As Hoboken’s Drum Den celebrates its tenth year in business, I reached out to my old friend Pete to talk about the business and life behind the drums. http://www.jerseybeat.com/petemartinez.html
My Interview with Pete Martinez
Tag: Dromedary Records
Support Your Local Bass Player!!!
When asking local musician and all around cool chick Cindi Merklee to participate in my mission to get some studio time with my favorite local musicians, it wasn’t without some trepidation. Though I had seen her former band The 65’s a number of times, shared many mutual friends and had a few casual encounters at shows. We never really went past more than a few back and fourths on Facebook.
After meeting around the corner at L&J’s we headed upstairs to begin our session. Whatever shyness or nervous knots I might have had prior to meeting Cindi quickly dissipated as we began to talk. We talked and listened to The Replacement’s “Let it Be” while talking about our musical idols. In between the laughing and all out silliness, I managed to take some pictures. Though I had a blueprint for the shots I wanted and the look I wanted to convey. None of it really mattered in the end. I made the most of my time getting to know Cindi. Listening to her stories while sharing my own.
Cindi was a real pleasure to work with and above all, get to know. She re-enforced my belief that beauty has many layers and levels. Thanks for your time Cindi.
Flashback Friday; Maxwells and Dromedary Records Host Camelfest
The older I get the more I find myself playing catch up. I work harder, sleep less and seem to be having more fun than any other time in my life. This creates an unforeseen problem. There just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day or days in the week to accomplish the tasks I hope to accomplish. You’d think that with all the modern technology at our fingertips, things would be made easier. Maybe it’s just me, but it only seems to make things more difficult. My neglect towards this blog only serves as a reminder. One of the things I decided to do is start a new installment to the blog titled “Flashback Friday”. This will allow me to free myself from any time
constraints and show work that from the recent or somewhat recent past.
This weeks install doesn’t go that far back. The second week of August to be exact. I was still recovering from surgery when I was contacted by Dromedary Records head Al Crisafulli and Jim Testa of Jersey Beat asking if i
would cover a two day, three show music fest at Maxwells. The festival, strangely named “Camelfest: would benefit the Roots and Wings Foundation. A group that serves to help those that are aging out of the Foster Care System. It sounded like a great cause. Definitely worthy of attention. The thing was I was just out of the hospital recovering from surgery. I still had my stitches/staples in (Eleven if anyone’s counting) and was told to rest and stay out of crowds or situations where you might be bumping into people. “Fuck it” I said. You only live once and Maxwell’s is only a few blocks from me. It wasn’t as if I’d be getting caught in a mosh or have people stage diving on my head. So I went, covered all three shows and had a great time. The few times when I really felt the pain of my surgery was when I bumped myself with my own camera. By the end of it all I was exhausted and needed an entire day to sleep it off. Regardless
, I’m glad I got to be a part of something special. I finally got to meet Al from Dromedary. He’s an all around awesome dude. It was really special getting to see him really enjoy himself on the final night. Enjoy the pics.
Camelfest; Good Times for a Great Cause.
I couldn’t live with myself if I left you with nothing but band pics when it comes to remembering what was Camelfest. Here are some pics of The Dromedary kids having the best time ever. Thanks Al, you proved that music and community go hand in hand. We can all play a part in making a difference. 
A Visit from Stuyvesant.
Last night I had the guys from Stuyvesant over for some Band shots. Brian told me they wanted an “Unforgiving Look” while Ralph pointed to Television’s “Marquee Moon” album. I personally looked for inspiration from some of my favorite SST and Dischord Records. In less than an hour we knocked out what they were looking for. I offered them more time and ideas but they were very happy with what they got and were gone before knew I it. Brian, Ralph, Sean and Pete were very easy going and fun to work with. 
Jenifer Convertible? Are you fucking kidding me?
When I heard Jenifer Convertible were getting together to play the Dromedary showcase I was pretty psyched to say the least. During my time living in Hell’s Kitchen I saw them about a half dozen times and loved them. Their Maxwells set did not tarnish my fond memories in the least. In fact they renewed them. I don’t know if they have plans for more shows. Judging from this one. They certainly haven’t missed a step.
Stuyvesant brings mirth and merriment to the CMJ Festival.
I’ve known Brian for quite a while now but it’s only recently that I’ve been listening to his band Stuyvesant. A couple of months back I sat down with the band and inrterviewed them for my website. Friday night the band was in top form representing Dromedary Records at Maxwells for the CMJ Festival. Brian wore the Elmer Fudd hunting cap and Ralph was his usual nutty self. Check out my interview with them here.
The Mommyheads bring their eccentric wizardry to Maxwells.
I’ve been going through images from the CMJ’S Dromedary Records show at Maxwells last night and reminiscing about what an incredible time I had. I’m new to the Mommyheads but had been getting familiar with their work all week. Quirky, eccentric, musical and beautiful all at the same time. I’ll be posting band pictures individually because there’s just so many. Check out the band and of course Dromedary Records.
Upcoming Dromedary Records Showcase at Maxwells.
This Friday night Dromedary Records will be representing the CMJ festival at Maxwells here in Hoboken. It’s an all Dromedary bill featuring Jennifer Convertible, Shirk Circus, The Mommyheads and of course Stuyvesant. I’m really excited about the show and happy to be covering it for JerseyBeat.com. In the meantime I thought I’d post some images of Stuyvesant. They just recently invaded Maxwells for their record release on Dromedary.
