Squids, Change-Bots, and Kittens

I was just doodling the other day on the couch and came up with a few squids, floating eyeballs and some who-knows-whats-its.

And then I took it in to Photoshop and colored them, for you know, fun.

In the newest of news, I sent my favorite comic book artist, Jeffrey Brown a copy of The Dabbers first album and a letter expressing gratitude for continually making such great art. Great art which includes the next issue of The Incredible Change-Bots (I already have it pre-ordered of course) and a collection of cat books, see sample below:

This is a good idea of what Zeppo is like in person. Oh, have you met Zeppo the Kitten? We’ll get to that in a minute.

Mr. Brown sent me a super cool postcard in reply, and I can’t say it enough – artists who continue to keep in touch with their fans are increasingly rare and very appreciated. It made my day to see his handwritten note in my mailbox, hopefully it’s not embarrassing to post this, but I’m just so excited!

If you’re reading this at all Mr. Brown, just know that you’ll be getting our full length vinyl sometime this year!

We are still in the studio mixing, it’s taking us a little longer than last time because it’s booked way more than it ever has been, and squeezing in a spot every month makes the process a bit more tedious (but intensely gratifying when we get a song ‘done’). We are releasing it through United Record Pressing again, and like I mentioned to the phantasm of Jeffrey Brown just a moment ago, we are going to press our full length (not just a 7-inch) this time (!!!!). It will include a download card (the newest thing these days) which will allow you to get the digital version for your iThing or what have you.

Phew! I’ll post more about Zeppo next time. I think I’ll go eat some cereal right now instead.

Nomination & Updates: The Dabbers

We have finished composing a brand new set of songs and are ready to begin recording in the studio for our sophomore album!  It’s going to be a little different, possibly more anthemic and raw, a lot more backup singing from me (even starting to sing actual words, hah), and definitely more volume. I’m so excited to get started. Definitely thinking of releasing this full-length album on vinyl as well!

We’re planning on working with Archival Studios again, since we were so pleased with the production of And I Was Like, And They Were All, and since the staff at Archival are the best you can get. Working with Mitch Wilson was incredibly entertaining and relaxed, not a bit of pretentiousness or pressure, ever.

And for the big news! And I Was Like, And They Were All has been nominated for Best Alternative Album for the 2010 San Diego Music Awards. Being selected as one of only eight nominees in all of San Diego feels pretty awesome, and we are excited to be in “competition” with some of our close friends, Lion Cut & Rafter. Here is the lineup of nominees for this category:

Fight Fair – California Kicks
Hotel St. George – Fun, Shine, Line
Lion Cut – s/t
New Archaic – Movers and Shakers
Pierce The Veil – Selfish Machines
Rafter – Animal Feelings
Republic of Letters – Painted Hour
The Dabbers – And I Was Like, And They Were All

Unlike last year, when we were nominated for the Best Rock Band category, we aren’t going to win or lose based on fan voting polls, which really just means spamming all of your friends for 3 weeks to vote for your band on the SDMA website (annoying). This time the voting will be done by a panel of judges that will be making the decision.

And last but not least, we’re playing on September 13th at the Casbah with Shonen Knife!!! They are an awesome, straight from Japan, all-girl Japanese punk rock band that has been together since 1981!

Oh man, this is going to amazing. Yes!! The poster I’m making is going to be the cutest, ever. Japanese text, cute colors, ridiculous creatures….oh boy.

Stay tuned my friends!!

The Dabbers EP!!!

The Dabbers have finally finished recording, and have replaced ALL of our songs with the fancy official EP versions of our album “And I Was Like, And They Were All”, which includes two never before posted songs.

All songs recorded/​​mixed/​​produced at Archival Sound, North Park, San Diego 2009.

Speaking of – many, many thanks and credit to our friends @ Archival Sound:
Mitch Wilson: Mixing/​​Recording/​​Burrito eating-totally awesome months of fun)
Kyle Thompson: (Ze Mastering Genius).

We are playing this THIS FRIDAY July 24th @ CASBAH with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone & Concern.

Click on our picture above to be taken to our Myspace page!!
xoxo,
gubba aka Mlle. Dabber

DomestiKitten Dabber

I’ve been spending the last few months getting nestled and settle into a new place with my dear Z. Our band, The Dabbers, is one of the best parts. We practice in an industrial area of san diego where we can be incredibly loud and vibrate the walls, with no one to complain. Just try to hit a drum beat more than once in a residential cul de sac. Doesn’t fly with the neighbors, trust me on that one.

Being on stage in a two piece is a totally new experience too. Playing with four people (as I did in Braaiins!) allows one to disappear into the mix more, or if you make a mistake, there is often so much background and surrounding noise that the wrong note can melt in with the rest of the music. Stripping it down to just drums and bass keeps me on my toes much more, and allows me to take up as much space on stage as I want since Zack is glued down to a stationary drum kit. I absolutely love it! I’m having such a great time playing this kind of music, whatever one might define it (I’m not sure what the most current music lingo would want to tag us as), and we also aren’t playing so many shows that its exhausting.

We have finished recording all 12 of our songs at

Archival Recording with Mitch Wilson from No Knife, and are going in the studio this thursday to begin mixing. We’re are trying to avoid getting to tedious with this part. Just as Photoshop can completely change the original photo/art into a fabricated piece of computer genius, ProTools can alter the ‘realness’ of a track, transforming a messy chord into a microscopically clean and precise one. This is not what we are aiming for. We want to keep the grit, grime, and flavor, and thankfully Mitch is right on the same page with us (which I have to mention, recording with Mitch has been amazing, he is spot on to what we’re trying to accomplish, and has the most positively engaging attitude and personality about him).

Phew! Well that’s most of it.

Here are the most recent photos from the Casbah show on 3/7/09:

Photo: O

Photo: Luke Brown

“From the Land of Fear” video: