of older days that have long since gone by

Of the things I regret about in Gainesville, and there are quite a few, one of my biggest regrets is not trying to foster an artistic community there. We had a lot of artistic friends that did music, painting, sculptures and photography among other things. I didn't think about it at the time, but it really would have made a lot of sense to start an artist collective and try to cross promote a lot of shows and showings and try to blend these different aspects of art and bring them together in one space. This happens all the time, even in Gainesville. So I've decided to take a more active role in promoting the work of our friends. A lot of it is very good and there's no reason why they shouldn't get noticed and make a good chunk of change for their efforts.

In that spirit, may I suggest checking out the following:

Room 5 Films did a short video about us a while back. They also do many other much more interesting things and they've compiled the best of it in this nice, beautifully shot and edited reel for your viewing pleasure.

http://room5films.com/reel.html

And they still have our video up on their site too. Click on Oh No and the Tiger Pit on that site.

http://room5films.com/R5FOHNO.html

Our good friend (and kin to our drummer and future brother-in-law to our guitar player) Conor Mitchell has been a productive art machine up in the Great Northwest. He makes beautifully painted pieces of art. But in the true Renaissance fashion, the man continues to make music and try his hand at a number of things. He was once in a rock n roll band, Loaded for Bear, with our good friend Dave.

http://www.myspace.com/l4b

His latest stuff is up for sale at Mount Salvation. The site is super cool as well, so poke around there a bit.

http://www.mountsalvation.com/

And how he got the URL for that site, I'll never know. You'd think there would be an Internet savvy church out there that would have snapped that up.

And lastly (but not leastly?), Morningbell, our friends in Gainesville who gave us our first gig, are putting out a new album on September 4th. I got an early preview of the album and saw them perform a bit of it live in NYC in July. It's the best album they've ever recorded. It's different from anything they've put out. It's different from a lot of what other bands are putting out right now. And it's definitely a new peak for them. I'm always amazed at how far this band has come. I remember their Future Feels Good days, playing 3 hour cover-filled sets in Hollywood, Florida. If you're in Gainesville, go to their CD release show at Commongrounds. If you're not, go to their website below and check their stuff out. It's very good.

http://www.morningbellonline.com/

And thus, our session of plugs comes to a close. More to come in the future.

a series of unrelated and related things

Hi,

So as you may or may not know or care, we've been trying to record an album for quite some time now. And so far, to no avail. But things are looking up for the month of October, so it may actually happen. I think all of us are dying to just unload these songs that we've been playing for a year or two, get them on an album and just not have to think about them anymore. We've talked about trying different things. In the spirit of this, I've decided to record every time I have a riff or idea pop into my head and I'm near my computer. This happens a lot.

Unfortunately, it happens more frequently when I'm on a subway or walking through the city or somewhere that is extremely inconvenient for me to record. And my memory sucks. It's bad. The short-term stuff is just not there, though I do retain an encyclopedic memory of football games from the last 10 years. Weird the shit you can keep in the ol' noggin. Anyway, I have two long tracks of various ideas. Some of this sounds like it could be ok and some of it is doodling. There was something I was working on a long time ago, and I never got it to a point where I wanted to present it to the rest of the lot and make it into a bonafide song. I think I got hung up on it. I don't like unfinished business. So I've been noodling with that a little bit.

This also gets to the heart of something else I've been dwelling on: mortality and the life span of a band or any project really. Ben said that Jay Reatard said that you only have a certain amount of albums or years in you before it's over. Very true. I always thought albums, but for some, maybe it's years. We've been together for a while with not a lot concrete to show for it. That said, this band is the most fun I've had. And yet, I know that if it were to end, I would have a lot of regrets because I haven't given 100%. Even at the shows. Even when I go crazy. I haven't given it my all all the time. I've taken the flip a switch approach, and it doesn't work. So I'm ditching that approach in favor of consistently trying. Because I would hate to keep doing this without giving everything I had.

And so in that spirit, I've taken to trying to remember the riffs that pop in my head 5 to 25 times a day. I'm recording, even if 90% of it sucks because that 10% might be worth it. And really, the only people that have to hear the 90% crap is the rest of the band, and if I can't be comfortable with them hearing the parts that suck, then I really need to be doing something else. This also means I'm going to have to drop part of my snark filter. But somethings are for the better.

P.S. Though I've said elsewhere that Unwrapped is the worst show on television, the Food Network is still a good standby channel when nothing else is on. And really, Unwrapped tries to remove the "mystique" surrounding heavily processed, mass produced, mostly unhealthy, fast food and snacks. Please do not remove this mystique. This stuff is disgusting. Stop trying to make it seem like it is otherwise, Marc Summers. Ok, I've had that tangent in me for a while now.

Goodnight,

Enrique Schmerhorn and the Panamanians

Thanks for everyone who came out

Good show last night. We've got one more booked for September 25th at the Trash Bar, and then I think that's going to be it for a while. We're going to try and record a bit in the next few months and work on some new stuff, so that you, the loyal listener/blog reader/showgoer, do not get bored and so that we, the band, also do not get bored. We've been playing the same stuff for more than a year at some of the same places, so a break, I think, is really in order and that's the feeling I get from some of the guys too. I was actually the most resistant to this, but I've come around to it. So, save your hard-earned dollars and make your way to the Trash Bar in Williamsburg on September 25th for what may be the last Oh No! show for a while.

weird things--show tonight

dearest readers,

I've seen some pretty weird things around Brooklyn lately. Just the other night, I witnessed a chase scene in my neighborhood. I was coming home late and walking down Rogers street, I was at the corner of Rogers and Lincoln. I was waiting to cross, when, to my surprise, a heavy-set white dude was running full speed down the opposite side of the street. A late night jog through Lefferts-Gardens? A man training for the 2012 Olympic games? An innocent midnight foot race? A chance to show off his sweet cargo shorts? I will never know. Behind him was another heavy-set dude, who was, invariably, chasing cargo shorts man. Only, the trailing runner had to stop every few seconds to catch his breath. Whenever I am in situations like this, I go back to my beloved "Chose Your Own Adventure" books of my youth. Do I chase down cargo shorts man and ask questions later (I have to admit, I was thinking of running him down for fun; for my own ego)? Ask the trailing runner why he was chasing another man at midnight on a Sunday? Run along side the lead runner and ask, "why are you running away from someone?"

I choose to let the scene run its proper course and let my mind wander--field research scientists are not there to influence nature.

Anywhoz, that was only one of many odd encounters I've had: maybe these weird things are harbingers that the world is on its way to a sudden end. Perhaps as the world spins it is chasing its own tail like two heavy-set dudes chasing each other in the night. But as the world ends, won't you want to reflect back on your life and all the times you had?

You will certainly reminisce about that night in the summer of 2009, when you saw Oh No! and the Tiger Pit at the Charleston, and you will remember the smiling faces, the moving bodies, and the groovy rhythms. What a beautiful way to meet your maker!

Don't f*** with the future--Come to the Charleston tonight (on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg) to watch a great show.

The show starts at 9pm.

Oh No! and the Tiger Pit
The Hey!
Mancie

$7