Tag: Graphite Addiction

Happy 10th to Curious Automata

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I started Curious Automata on April 5th, 2013, to solve a problem: that almost every band and musician I knew had a nearly completed project sitting unheard. Aspen Street’s “Still, Still, Still” lost its distributor less than a year after being released. Graphite Addiction’s debut recording had been out of print since 2008. Richard Ellis’ “Disaster Sessions” tapes were shelved for a decade. Tim Carmichael’s “Watching Water” was finished in 2012 with gorgeous production by Gusty Christensen, but no label seemed interested. Pete Ehrmann and I were recording “The Pete & Vic Duo”, a swing duo album that would be a difficult sell during the 2010s push for funkier jazz. I hoped that if I found a way to release those five orphaned albums, along with one of my own, it would encourage all of us to create new material. 10 years later, artists working with Curious Automata have produced a total of:

  • 42 CDs
  • 4 Lathe-Cut Vinyl LPs
  • 5 Bandcamp Exclusive Digital Releases
  • 3 Books
  • 3 CDs Produced for Other Labels
  • 3 Scores for Ads
  • 2 Play-Along Albums
  • 47 Unexplained Noises Archive Club Releases

I think it works.

New Release: Graphite Addiction Vinyl Reissue

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Graphite Addiction’s 2007 debut release has been reissued in a limited run of lathe-cut vinyl!

15 years ago, we played a CD release party at the sadly long-gone Deja Brew in Longmont. We had no idea that the next decade and a half would bring dozens of gigs together and 5 more albums. And now the original album is available on vinyl – as we originally sequenced and mixed it.

Check it out at the Curious Automata store, and thanks for years of listening!

New Album: Grateful Destination by Graphite Addiction

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15 years ago today Tim Carmichael, Pete Ehrmann, and I jammed together for the first time. Today, we’re releasing our 5th album.

We had planned to spend early 2020 recording a collection of originals, improvisations, and a standard or two. Obviously, plans changed. But, as Tim says in the liner notes, “In crazy times we all have to be like Jazz: learn to listen and improvise”. So here’s our album, improvised in it’s production as much as its performance.

About The Tunes

Tracks 1-3 are fully improvised jams. We recorded these on February 14th of this year with no charts, no idea what we’d play, just a lot of listening.

  1. Pete kicks things off with Groove EZ We Do. He’s been on hand percussion for most Graphite albums, so getting to hear him back on kit is a treat.
  2. If there is a best recorded example of what we do, it’s Conversations. Tim and I trade questions, answers, and punchlines while Pete lays down an unyielding groove.
  3. Traffic Saturation is a musical ode to commuting.

Tracks 4-7 are a few of the orignals we had planned. These are from our initial session in November of 2019.

  1. Message for Becky is Pete Ehrmann’s composition. Written for his wife, it’s been one of my favorite tunes to play for years.
  2. Mental Morphology started out as a odd funk groove I wrote one day while teaching. Pete decided to play it as a fast swing and Tim retitled it. Both things improved it immensely.
  3. Years ago, I stopped at Mike O’Shay’s in Longmont for a late-night dinner. Sitting at the bar was Eddie. He told a tipsy tale of catching a penguin (it was an emperor penguin!) at the St. Louis zoo. Penguin Eddie is an attempt to capture his masterful speaking cadence in musical form.
  4. And we’ll close this chapter of our musical journey with Tim’s Future Meetings, in hopes of seeing you again soon.

If you dig what you hear, check us out on the streaming service of your choice. Or, if you’re truly old school, you can buy our CDs on Amazon.

Thanks for listening,
-Vic

Sifferson & The Blue Dog – Exclusive Bandcamp Double Album

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It’s Bandcamp shares day again and Graphite Addiction have a special Bandcamp exclusive download of Sifferson & The Blue Dog. It’s both our 2017 albums, together at last for 2 hours and 20 minutes of jammy, jazzy, concept album goodness.

We also have logo and Building a Better Tree t-shirts available, should you need garments.

And since Bandcamp is waiving their fees, order today and 100% of the profits go to the band.

Find it all at Graphite Addiction’s Bandcamp.

Community Infant Program Benefit

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Almost every year, Pete Ehrmann, Tim Carmichael, and I play a Mothers Day fundraiser concert for Mental Health Partners’ Community Infant Program. They’re a team of psychologists, therapists and public health nurses who offer relationship-based support services for pregnant women and families with children under 3. We’ve seen the difference they make in the lives of people in our community and it’s extraordinary.

This year the concert was cancelled due to the coronavirus lockdowns. So we’re going online instead.

If you’d like a bit of music, Graphite’s “best of” is available for free streaming here. You can also listen to our albums on Spotify or Apple Music.

But, most importantly, we’re asking you to give. If you have the means and want to lend a hand, please donate to Mental Health Partners.