these are strange times indeed

Blog references in real life make for interesting conversation. Very cool to know a lot of people read 'life in the catacombs'.

Happy 1 year Qatalyst. Thanks for the party. Can't wait for year two.

Our set at Non Violence was unfortunately canceled. Mother nature and her rain have bested us this time. I would suggest some sort of violent reaction is necessary, but that would contradict the whole Non Violence theme. We can instead be thankful for the hydration.

In constant limbo,

Greg

these are strange times indeed

Grad House

Thanks for giving us a sweet night KW. It's always good to play the homebase.

Now go bitch at Sexdwarf to finish their fucking record.

g

Grad House

Y108

Hey all,

If you missed the interview on Y108 with McFee, you can download it here.

Andre mentioned that out of all the bands they have had on 'Get Hammered' he had by far had the most requests for Vacuity.

Do you know what that means?

It means that you guys fucking rule.

Thanks.

Love ya.

Greg

Y108

Grad House rehearsals

We're playing at The Grad House this Thursday with our friends SEXDWARF and CHILDEBEAST.

Rehearsal. Count those strings.


Some kind of monster frequents Purgatory.


Us Juicin' it up in front of an SUV limo.


More ducks. This time alive.

Y108 will be airing a short interview with McFee tonight at 1130. Tune in.

G

Grad House rehearsals

demos

demos

Greg and The Animal Kingdom

So Dude.....what's with you and all the dead animals? First the duck....now the bird? I seriously hope you have nothing to do with the deaths of these animals... We have already been down this road...and we are not going down it again. Leave the creatures alone....you're sick.

Get some sleep.
p.

Greg and The Animal Kingdom

baby bird and hungry cat

Today Rob, Emeri and I we were setting up microphones to record a few demos. We're working on a bunch of material - all of it resting somewhere between a wide spectrum of complete and incomplete. Paul wasn't with us as he was checking out a Rickenbacker bass in Mississauga. He loved it, but it was not meant to be so he didn't end up purchasing it.

At one point during the day. I had to head back home to grab a pair of headphones for the session. I hoped onto my ebike (I'm soooo fucken progressive) and set off down the street. After about 10 feet I noticed a bird on the road, directly in my path. Seeing as it wasn't about to move I slammed on the brakes and almost spilled the bike. My father would kill me for doing that, but it was my first reaction.

A closer look at the bird. Young and injured. Not going to make it. Movement from the corner of my eye - a cat under the nearest car. Stand in the street looking confused for a few minutes. Guide the bird to the boulevard and let nature run it's course.

G

baby bird and hungry cat

sunrise vs sunset

i've been scootering through the park around sunrise everyday this week. always an enjoyable and slightly sureal experience. earlier in the week I didn't see a single car and the world was completely silent. During the night the geese and ducks had made their way close to the edge of the park/road.

I felt like I was cruising through a world where the population of humans had just vanished. That, coupled with all the post apocalyptic novels I've been reading made it quite the ride. I had been watching the park to my left and when I returned my attention to the road I saw a crow feasting on the still steaming breast of a mallard duck. The crow didn't flinch as I passed by, it just met my gaze, and followed.

We keep weird hours. Emeri and I have mused that perhaps there are less brain waves, cell phone signals, etc floating around between 12am-6am. If anyone gives you a hard time about sleeping until 230 in the afternoon just ask them where they were when the sun came up.

g

sunrise vs sunset

Red Rooster debrief

Had a great time at the Red Rooster last night. Everyone at that place is so friendly: crowd, staff, bands, roosters.

Next show is June 5th in Waterloo. A few weeks off to work out some new material will be quite nice.

Cheers!

G

Red Rooster debrief

cat got your tongue?

why dont you comment?

...we have google analytics... we know you read it.

we believe we're not monsters

g

cat got your tongue?

Red Friday

So we'll be playing The Red Rooster on Friday night. It's always fun and they actually promote bands... yes I said promote.

It's a funny word... "promote." See I am going to try not to go off on a big tangent ...but I am pretty sure everybody knows the meaning of promote. For example... Your birthday is coming up... you host a big party... you tell no one... maybe people who know you enough show up... but that's it. Now say you told people... now do you think this might help the party?

My next question.... say your working title was Wedding Planner and the only actual planning you did was book the hall... now should you have to change your title to something like...um I don't know... Directer of Hall booking? and should you still make the wage of a Wedding Planner?...

See music is a funny industry too...

Anywhooo like I was saying we are at the Rooster on Friday and it'll be a good time had by all. Always a great crowd and if you were around for that crazy Mr. Rogers endeavor... you might have just heard a few new tunes wees bee workin' uprron. Saying that we might end up unleashing these bastard beasts on Friday.

Burlington is fun!!!
give us your money...

p.

Red Friday

Hosed

Last night we played the Rogers Spring Music Festival. We weren't televised, which was their angle for harassing us to promote like hell, and we were treated with a lot less respect than the other bands we were sharing the stage with. It was your typical crooked bullshit.

I won't go into anymore detail, because I don't like to whine. Needless to say, it was a stressful night.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the shit trenches I lose my head, but once we start playing it all makes sense again. Even with the fire alarm going off for half of our set was charming at that point. Playing to a wicked and enthusiastic crowd is a must too. You guys/gals all rule. We love you and thank you for the support.

BLR Entertainment has promised to make it up to us by guaranteeing us another show with them. Until then, I'll just sit tight and look forward to making them some more money.

Big shout out to Pete the soundman from last night. What a trooper. And as always, thanks to Jamie for bringing his fine visuals to the set.

G

Hosed

ITodd Lounge

This past Friday we hung out with Todd Donald from the ITodd Lounge. We talked about Cajun Sauces, Indie Music and a bunch of other stuff. Todd's a cool dude and feel pretty relaxed around him (because we're typically uptight twats, right?).

Click here to check out the live performances and interview. We even convinced Todd to join us for 'Beckoning'.

Also, hassle Todd about releasing his Wilburys cover CD. It's goddamn amazing. The man has played all the synth/key parts using a QWERTY keyboard as a MIDI controller.







Later,

G

ITodd Lounge

The Boat (picture format)

The Boat (picture format)

Rockin' the Boat

So we all had a great time in Toronto Wednesday night at the Boat. It's a very cool place, we definitely want to go back and kill it on a Friday or Saturday night.
I loved the atmosphere the people... it was great.
I like the idea of not having to fill a 350 capacity venue... and I like to see smaller clubs with great systems and great sound guys (Keith you rocked!)

What didn't rock was me leaving the interior light on in the van trying to get the stereo face plate off.... and later Emeri discovering a dead BABY! ....I mean battery.... oops ;) No good deed goes unpunished.

So we will have some photos up of the night...(Greg please insert photos ....i do not know how)
Thanks again to Jamie the "Video Artist" and his love of Dogs... for doing his thang...and shaken it as well!

Anyways we are gearing up for this Rogers Spring thing and we need you people to come to this thing and look pretty while we play an acoustic/electric set on this prehistoric device they call a television set. Yes you read this right... Vacuity on TV...

Come one, come all... get your ugly mug on Satan's Box and see us! May 9th at the Casbah, Hamilton.

P.S ....iTodd interview coming sooooooon....
p.

Rockin' the Boat

5th of Nov day 2

Yesterday we constructed a 12x12 blue screen frame, reorganized the hell out of our band hall, and setup/tested gear for a music video that the fabled Jamie Usas is making for us for the song, 'the 5th of november'.

Today we captured the footage. A very long, but also very productive weekend. Will keep you posted on the arrival of the finished product.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the 'talking' as I am on the brink of collapse.


Night.

G

5th of Nov day 2

5th of nov day one

5th of nov day one

We come out at night and we never give up

We're recording some demos at the stroke of Midnight tonight. Although there is nothing quite like a sunny day, we're night creatures for sure. Plus, Purgatory is only quiet at night.

Now, I know some of you may be asking yourselves (hell, someone even asked US in 'real' life) Why the heck are we recording new demos when we just dropped a 13 track full length? The answer is simple:

We are monsters.

The writing is on the wall people. Remember Emeri's post about monsters?

Anyways, we are indeed working on new songs. Quite a few too. Since 'At the Command of the Blanket Sky' was so ridiculously optimistically themed we've decided to move even further away from the light. Let's see what kind of material happens when your singer/lyricist reads post apocalyptic science fiction novels for a year. Don't worry, we won't become Muse. We don't like appregiators enough.

Well, this entire blog was just an excuse to post this sweet gif I made. UPDATE: the fucking gif doesn't even work. I guess it'll just be pictures.

I'll report back on the session tonight. Hopefully Rob and I don't get all pissy again. See? We don't always get along.

While I'm gone try to imagine this: someone else in this band posting a blog.

Lazy bitches.

Speaking of lazy bitches. I am working on a new website for our band. Just the other day these Really Important Record Label People came up to me and said, "Man, we were gonna give you guys a million bucks and a bus load of babes, but your website sucks so forget it." I've been checking out some of the sites I frequent and I think we're gonna go for a mix between nickelback.com and avrillavigne.com. I've just got to figure out how to make ads in Flash that speak in testosterone.

Talk about missed opportunities.

g

We come out at night and we never give up

Scene Magazine, London

Here is a review from Scene Magazine in London:

Vacuity definitely contradicts their name on At The Command Of The Blanket Sky, the second full-length album by this Kitchener-based band. Everything about this record is substantial: lyrics that avoid the baby-baby stuff and opt instead for confessional and catharsis, production values that give the proceedings a sort of warmly cozy wall-of-sound at times while leaving room for the silences and hushes that count, and a band sound that is sonically strong in all the right ways, working the dynamics of each track effectively. The overall tone of the album is generally one of dark stoicism and at times things get a little samey because of it; fortunately the musical landscapes are so carefully crafted that the melancholy isn't all that's on offer here. Promising.

-- Rod Nicholson B+

Scene Magazine, London

i keep my i keep my i keep my

10 hours of spycam shooting for Defender....err 5th of November.

I am bushed.

Goodnight.

G

i keep my i keep my i keep my

nostalgic musings

A full decade ago today/tonight we played on a stage for our first time ever.

The Refugee Cafe in Cambridge.

*Poof* (10 years gone)

Here's to the next 10.

G

nostalgic musings

PeteNema

The very kind and very cool Pete Nema has written some words about our CD Release show at Starlight in Waterloo over at PeteNema.com.

You'll notice instantly that he is lethal with a camera.

Thanks Pete!

Greg

PeteNema

THANK YOU KW

Thank you KW for giving us an awesome CD Release show!

There is a long list of individuals who are all owed a big shout out for helping us promote this show/record - you know who you are. We appreciate your help and support.

Once again, check out The Dunes & Slowking.

PS - If you have pictures from the show please please send them to us: vacuity [at] vacuity.net so we can post them up.

Cheers!

Greg

THANK YOU KW

song of the week?!

Check out Toronto's Homewreckords Entertainment Group. We've got song of the week over there so they must be cool ;)

Thanks Jen and Scott.

Indie Invasion + Projector Rehearsals:





g

song of the week?!

Indie invasion

This evening we will be joining Todd Donald at 88.3 for the Indie Invasion. Interview, acoustic performance, etc. This will be happening between 7-9.

Tune in and check it out.

G

Indie invasion

Lessons and rewards

We're in The Record's Nightlife this week courtesy of Jason Schneider.

Check it out if you get a chance.

Lessons and Rewards

Thanks Jason!

G

Lessons and rewards

Defender of the Promise Land

Glad to know that you can use it.

Noam Chomsky

----- Original Message ----- From: "Vacuity"
To: <Noam Chomsky>
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:14 PM
Subject: A request.

Mr. Chomsky,

You can file this email under bizarre requests, and if you're completely opposed to this, I apologize in advance for wasting your time.

I play in a rock band called 'Vacuity'. There is an audio clip from one of your lectures that we would like to use in a music video we are creating. We are not a political band by definition, but while writing and recording our newest record we were certainly influenced by some of your political work.

The song sort of deals with the concept that on one side it's called an 'Intervention' on the other side it's called 'Terrorism' and vice versa.

If you want song lyrics, recording, etc. I can send them to you. Here is a link to some music in case you have time to check it out:

http://www.vacuity.net/epk/music.html

Thanks. My mentality here is: there is no harm in asking.

Best,

Greg Osborn

Defender of the Promise Land

boathaus debrief

thanks everyone for coming out to the boathouse tonight and listening. it's always a bit scary trying out new stuff and different arrangements. it's also fun to fly by the seat of your pants sometimes too. balance is good.

your ears = much appreciated.

thanks to Carrie, Robyn and the Boathouse too.

CD Release March 26th at the Starlight.

greg

boathaus debrief

A Starlit Boathaus...

So we've been working on this weird ass 3 parter set for the Boathouse show tomorrow night... We were thinking we would mix it up a bit since we have been playing quite a few local shows this month ...so saying that we're trying to keep things new and fresh.

Part of the set will be acoustic...another being an orgainic acoustic feel ...mixed with laptop/electronic beats..(if that makes ANY sense what so ever) and finally some just straight up plugin rock to end it off with.
Either way, we have been working on this very "interesting" set for the past few days and I think it will be fun... well yeah..definitely different.

Starlight March.26th.... our CD/Flash Stick release.... i can't believe I just typed that... Well not that you haven't noticed, but music is going in some fucked up directions lately... and you either get in a boat and paddle with it... or you decide to swim against it... or hell..you just fuckin' drown in it. Either way, you have to make a choice... it might not be the choice you necessarily want to make but atleast you have a choice? ha

Again, Jamie (incredibly talented and good friend of ours) will be doing some crazy ass video mixing for us at the Starlight ...so if you were at the Horseshoe the other night and liked what you heard and saw... well then I'll see you there?? ;)

thanks.
p.

A Starlit Boathaus...

Do You Call This Free?

Do You Call This Free?

acuztik

I forgot to mention:

This Friday's set at The Boathouse is 'acoustic'. So it'll be neat. Come and see it.

Greg

acuztik

a startling amount of weird coincidences

Played the GO Festival Launch Party this week and then the GO Festival itself tonight. Awesome nights (minus some weather). Lots of great bands and people.

Next Friday we are playing at The Boathouse with Robyn Dell'Unto.

She is super talented.

It is $7.

Our hometown CD Release is at STARLIGHT on March 26th. We're sharing the stage with two wicked bands:

The Dunes from Toronto.

and

Slowking from Guelph.

$10 door. $8 advance.

Holy Snowfuck.

Greg

a startling amount of weird coincidences

Wave Particle Duality

These are our cds. yum


rob

Wave Particle Duality

canadian winter

Rob 360'd off the road in the van the other night after rehearsal. While we were trying to get out another driver stopped and offered us his shovel.

Then another guy came running out of his house with 2 shovels.

Then a guy stopped and told us he was a paramedic and offered his help.

Nice people are out there.

Of maybe it's karma - if you're into that kinda thing.

A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I were returning from a home cooked meal courtesy of my mum. A hill we had to drive up on the way home was so icy that cars were sliding backwards down it. The two of us jumped out and pushed the car in front of us up. Then I proceeded to push our car up. Meanwhile, below us, the bottom of the hill was quickly become a chaos zone. As various people tried to go around each other, a city bus sat spinning it's tires endlessly. I thought, you know... if everyone just pushed the car in front of them up, this would be like clockwork.

Anyways. Winter sucks. Helpful people rule.

Become a helpful person.

G

canadian winter

screaming underwater

thank you all for a wonderful night at the legendary horseshoe tavern. i don't think i'm alone or being a disgustingly optimistic mutual smokeblower when i say that all the bands killed that night. So go check out These Electric Lives, In Transit and Stirling.

I also want to again thank Jamie for contributing to the set visually. Man's got some serious talent and we're happy to have him share it with us.

Check out more of his work here: JAU

greg

screaming underwater

3000 words

rob

3000 words

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Our CD Release show at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern is fast approaching. We've been sticking to a rigid and intense rehearsal schedule in order to fine tune our set. Our good friend Jamie (whom I mentioned earlier) is getting quite organized and involved in contributing to the set visually. It's actually starting to feel like we're rehearsing a show - what a concept! (PS - we're idiots).

Friends, Family and Loved Ones have been super supportive and helpful over the last few months. Helping us to keep our heads on. A certain amount of invisible hype is happening - which is strange and wonderful as we haven't even released this record yet. Thank you all. If you think you can help us, you probably can.

We've got some new shirts on the way, courtesy of design guru Cassie Scowcroft. You will be able to buy these at The Horseshoe.

I leave you with a clip from a discussion we had online a few nights ago.

emeri says: wait, we should rock paper scissors for who gets kicked out of the band this month.
greg says: Until then brainstorm.
greg says: I volunteer.
greg says: vote me off!
rob says: can it be me... please
emeri says: no man... thats why we rock paper scissors
greg says: hahaha
greg says: you win exile!
emeri says: its not fair... i would vote too.
Paul says: i'm already gone.....

See you Friday!
Greg

Rock, Paper, Scissors

White Out.

Another week gone. Zip. Zap. Zilch. SLC was cancelled… apparently we have snow storms in this part of the world.. go figure. The Ebar made up for it though… what a wicked place. So now we are getting together our set for the Horseshoe on Feb 22^nd. It should be a blast. 11 days… How cool is that? Enough time to rehearse projected video imagery and whatnot? I am just full of questions.. hoping for answers but not really coming up with them. Will the CDs be back from their pressing?... I am going to maintain my hopeful status... the kind of hoping that keeps my nails short in choppy little chew marks.

Tomorrow we are starting some new songs. It has been a while.. should be interesting. Other than that.. yeah. Just kind of babbling like people do.

Blabble ke blab ke dab

rob

White Out.