Boo!

In observance of Halloween I present a non-music related [mini]blog! Enjoy! The spooky tale of the Dyatlov Pass. (As retold by wikipedia.)

Argyle Johansen's return to Brooklyn, NY & upcoming shows

After 32 days on the road playing tuba with This Way to the Egress and Voltaire and traveling with my new favorite band Hellblinki, I'm Brooklyn bound (almost). Currently, I'm sitting in a lovely hotel room in Flint, Michigan after a fun show at a "Vampire Ball" at the Flint Masonic Temple and getting ready to make the long-ass drive to Philadelphia for the last show of the tour. The tour has been a hoot: simultaneously a blast as well as physically and mentally one of the most demanding experiences of my life, and I'm honestly pretty sad that it's coming to an end. I am jumping back into the role of Uncle Argyle pretty quickly though with NY shows coming up at Googies Lounge (above the Living Room) on Ludlow St. this Thursday, October 27th and two weeks later next door with Argyle's Cakeshop debut Saturday, November 12th. Hope to see you there!

xoxo,

-john & Argyle Johansen

Out of the office...and a new music video!

Following the release of Argyle Johansen and his Inner Demo(n)s EP, I'm on a national tour playing tuba as a member of the band This Way to the Egress and in support of Voltaire. We're 13 days into the wilderness (New England and the East in general have been checked off, and right now I'm in Austin, TX and getting ready to head to Arizona). The process has been unreal and the learning process has been a life-changing experience in and of itself. We have a little less than three weeks left and once I get back to Brooklyn, we'll be back to the Argyle grind with shows at Googies Lounge at the Living Room and also our first show ever at Cake Shop.

In the mean time, the march rolls on for Argyle Johansen and his Inner Demo(n)s EP. We got a really nice write up on Popmatters.com and the tunes are now spinning on Spotify. Also, feast your eyes on the latest Argyle Johansen video which we did for "Percocet Blues" before I left on the tour last month. It was shot on Super 8 by my pal James Rubio and made with the invaluable assistance of Willard Morgan (aka Jelvis) of Ideal Glass (an amazing art space on 2nd St in NYC) and Arturo Vega (the creative director for the Ramones...you may have heard of them), and of course Nadia at Anyway Cafe on 2nd Ave and 2nd St. -- if you've never been, go! (and try the crepes).

Here it is:

See you soon!

xoxo

Argyle

Inner Demo(n)s out Today!

SEPT 6, BROOKLYN, NY: Today's the day! Argyle Johansen and his Inner Demo(n)s EP goes live! It's available on the interweb at Spotify and iTunes and eventually Amazon and will also be available for free via a top-secret link on my facebook page - www.facebook.com/argylejohansen (it's so secret I just found out about it!) You can also get your hands on the actual cd at any of the three upcoming CD release shows. We'll have a limited number of handmade(hand-burned?) EPs with artwork by my good friend Michael P Schocholaubrontosaurus. We'll have them for free for at the shows, so if you're in Brooklyn on Thursday, Boston or Cambridge on Saturday, or Philadelphia or South Jerzzzzzy next Saturday, come on out and shake a leg.

x's&o's

-argyle johansen

Brooklyn CD Release Show
September 8 – Bruar Falls
245 Grand Street: Brooklyn NY
11:00PM Free

Boston CD Release Show
September 9 – The Lily Pad
1353 Cambridge Street: Cambridge MA
10:00PM $10.00

Philadelphia CD Release Show
September 17- The Fire
412 W Girard Ave: Philadelphia, PA

Argyle Johansen returns to the East Coast.

Okie Dokie Smokies, hope everyone's been soldiering through this steamy weather without too much discomfort. I had the excellent fortune of spending most of last month's oppressive heat wave in the cool and temperate (seriously) Rocky Mountains and Northeastern New Mexico. There's nothing like enjoying 80 degree weather and occasional downpours in a desert while hearing about 110 degree heat indexes back East (just thought I'd rub that in a bit...even saw some snow in the mountains). Not to mention, nothing compares to being someplace away from the ubiquitous light pollution of the east coast and simply looking up at night and seeing thousands of stars, the milky way, shooting stars, the works. OK, enough of that...

So, as the release date for "Argyle Johansen and his Inner Demo(n)s" EP nears (that's Sept. 6, 2011 if you haven't marked your calendar), we're pleased as pie to share with you the second single off the EP, "You Try." It's a song about debts - public, private and personal - so hopefully it's something we can all relate to. You can give it a listen on the Soundcloud media player at your right. I've jumped right back into playing with a little guest spot this evening at The Delancey with my friends This Way to the Egress. I have another solo show coming up this Friday at Tommy's Tavern in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The set time is tba but will probably be late. Check Facebook for details.

Also, for those of you not following Argyle on Facebook or Twitter you've been missing out on my weekly Youtube series where I play solo acoustic renditions of the songs off the EP as well as a few oldies and some covers. Most of the videos can be found on fb/twitter, or just scroll through 'em on the right here for a nice concise listing. Feel free to leave comments on youtube or facebook if you like what you see.

Lastly, the Brooklyn cd release show is confirmed for Thursday, September 8th at the lovely (and free) venue Bruar Falls located in scenic and hip Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Stay tuned for more details, a flier, and hopefully a few more area shows.

xoxo
uncle Argyle

(i'm back on blogger to announce) The Release of the "Inner Demo(n)s EP" Sept 6th, 2011

Oh yeah! After a long winter and non-existent Spring (anyone else notice that we're basically down to just two seasons in NYC?), Argyle Johansen is presently and pleasantly elated to announce the imminent release of the "Inner Demo(n)s EP." The follow-up to the 2009 self-titled LP, the "Inner Demo(n)s EP" was produced and recorded in our cozy little studio within the bowels of the lovely McKibbin lofts in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It will be available for consumption on September 6th, and the first single, "Percocet Blues" will be coming out very soon! (Lookout for that date, it's so secret I don't even know and I wrote the damn song). It's a story about bicycles, Bushwick, car doors, pain killers, malaise and lots of other fun topics. Anywhooo, it'll be available as a free digital download so keep your eyes and ears peeled. You can see the cover art above and a little preview of the rest of the art work can be seen at www.facebook.com/argylejohansen so head on over to take a peak.

If yer in NYC are this weekend it's Argyle's last show of our June residency at Pianos. We'll be doing a little two-man show at 9pm Saturday, June 25 in the upstairs lounge and there's no cover!

In the area tomorrow Friday, June 24? I'll be playing a few songs solo as part of the opening entertainment for This Way to the Egress' CD release show at Asbury Lanes in lovely Asbury Park, NJ. Check out the link, they play a fun mix of Gypsy/Punk/Ragtime-y jams and yours truly is the tuba player.

Oh, Hi! Didn't see you click on my blog...

...and well, since I haven't updated this thing in quite a while I guess I was surprised to see anyone here at all! Well, the time has come for Argyle Johansen to get his ass in gear and start updating this mama-jamma a little more regularly. So let's see...news...something new and exciting to share with you. Oh, I know, take a look on the right hand side of this page and peep our upcoming shows. If you're in the New York area, you've got two chances to visit your Uncle Argyle this month so far. We've got a big to do with the full band coming up on Nov. 17 (weds.) at Union Hall in lovely downtown Park Slope, Brooklyn. This is an awesome venue in a pretty swanky hood (Maggie Gyllenhall and that dood from the Verizon commercials live around the corner so you know it's high class all the way). Tickets are 7$, and are available in advance. For something a little more intimate (yes, in that way) you can catch me ( John) solo at Pete's Candy Store this coming Saturday, Nov. 6 at 9 PM. This one's free and I'll be doing my best to play as much new material as possible.
Hmmm, what else? Oh, we have a new website on the way so stay tuned for that and in a major breakthrough at the Argyle Johansen ballistics lab, I think we're finally pretty close to scientifically demonstrating the "magic bullet theory" a la the JFK movie and thus proving that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman and that Oliver Stone's movie-although psychologically taut and rivitting-is a tad off the mark. OK, that's all I've got.