Chris Wicks :: Home

As mentioned in the previous post, the next few days are going to be a flurry of activity. The Gaybot show/record release is happening tonight at the Bug Jar, and Pillowfight Accident will be playing Boulder Coffee Co. on Friday. To add to the fun, I will be playing with the Miles Brown Group this Saturday at High Fidelity in Rochester (formerly known as Milestones). We will be opening up for Jerseyband, which is hands down one of my favorite bands of all time. This show is definitely not to be missed. We start at 9:00 P.M., followed by Jerseyband. Check the calendar page for details on all of the shows. Three nights of madness. Good luck.

Hey, forks. Just letting the known know. Gaybot just finished recording an album. It’s called Just for the Record. I put a couple of my favorite tracks up on the sounds page. We’ll be selling it at our upcoming shows, so come out and hear us and pick up a copy. I have fallen, once again, into disgraceful neglect of the website calendar updates, but we have a show this Thursday night at the Bug Jar with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Should be really fun, and you can pick up a copy of the album. We will be embarking on a short east coastish tour in June, as well. Stay tunered for those dates. Speaking of other shows, Deadly Pillowfight Accident will be making a reappearance after a long winter hiatus coming up this Friday the 13th at Boulder Coffee Company. The show is at 8:30 P.M. It will be really goddamn serious. I love you if you’re reading this.

I finally did it. Microsoft (no link required) is officially out of my life. After a few beers the other night, I garnered enough courage to make the move that I’ve been thinking about for years, and reinstall with a Linux build on my computer. Due to its’ fresh humanistic approach to ideas about computing in general, not to mention glowing reviews, high popularity and adoption rate, and outstanding user forums, I went with Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft. It has, thus far, been an extremely satisfying, frustrating, and educational experience for me.

One of the major things that was getting to me about Windows XP is that, after my first reinstall (and believe me, if you’re running XP, you’re going to want to reinstall every 6 months or so if you have the requisite beatific disposition and patience), I couldn’t get any of my audio recording software to recognize the audio input jack to my computer as an audio source for recording. This was very frustrating, and I assumed it was a problem with my hardware and gave up. Upon installing Edgy Eft, I immediately started up the onboard audio recording software that is included with the Operating System and gave it a shot. It worked! Wow.

All of this is leading up to the fact that, thanks to my lovely, new, free and vastly superior (note: hyperbole/not hyperbole. I believe it to be superior, but acknowledge the fact that it isn’t for everyone. One day, it will be, I promise.) Ubuntu Linux-based operating system, I can finally submit new live audio files that I’ve recorded to my MiniDisc.

In honor of this occasion, I give to you the somewhat lengthily awaited performance of Six Types of Ambiguity, live at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan, NY. From this past August. Yep. You can listen or download in the sounds section of this website. Enjoy! I certainly am.

Come out to party things at the A/V Space for the birthday celebrations of Matty Sonar (Slurblown). Gaybot making noises. Other bands making noises. It’s actually a secret. But it’s at 9:00 P.M. on Saturday the 23rd, or something like that. Make sure you buy something nice to wear and subsequently remove to give to Matty. He’d like that. And, if anybody in Rochester is actually reading this today, don’t forget to come out tonight to the Bop Shop and see the Respect Sextet. They’re really good, and they’ll be playing some new stuff by Stockhausen and Sun Ra that they’ve been working on. It’ll be really good. It starts at 8:00.

Hello! Quick post. The Respect Sextet tour was fantastic. Many thanks to those guys for having me. They are all amazing people and great friends, and I had a terrific time playing and being around them for two weeks. James Hirschfeld has posted an entire show for your listening/downloading pleasure on his website at www.jameshirschfeld.com. It’s from our set at Space Vs. Time in Grand Rapids, which was easily one of my favorite performances. I was plagued with instrument trouble for a good portion of the tour, and had just had my horn fixed, and it felt pretty amazing to play on a fully functional instrument. I’m going to go eat breakfast now. Listen to music!

I just got back from the wedding of Josh Rutner and Jen Brown, and it was amazing. Beautiful ceremony, amazing people, amazing food, great music (Latin Vibes!), dancing, drinking, and all around respect coming at one (being one that is there at that) from all angles. Many thanks broadcast to all responsible for the evening (and all is many!). Needles (and pins) to say, I’m a little bit on the tipsy side. I’m about to embark on a tour with the Respect Sextet, kicking it all off with a show at Monty’s Krown Sunday night. I’m extremely honored that they asked me to do this while Josh is on his honeymoon, and I hope that I will be able to do the group justice. It should be a great time…check the calendar for upcoming dates. And if you’re in Rochester…come out! We’re gonna pack that mother like a can of sardines! Much love to Jen and Josh. They’re pretty f’ing amazing together. Respect the Matrimony!

Hello! Leaving on a train for Manhattan tomorrow to play some with Josh Rutner’s band Six Types of Ambiguity. I’ll be in town for a couple of days (Tuesday through Friday), so call me to hang out if you’re around, and definitely come out to the Knitting Factory on Thursday night. For details on the show, check the calendar page.

My daughter turned two yesterday. I have a two year old. That’s insanity, but it’s beautiful, and she is beautiful. So far, she is no more or less terrible than usual, which is pretty not terrible for the most part. Everything that could possibly be considered terrible is, more than anything, a learning experience for myself and for her. Like that time that she drew all over my brand new television with crayons. I went online, and learned from the Crayola Website that all you have to do is spray WD-40 on the affected area, and it wipes right off. Yeah. I spent most of the day with her, going out to breakfast with my parents and my sister (who were in town for the weekend). I brought them to the South Wedge Diner and they fell in love (I am already in love/they made me take them back this morning). Khaliya finally calls them “gwamma” and “gwamma", and she cried when they left today. Amber threw a really great party for Khaliya at her new house, with lots of amazing food and lots of great people. Unfortunately, I had to leave early, but I had a great time playing at Soundlab in Buffalo with Gaybot. A lot of great music was going on as part of the Infringement Festival. If you’re in the Buffalo area in the next week or so, definitely check some of it out.

Love to all, and I hope to see some of my Brooklyn/NYC peoples in the next couple of days.

A last minute show announcement, the last minute due in large part to my laziness in not getting around to posting about it on the calendar section. I will be playing with Pillowfight Accident tomorrow night (Friday July 21st) at the Spy Bar (139 State St. in Rochester…it’s kind of hard to find, but it is pretty much directly where Andrews St. terminates at State St.). Should be a great show, and The Lobster Quadrille will also be playing, so come out! We’ll be starting at 10:00 P.M. sharp as knives.

Not a post. Hello! I’m bad at a website for those that haven’t noticed. Life has been a bit on the insane side recently, but I’m enjoying it for what it is worth. Of note: my daughter is beautiful and has words you wouldn’t believe. She enjoys making people smell flowers over and over again, and she also enjoys spinning, jumping, and dancing, with or without music. She is very fast, and has good rhythm. Also of note: I have leapt/crept (creapt?) into the cellular world, after much hesitation and prolonged holding out. The world now has full access to a direct line into my bloodstream. The number is mentioned on my contact page. Call me if you like. Also of note: I am attempting to plan to move to Brooklyn in September. I need a place! Help me if you like. Be my roomate! I’ll be down at the beginning of August for a show at the Knitting Factory with Six Types of Ambiguity, and it would be damn dreamy if I could sign on something at that point. Also of note: my good friends Thought will be performing in Rochester this Friday (July 7th) at Milestones. 10:00 P.M.ish. Come out, dance, and feel really damn good. I may be sitting in on a couple of tunes. Whee! I feel better now.

Just a quick raising of heads type alert to those friends and folks in the NYC area. I’m going to be in town next weekend (Friday the 24th through the following Monday morning) to play with Josh Rutner’s band Six Types of Ambiguity. Check the calendar section for more details on the show. Seeing people is nice!

Yep, that’s what it says. I know I’ve been neglecting that portion of the site, but I’ve made a resolution of sorts to keep the calendar page updated, even if I haven’t managed to update the look/feel/functionality of the calendar page itself (yet). I’ve got a couple of dates coming up, including another excursion to Brooklyn, this time to play a gig with some great old boys that has been, in its’ own way, a long time coming.

In other news, my (now former) roommate, Brian Blatt, has departed from this humble abode to venture across the country on foot. Or on bike. At the time of his leaving, he hadn’t actually decided whether he was going to hoof it or pedal. But he has gone. And he is travelling from Savannah, Georgia to some or many point or points on the Pacific coast. I’ve said it before, but I love Brian, and hope he gets lots of fun and stumbles across many things of interest and illumination on his journage. Gaybot will continue in some sort of dissected/retarded form in his absence under a different/altered/elongated banner, but it won’t be the same without him. It’ll be different. It’ll be fun. Look out for retarded robots, dead women named Beatrice, and plenty of wrestling, sour cream. Good king Gaybot wah-wah-wah. Good luck, man.

Just a quick post to let folks know that Gaybot will be making a whirlwind trip to Brooklyn tonight. We’ll be playing at:

the Glasshouse Gallery
38 South 1st St. (at Kent Ave)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC

Show starts at 9:00 P.M. tonight.

We’ll be playing with:
-Seth Faergolzia (of Dufus)
-Jeff Lewis

Hope to see some people out there! This officially marks the beginning of the first annual Gaybot New Year, culminating with the party at Bullwinkles in Rochester New Year’s Eve, so if you’re in NYC, come check us out.

Hello! I hope that everybody out there reading this has had a fantastic holiday type season. I have. I wanted to let all that will be in the Rochester area for New Year’s Eve know about the absolute best possibility that you have in your bag of possibilities for New Year’s Eve plans. Gaybot will be playing at Bullwinkle’s, along with lots of other great musical acts/happenings. Among which are: Kelli Shay Hicks in her final Rochester performance in the foreseeable future, Carbonic in yet another Rochester performance, some DJs, some rare and weird movies, perhaps or perhaps not in conjunction with musical performance, a free champagne toast, lots of fine, fine folks, and more yet to be determined by you and others! Bullwinkle’s is a fantastic little known/unknown/historical spot located at 622 Lake Avenue, Rochester. It’s right near the Country Sweet Chicken joint. Come on down and celebrate the inevitable New Year in true bacchanalian style! It (something) starts at 9:00 P.M., sharp or not.

Also, in case you didn’t notice from the link above, Gaybot now its’/our/his/her own website.
www.gaybot.net

we can still be found (and perhaps better understood) at www.myspace.com/gaybot, but who cares?

I love you all.