The City Veins

Last night we had the pleasure of being on Third Rail Radio, a fantastic little program on WMUC (www.wmucradio.com), the University of Maryland’s college radio station. I think I can speak for the other guys when I say it was one of the best times we’ve had as a band yet. We played a 30-minute set and then had a 15-minute “interview.” We have a recording of our songs, including several new ones, that we hope to get up on our MySpace and website soon.

Highlights include:

• Aaron’s theory on why the dinosaurs died: “I don’t know, it was like freezing and stuff.” Priceless. Thank God he’s not a high school history teacher or anything - oh, wait…
• The history of the band, in which it was finally revealed that we while I did meet Aaron and Charles through Craigslist, it was really in the erotic section. The fact that we all played instruments was just a nice coincidence. (I hope sarcasm comes through on the Interweb).
• A very interesting question was raised: if lactose-intolerant Charles ate Velveeta, what would happen? Is there so little actual cheese in it that he’d be safe? Or would he turn into one big Velveeta cheese ball, like Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka after the blueberry gum? I personally hope it’s the latter, and further hope it’s not long before we find out.
• Aaron has really, REALLY strong feelings for Chutes’N'Ladders.
• I have similarly strong feelings about Batman, especially Batman Begins.
• Charles is only moved to speak when the discussion turns towards dinosaurs.
• Phone call pranks work better when caller ID doesn’t blow up your spot (sorry Lisa Marie).

As far as our actual set goes, I thought we played very well (except when I spaced out at the end of “Strike Up the Band”). We were in a room by ourselves and there was a great, loose vibe going on between us. It was strange, because we knew were performing but it was also a more laid-back, practice type vibe. That’s when we’re at our best, when we’re loose. Plus, it helped to get all the bugs out of us on Saturday night at Velvet Lounge. We played a pretty good set there and had fun, but it wasn’t as good as we think we could have been. We usually practice the day before a show to get any screw-ups out of our system, but Thanksgiving didn’t let that happen.

We want to send shout-outs and thanks to everyone at WMUC. First, to the sound engineers for doing a bang-up job, the sound quality was amazing. Second, to Mike Levine, Miles Waltuck, and company for 1) booking us and 2) conducting an unusually amusing interview.

Finally, dear reader, a word of advice: Listen to WMUC! They are good people playing good music and doing a lot to support local acts, plus they stream online. Third Rail, in particular, is on every Sunday night from 6-9 and is a great way to get to know up-and-coming bands, both from the DC area and from beyond (check out the impressive list of past guests: www.myspace.com/thirdrailradio).