02/06/01: NEW ALBUM ON THE WAY!
• YES, it's official... Svelte will be recording a new full-length album of all-new material. Are you ready, fools? We've been rehearsing and arranging songs, and tonight's rehearsal led to many good decisions being made. The album will be recorded at home, but digitally to PC, so you can expect very high-quality product this time around. We will only accept the best, and our goal is to make the record indistinguishable from a studio recording.
We're in the process of buying computer hardware, compiling lists of microphones for rental, and writing even more songs. We will continue practicing for the next couple of weeks, with tracking to begin in late February or March. There should be some innovative new material, and also a lot of gutwrenching madskills ROCK MUSIC, in the traditional Svelte way. We hope you'll like it. [MD]
02/04/01: NEW DISCO INTERSECTION SONG
• The Disco Intersection have a new recording up on their site. It's a very old Irish folk ballad which Gary and Kerry put together in a somewhat scary fashion. Featured instruments include wind chimes, coat hangers, pencils, and other mutated things. Available for download only from our site!...Because www.mp3.com don't return my emails, so our site there is still very much in limbo. GO! [KO]
01/30/01: SONG MEANINGS
• Added song meanings for both Patiently and My Fav'rite Girl. More very soon. Also, some exciting news is on the way! Expect an official announcement from Svelte within a week or two. [MD]
01/04/01: REHEARSALS IN PROGRESS • WEBSITE UPDATES
• Today marked the third of four very long Svelte rehearsals over the holidays, and I'm pleased to say we're making a lot of progress.
We spent the day running every song on our two albums, and acting as a producer would: making sure everything is very tight, stripping down arrangements and basically reducing the songs to their bare essences. We also rehearsed Patiently, which you'll probably hear if you come to our upcoming show at the Java Joint.
Everybody has put in a lot of fine work, and the old songs are rocking hard. Tomorrow we'll do the same for our five or six unreleased songs, then rehearse some brand new ones. We'll also discuss recording plans for the new year. Svelte 2001 is already kicking Svelte 2000 in the ass, so get ready to rock, fool.
• Updated the Svelte-English Dictionary and Neil Armstrong quotes. [MD]
01/01/01: HAPPY NEW YEAR • NEW PICTURES
• Hope everybody had a happy new year. Welcome to the new millennium. The Backstreet Boys were year early.
• Posted a few pictures from a recent rehearsal at Peter's house. [MD]
12/31/00: NEW PICTURES
• Uploaded some pictures from the recent Purple Onion show. Thanks to Regan Flowers for some fine rock photography. [MD]
12/15/00: GENERAL SITE UPDATE
• Did a general update of shows, lyrics, and the Neil Armstrong page. Look for more updates soon. [MD]
12/02/00: NEIL ARMSTRONG QUOTES
• A horde of new quotes from Neil Armstrong were added today. [MD]
12/01/00: NEW PICTURE OF KERRY • DAVE'S BIRTHDAY
• Added a new picture of Kerry at the Purple Onion.
• It's Mr. Shumka's birthday today. Why not flood his email with greetings while he's trying to study for exams? [MD]
11/27/00: RADIO NIPPON INTERVIEW
• Updated the audio page to include tablature and the Radio Nippon interview. [MD]
11/01/00: MORE NEW PICTURES • LINKS ADDED
• Added some more pictures from various sources.
• Added and updated several links to other, greater rock bands. [MD]
10/30/00: NEW PICTURES
• Added a few pictures taken from our show at the Harmony Arts Festival in August. [MD]
10/27/00: UPCOMING SHOWS • KERRY GETS A NEW LOOK • NEIL ARMSTRONG UPDATE
• Tons of new shows are materializing for the next month or so. How many can you attend? We'll be at every one. So there.
• Also, tonight Kerry and I [Martin] did a little handiwork on his small MOOG synthesizer - we attached a guitar strap to it so he can sling it over his shoulder and rock out. This means you will no longer have to squint to find him behind a bulky keyboard rig, and it will let him move more freely onstage. Plus, it looks pretty goddamn wicked with all the old-school knobs and dials staring you right in the face. We are making the claim to be the only band in the universe to have done this with a standard keyboard (other than tubon players, of course). Can you challenge this claim? I dare you.
• Updated the Neil Armstrong page, if you're into dirty quotes. I am. [MD]
10/12/00: NEW MP3 PAGE AT WWW.MP3.COM/SVELTEROCK • FLYING WITH JACKSON TAB
• Svelte's MP3 page has moved to a new shortcut URL: www.mp3.com/svelterock. We make this move in our continuing attempts to be easy to find. It only seems logical that our website should share the same simple name as our MP3 site. Please update your links and bookmarks.
• Also, I posted tablature for Flying With Jackson, as per your requests. C'mon, guitar gods. [MD]
10/06/00: 1985 TAB
• Posted tablature for 1985, as per your requests. Enjoy! [MD]
10/01/00: NEWS UPDATES • BLUNT BROS SHOW • MARTIN'S NEW CABINET • NEW TABLATURE • THE FUTURE
• We will start to update this 'news' section more often. Or at least make something up, so it sounds like we're doing notable heroic deeds for other Canadians.
• First off, Svelte played a really sweet show at Blunt Bros on Friday night with rock gods The Rye Catchers - read our show review here.
• Martin has a new piece of equipment. Welcome, Mighty Joe Young!
• Tablature is now available for selected Svelte songs. More to come soon.
• Most importantly, there was a lot of talk Friday about where exactly we are headed as a band; what our goals are for the months to come. The general consensus seemed to be that we have a need to play more shows and collect a solid following. Therefore we are going to attempt to make as many appearances as possible before 2001, and look for even more in the new year. Meanwhile, when not going to school, working, or flying planes, we are busy writing love songs at home. [MD]
07/11/00: FAN APPRECIATION BARBECUE • NEW LYRICS
• Updates were made today regarding the Svelte Fan Appreciation Barbecue, to be held July 22.
• Also added lyrics for two new Svelte songs, All That Time Ago and Poor You For Listening, which we have been practicing diligently. [MD]
04/06/00: SVELTEROCK.COM OPENS FOR BUSINESS
• C'mon, we've got a home online! Finally, the boys have secured what seems to be a popular site with the kids. Svelterock.com is up and running, and in the process of getting a facelift and a few new treats at the same time. Keep surfin' on over. [GR]
02/10/00: INTERNET ATTENTION • PETER REINHARDT JOINS AS DRUMMER
• What the heck's going on? It appears Svelte is encountering some sort of moderate popularity over the Internet! We don't get it. Worthy developments:
• Svelte's mp3 page at www.mp3.com/svelterock is now being visited by almost 50 people every day. The song Katie is by far the popular favourite. It has been steadily climbing by at least 10 spots daily on the mp3.com charts. Today it hit #10 on the power pop charts and #9 on the general Vancouver charts, and it's showing no sign of slowing down. C'mon. Other songs are not far behind. Thanks to everyone who is downloading our music.
• Southdale Records, an Internet-based record company from Ontario, has asked to used "Katie" on an upcoming compilation CD they will release on mp3.com. We said go for it. Booya.
• Svelte is currently a featured artist at DownloadsDirect.com, where "Katie" is also available for download.
• The CBC has found us, and has requested a copy of "I Dig Your Mainframe" for nation-wide radio broadcasting. Well, alright.
• "I Dig Your Mainframe" is still selling well, to friends, fans, and via mail order. Order yourself a copy if you don't already have one.
• Closer to home, Svelte has a new drummer, Pete Reinhardt! "Dr. Kicksmith" is the raddest, baddest, most booty-shakin' kid to hit Svelte ever. Read all about him. Pictures will be up shortly. [MD]
01/05/00: "I DIG YOUR MAINFRAME" NOW AVAILABLE
• "It has arrived at last. These past few weeks have been very hard on the svelte boys. Having their CD delayed long past the original release date has made the fearless five re-evaluate their effectiveness as a "rock-force". However, now that the goods have been delivered - I really don't think they have any doubts in their minds: Svelte is gonna rock you like it's 1985." - Herman Claremont, Rockologist [GR]
12/08/99: ANTICIPATING NEW CD • NEW SONGS AT MP3.COM/SVELTEROCK
• The worldwide factions of Svelte - including eighteen fan headquarters and four military installments in 57 countries - are eagerly awaiting December 21st, when "I Dig Your Mainframe" will be beamed to Earth from other galaxies. 500 original copies of the CD will be printed, and will only be available through the members of Svelte. The price of the CD is $10 Canadian, and we will ship them free of charge to anywhere in the world. You can order a copy by writing to us at svelte@svelterock.com.
• In the meantime, you can preview almost every track on the CD at our new site at mp3.com - www.mp3.com/svelterock. This is the new nucleus for obtaining Svelte music on the Internet. And, should you happen to miss out on the first 500 CDs, a special mp3.com version of "I Dig Your Mainframe" will be available in unlimited numbers on that site. The only difference in this CD will be the lack of one track, "The Inch Worm", due to copyright reasons. So get your fill of rock! [MD]
11/07/99: GARY'S BIRTHDAY • NEW CD RECORDED • BRAND NEW SONGS • RICHES
• Sweet Mother of Rock! Well first of all, Gary turned 20 on Wednesday (and, good gravy, he's still growing) so feel free to drop him a line to say hello.
• In other news, i dig your mainframe, Svelte's new compact disc creation, has been completed and will be rocking lasers out of alignment come December 21st. Come on, get egg-cited. I know I am.
• This week Svelte will be rehearsing five or six brand new songs, the likes of which you've never seen. C'mon, new meat.
• Also, it's Sweeps week, so I have a question: who wants to be a millionaire? [DS]
10/25/99: MASTERING
• Martin took the fully mixed album on DAT (digital audiotape) to be mastered on Tuesday. This is very exciting, and not only means that the album itself is done, but that it will soon be in your hot little hands! (I'm getting shivers just writing about it). This one is a rocker, so get ready everybody! (It's my birthday - c'mon). [GR]
10/25/99: SITE UPDATES
• Many little details were added this past few weeks to make the site more comfy for everybody! We have added a nice new opening page featuring some "band"-type art work, we've updated the links page (let us know if you would like anything added to it - such as your own personal page, maybe), and there should be some cool rock-star-esque photos of the boys up real soon. [GR]
10/14/99: NEIL ARMSTRONG PAGE ADDDED
• The curiosities page has been updated with a selection of quotes straight from the mouth of the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong. [DS]
10/08/99: SHINDIG CONTEST • COZY BONES SHOW • NEW CD READY
• Well, we managed to win the first round of CiTR's Shindig competition, but we're in tight next round as the competing bands should be pretty good. The next Shindig show is scheduled for mid-November.
• Other news: we're pretty excited about our show with Cozy Bones on Friday, Oct. 22 at the Pic in Vancouver. For those who have not yet experienced Cozy Bones, you should know that they are truly an amazing band.
• We've also wrapped up the production of our second LP; "I Dig Your Mainframe" will be available in November. Can you dig it? [MR]
09/26/99: MIXING COMPLETE
• We mixed the new album yesterday. It was definitely a long, productive journey. Cooped up in Gary's basement for 7 hours straight, we fell victim to cabin fever and had to run around the yard for awhile to let off steam. All in all, a lot of good food was consumed that day and it made for a very crisp-sounding record. We think you'll enjoy it. C'mon. [MD]
09/19/99: RECORDING COMPLETE • UPCOMING SHOWS
• ROCK AND ROLL! The new Svelte album, still unnamed, is completely recorded. Things are sounding very tasty. The final mixdown should take place this weekend, which means the record could be in your hands by November. Ten new tracks have arrived, and just to keep you in suspense, we will say nothing more about them at this time.
• In other news, it looks like there will be at least three Svelte shows in October. Keep checking. [MD]
08/30/99: IN HARMONY SHOW • MARINE CLUB SHOW • SHINDIG CONTEST
• Thanks to all of you who made it to the show on Saturday. It was an overall nice day. To those girls who wanted an encore, you rock!
• Svelte's last show of the summer will be at the Marine Club this Saturday as part of a Space Mistake Music Pop Showcase. Other bands include the Noxema Girls and Team Strike Force. For those of you who have not heard TSF, three of the four members are from the well known Vast Records group "Saturnhead" whose new album is hovering in College Music charts all over Canada.
• Looks like we'll be part of this year's Shindig - Radio CiTR's Battle of the Bands contest. As such, we shall be playing the Railway Club and the Starfish Room during the fall. As this is a competition, we will need as many screaming fans as possible! C'mon! [MR]
07/09/99: NEW MATERIAL • UPCOMING SHOWS
• The members of Svelte, in various combinations and on their own, have been writing new material. When the ink is dry on the lyrics, they look forward to sharing the songs with the entire group. And when the songs reach their full potential, they will be shared with you, the dedicated and understanding Svelte superfan.
• The plethora of late July-August Svelte shows will blow your mind faster than a donkey eating a waffle. [DS]
06/07/99: NEW RECORDING • LINEUP CHANGES
• Svelte is diligently working on their upcoming recording, tentatively entitled "Share and Enjoy." This should be a good one.
• Dave Shumka has joined the team, playing a mean guitar, and Gary has freed his soul on the Fender P-Bass. We are currently working around these lineup changes and perfecting our live show. Things are looking up. [MD]