GMT

...to everyone who came out to the 89X Battle of the Bands tonight! We don't know the results yet, but we'll let you know when we do...

Whatever happens, you all rock!!

BJ, Erik, and Justin

Battle of the Bands Show

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:50:00 GMT

Thanks to all who came out for the Liberty Plaza and Gap shows! We had a blast at each...two very different shows, both with great friends and fans!

So we have some news...we just recently booked a last-minute show for September. The opportunity was too good to pass up - and now we need your help.

We've signed up for an 89X Battle of the Bands at The Necto in Ann Arbor on Sunday, September 13th. The winner opens for Billy Talent at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit on Tuesday, September 15th.

Obviously, winning the competition would be great...but even better would be filling The Necto with you all! The judging is based 50% on performance, and 50% on attendance. This is where you come in. We realize this is a Sunday night, but we've got a few incentives for you to come.

First, it's cheap. You can get tickets from us for $2...which is how we'd prefer it...or you can pay $2 at the door.
Second, it's early. We've been told we were selected to play first, and doors are at 9pm - we're supposed to go on right away.
Third, the Necto is an awesome venue. Sound is top notch. Pics of the place can be found here: The Necto at Myspace
Fourth, and it's the biggie here...

We'll be eternally grateful. For real.

So make your plans now to spend Sunday night, September 13th with us at The Necto in Ann Arbor. You won't be disappointed.

Our next show will be a CD release party, and it's tentatively going to be at a venue in Ypsilanti...we'll post more details as soon as we have them.

BJ, Erik, and Justin

Almost there...and what it's like to be a rock star...

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:00:00 GMT

We're almost done with the album. Really. We actually have complete final mixes of some songs, we've taken pictures for the artwork, coordinated with a graphic artist, and decided on the packaging...so things are happening. We'll definitely update you when we have a date and venue for the release party...let us know if you have any suggestions! booking@viewtheband.com.

But even with all that, we're not really rock stars (unless you count Justin, of course.) But anyway, here's a bit of insight into what it's like to be a musician in a local band who's out there playing shows.

Shows are crazy. There's the organization of the show itself - coordinating with the venue for the date (and with the babysitters if necessary), securing and/or coordinating with the other acts, deciding and compromising on the order of the acts and the split of the door, planning a set list, rehearsing, promoting on the website, Facebook, MySpace, through posters, newspapers, radio, to all your family, friends, co-workers, enemies, random people on the street...

Don't get me wrong. Most venues and bands are easy to work with, and used to dealing with all sorts of situations. We wouldn't do this if we didn't love you all and want to share our music!

So the day / night of the show comes. You pack up your gear, and...

...the babysitter's late, and your bandmate's car breaks down. You work it out, load up the vehicles, drive to the venue, and when you finally get to the gig, any or all of these can happen (and they have...these are real life examples from yours truly):

The sound person's late
The venue doesn't have their (or any) sound equipment
The venue doesn't have you on the roster
One of the acts doesn't show up on time or at all
The other act tries to get a bunch of underage people into the venue (especially fun if you coordinated the bill)
It's winter, and the furnace doesn't work, so it's about 40F in the venue
There's been a fire at the venue that day, and they have shut the place down
It's snowing, sleeting, hailing, raining, sunny, windy, cold, and hot (all in the same day)
There's no place to stow your gear
You have to wait outside while they clean the venue
Anyone other than immediate band members have to wait outside / downstairs while you load in.

You make the best of it. It's exciting. You're getting to share the music you create with your friends at a cool venue, and on a really good night, you even get to share it with people you don't know too...

Sometimes, it all comes together. The babysitter shows up on time, everyone's vehicles work, you're headed to a venue you love and have played before. The other acts are great, cool people you like to hang out with. Everyone's on time, prepared, and in a good mood. You know the sound person, and they rock. Lots of people come. The other acts play on time, bring people, and are respectful - even helpful - to you and to each other.

So with all that, one of the most important aspects of a show is your equipment. It has to work, in all types of conditions...even after getting carted all over, torn down, set up, left in the cold or heat for hours, getting beer spilled on it, hanging out in smoky clubs, etc. It just has to work.

So I (BJ) recently ran into an issue with one of my pieces of equipment. I've had it for a while, and really grown to love it - a Digitech GNX2 guitar multi-effects pedal. Yep, that thing I stomp on on stage at each show. It HAS had a beer spilled on it. Still works.

Until...

You try and use it in the sunlight. And the display washes out. As in, it's on, but you can't read it at all. Here's a pic - yes, it is on:

Unreadable. Even with good shading, it's unreadable.

Now this has been a good pedal. It was affordable, sounded great, was very flexible, and did almost all I wanted. Except play nice out of doors. And to boot, it was made in the USA!

So, I (BJ still) recently made a purchase. And I want to sing its praises from the rooftops of the world. AND, I even have a picture of it in the sunlight:

Notice the difference?

I sure hope you will, at the next show, August 15th at Liberty Plaza.

When I can see my pedal (and its built in tuner) in the sunlight.

Provided it doesn't rain...

Hey! An Update!

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:07:33 GMT

Yeah... I kinda blew it on the updates. Three months inbetween posts? My bad...

On a more positive note, we are planning on a couple dates in June and August for a Liberty Plaza show in Ann Arbor. It's a great outdoor venue and we had a lot of fun playing there last year so we hope to keep the good times rolling.

I know I've been saying we're close to finishing the album for a while, but we really are making a lot of headway. BJ has been a madman on the mixing board and doing a great job at the same time!

We'll have a few more updates soon! We should also have a new song or two up on the site in a couple days so keep an eye out for it! More to come...

BJ, Erik, and Justin

It's Show Time!

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:30:00 GMT

Hey everyone!

We're just letting you all know that we are making good progress on the new CD. BJ is doing an awesome job mixing the songs and we hope to have some cover art completed soon as well.

Also as a reminder, we have a show coming up on February 6th at Simon's Tavern in Allen Park. We're playing alongside the very talented Broken Day Machine (www.myspace.com/brokendaymachine) and it promises to be a fun evening. And if you haven't been to a show recently, you may not know that we have new shirts available as well. Erik's design for them is killer, so make sure to pick one up (this item is NOT available in stores).

Happy Super Bowl Sunday to everyone! (Go Cardinals! - From Justin)
~ BJ, Erik, and Justin

Let's Open Up The New Year!

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:10:00 GMT

Hey all! Been a while hasn't it? Yes, the powerhouse that is View will be back in full force on February 6th at Simon's Tavern in Allen Park. It's going to be an awesome show as we're opening for the one and only Broken Day Machine. Check them out at www.brokendaymachine.com or www.myspace.com/brokendaymachine. It's going to be a great time with great music so come on out and help us celebrate our first show of the year! View will also be taking part of the Motor Live Drive hosted by WHFR 89.3FM in Dearborn / Detroit on January 15th. The on-air show begins at 5:00PM so listen in for some live music and get to know the band a bit better! There will also be a podcast available on their website (whfr.fm) following the on-air show so if you can't listen to it live, you can always access it later! We are still working on that elusive second album. We have finished a few of the songs and are very pleased with them so far. We're very excited to get it into your hands in the next couple months. That's all for now! Remember to listen in this Thursday to 89.3FM at 5pm and we will see everyone on February 6th! ~ BJ, Erik, and Justin

TC's Speakeasy To Close

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It's unbelievable to us, but TC's Speakeasy in Ypsilanti is closing. If you want to stop by before they do so, you'd better do it tonight. We'll miss TC's, particularly the staff (Christine, Kristy, Nina, R.C, Chops, Jeannine, Jamie, Scooter, and hopefully we didn't miss anyone!), and the great musicians we've met (too numerous to mention here)...

The Ypsilanti musical community will miss all that you do, and so will we.

Hope to see you all again soon somewhere close by.

MLive article

The Home Stretch and T-Shirts

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:55:00 GMT

Another month has gone by, and where did it go? In some ways we know - the last drum tracks for the forthcoming album were finished tonight, and there's not much more instrumentation left. Three songs of bass and guitar, and then on to vocal tracking and mixing. Amazing. We're looking for a fall release.

We hope to see you on July 11th at the Crossroads Music Festival in downtown Ypsilanti. It's a great outdoor show, free, and all ages. We should also have new t-shirts by then!

Come on out and see us.

View
~BJ, Erik, and Justin

We're still alive...

Wed, 21 May 2008 23:55:00 GMT

There's a couple pieces of news we wanted to share with you. First off, we have a show coming up June 1st at The Elbow Room in Ypsilanti. It's going to be an awesome time, and everyone (21+) is invited! We'll send out a reminder a bit later.

Secondly, we have a new area which will start housing some of our music. www.thesixtyone.com/viewtheband It seems to be a great little site, so we thought we'd give it a shot. Up currently for listening are two new songs and a special live recording of a song we played at TC's Speakeasy on May 9th. Enjoy!

And lastly, we want to say that we haven't fallen off the face of the earth yet. We're still kicking strong and working on finishing that elusive second album. So keep an ear out for some more updates, and we'll keep you posted!

View
~BJ, Erik, and Justin

Ypsilanti Crossroads

Sun, 04 May 2008 23:40:00 GMT

Two pieces of great news - we'll be playing a lot of new music at the TC's Speakeasy show this Friday, so don't miss it! And, we've been selected for the Ypsilanti Crossroads Music Festival for the second year in a row - so we'll be opening for Jesse Passage and the Lodge on July 11th. Check out the Ypsilanti Crossroads Music Festival:

See you Friday!!
View
~BJ, Erik, and Justin

Support TC's Speakeasy!

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 23:40:00 GMT

First off, TC's Speakeasy (one of our favorite venues and the location of our next show), has been nominated for Best Live Venue in WDIV's VOTE 4 THE BEST. They need your help. Please follow the directions below to vote for TC's. They (and we) thank you and appreciate all of your help and support.

Go here:
http://wdiv.cityvoter.com/details.aspx?business=48422

and click VOTE!

Also, Berkley Music in Berkley, MI has been helping our lead guitarist (Craig) out for a while now, and they've taken REALLY good care of him (and, consequently, View), so, go on over and vote for them too!

Go here:
http://wdiv.cityvoter.com/details.aspx?business=44110

and click VOTE!

You'll need to enter your email address and click Submit, then check your email and confirm your vote.

To see the whole Vote 4 the Best site, go to http://wdiv.cityvoter.com

Be sure to check out our upcoming shows the next couple of weeks, and stay tuned to 89X next Sunday at 10PM on the Home Boy Show for a new VIEW song!!!!

Cheers,

~BJ, cRAiG, Erik, and Justin