02.19.10
So....working on this new album and we're
done with the recording phase (actually did
this over 2 days in January) and been mixing
ever since. We celebrated our 1-year
anniversary show at Elda's on Lark St. and
had a great show with you all, thank you so
much.
The new album is gonna drop in early June,
and be on the lookout for another
CD-release party like the one from our first
show - it can't come soon enough!
Meanwhile, some of the new album tracks
will be up on here before then so be on the
lookout!......MNF
01.13.10
Happy New Year everyone! First, we want to
start by thanking everyone involved in the Gift
Wrapped in Sound concert at the Red
Square in December - everyone's
contributions resulted in a $1,015 donation
to the Langan School of the Center for
Disability Services, as well as over 50 toys
collected for their holiday toy drive. This was
a great success and we're extremely proud
to have been a part of it....
Lately, the whole band has been in the studio
working on our second album (coming this
summer), as well in rehearsals for 'LOVE',
the live album which we'll be working
on/recording concurrently. These two
projects are really coming together well, and
we can't wait to share the final products with
everyone.
In the meantime, some new shows are
booked and poppin up, including our debut
performance on national TV, and showcase
gigs at the South by Southwest Festival in
Austin, TX in March.... we'll keep you posted!
Check back for updates periodically - a New
Year's resolution to update this section more
frequently has already been made ~MNF
12.03.09
Please join us at our next performance, 'Gift
Wrapped in Sound' with some of the
area's finest performers. Every dollar and
toy collected will be given to the Langan
School of the Center for Disability Services
Come party for a great cause, and bring an
unwrapped toy for a kid if you remember!
12.02.09
Wanna give a quick shout to everyone that
came out to Elda's on Lark for Thanksgiving
eve show, and a real special one to
everyone from Justin's last night. You're the
reason we keep at this grind!
11.23.09
Yo Yo - Couple of big shows behind us and
some more on the way. . . SUNY Albany's
UA Hillel event on Thursday night was
fantastic and it was great to see some of you
again. Thanks like the third time we've been
on the campus since this summer, and we're
very grateful for your support.
On Saturday at Siena College. . . wow. . .
what a turnout and event to be a part of!
Much love to everyone who worked to put
together the Fall Fusion event, and for
graciously inviting us to perform. We were
more than happy to be a part of it!
We'll be down at Arlene's in NYC to
celebrate the Tuesday before the
Wednesday before Thanksgiving, courtesy
of Nopulp Music. Then on Thanksgiving Eve
we'll be rocking Elda's on Lark along with
Sea of Trees. DJ Joker will be on the ones
and twos later, and expect a special
performance from DL2G featuring Wyte Boy
and B-way. Peace see you all soon ~MNF
11.06.09
All you cats up on Lark St. are crazy and we
love you! Going to be doing Lark Tavern
and Elda's (back by popular demand). The
band has decided we'll keep doing Lark St.
shows until the whole place turns into a giant
slum. . . .
10.23.09
Many thanks to SUNY Albany and the cats at
After Hours with Joe Bonilla! Got to be part
of a great show featuring Albany Mayoral
candidate Nathan LeBron, and met some
wonderful people along the way. . . .
10.21.09
So we'll be at the CMJ Music Marathon in
NYC this weekend. The venue is
BLVD/Crash Mansion. Some serious talent
going on at this showcase, check these
artists out. We are performing at 10:30pm if
you're in the area. Thanks to the heads at
DubFrequency for putting this thing together.
Peace ~ MNF
10.01.09
Some crazy press circulating about a
Mirk-produced track that Jay-Z ran on.
Crispy Benjamins is for real but the rest is
kinda foggy, aside from Ms. Spektor's voice
on the hook. Thanks to James Montgomery
from MTV News for clearing it up
substantially.
8.28.09
Thanks to SUNY Albany and the great
people we met over there. Having been
warmly received we wish you all the best of
luck this year in yo studies and what not. . . .
we'll be back around Albany soon enough
but in the meantime gonna begin to hit some
regional spots/expand our horizons!
7.22.09
Hello again from the world of Mirk and the
New Familiars, where apparently it's been a
while since our long-form twitter update scroll
here has been, well, updated. . .
Back on June 25 we did a cool gig in the
East Village then the next day a few of us
stopped by Sony/Jive to say hello. The
previous night's show had been a success,
and special thanks to The Big Takeover for
playing with us that night - very impressive
group if you have not heard them. Anyways,
after swinging back through Williamsburg the
van scooted over to the BQE to head for our
show that evening in Bridgeport, CT at the
Seaside Park. Recalling past experience
with leaving NYC on a Friday in the summer,
we rolled out at 3:00pm to leave ample travel
time for the 50-mile trip. All was well, up the
ramp from Meeker onto 278 and then. . . . . . .
three-and-a-half hours later we arrived in
Bridgeport. Unreal traffic; apparently I95 is
treacherous all the way to Florida -
nevertheless we got there fine, in fact just in
time to see the crowd scattering for cover as
a monsoon with lightning bolts came rolling
in from Long Island Sound. What a
downpour - and it struck with almost no
notice, like the clouds knew we'd been in
stop and go traffic all day and wanted to
stick it to us! Alas, the day was salvaged
with all of us going to a nice Italian place in
the town, a couple bottles of wine, and a
clean hotel. And the picturesque journey
back through Connecticut was one hell of a
contrast to the Van-Wyck-Whitestone-I95
debacle.
Back to business, we played at the grand
opening of Putnam Den in Saratoga, NY on
July 10. This place is real nice and we'll be
back for more during track season up there.
Suggestion to all - go grab a beer and see
for yourself (how about Friday) if you're
curious!
Also, there's an interview with us on Jason
Keller airing on Sunday, July 26 on 103.1FM
in the Capital Region - tune in if you want to
hear some more about what we're up to and
where we've been ~ MNF
5.12.09
Update time crackas! We're keepin' things
moving along with a nice little stretch of
shows for late May, and filling in the rest for
June/July/August as they finalize (we'll put
them up as soon as they're a lock). Also got
the twitter feed up there if you're feeling
super-voyeuristic and want to hear things like
"Josiah needs a diaper change" or "Mirk is
making a 2" (yeah, that was an actually tweet
from a few days back).
Also exciting is this new record that those
who have heard are calling it "Forbidden
2.0" -- almost certainly going to be the single
from the new album (timing on that is release
is TBD so we'll have to sit on it a bit).
Meanwhile, we've had Queens murderer Lou
Harvey up in the Albany studios the past few
weeks and if you haven't heard of him - trust
that you will shortly. Sometimes the timing
just needs to be right for these ultra-talented
artists to hit their strides. . . . . . .Back to the
shows, the NYC shows coming up are going
to be Le Poisson Rouge on Bleecker on
Thursday May 21, then The Delancey on
Thursday May 28 - (you can figure out for
yourselves what street that's on). Finally,
Dan Gerken's band Timbre Coup will be
playing with us at the Lark Tavern on
Saturday May 16 so we hope to see you
there! Till then, keep checking twitter and
we'll update you on every bowel movement
we make :) Out like the Director of the White
House Military Office ~ MNF
5.05.09
So whats up. . . just released today what
we're calling the New Familiar Stimulus
Package!! This 4 1/2-track EP is entitled
'BROKE' and it's got a bit more hip-hop feel
than the 'LOVE' album and we love our fans
so we're giving it away for free (would ruin
the whole theme if we didn't right?). Anyway,
pass it around, bump it in your cars, and
you'll start hearing these records pop up in
our live set reeeeeaaaal soon. We all hope
you enjoy this new music as much as we're
gonna when we play it for you.
In the meantime, we'll be at Tess' Lark
Tavern on Sat. May 16th with Timbre Coup.
There's been some considerable buzz about
this one, so get there early ya dig? Anyway,
enjoy the new music and we'll see you soon.
Love & Respect ~MNF
5.01.09
Props to The College of St. Rose for
throwing an awesome party on Saturday!
We had a great response from the upbeat
crowd on a hot summer day in April. Also
impressive were bands 'The Dear Hunter'
and 'Say Anything' that rocked the house. . .
and after the show all the bands agreed that
it was one of the best college show
atmospheres we'd seen.
Next up is gonna be a few May shows; one
in the East Village for some industry cats
and then back to home turf at Tess' Lark
Tavern along with Timbre Coup. This one is
going to be a packed house, and there will
be a film crew shooting for a documentary in
which Mirk and the New Familiars are being
feaured.
The film will be about up-and-coming bands,
producers, and venues and is has also
following Soulive, Dropkick Murphys,
Captain Squeeze and the Zydeco Moshers,
as well as The Demos.
We'll let you all know more about that and
other happenings as they come. All said, a
good April for the project and thanks again
to the students at St. Rose for all the love. . .
Till next time- MNF
4.03.09
So. . . if you guys are near a radio in the
Capital Region this Sunday, tune into 103.1
FM to hear your affable pals Mirk & The New
Familiars on Jason Keller's Big Break Show.
Request that track and any others off the
"LOVE" album sometime thereafter and we'll
start getting these records on the air more
frequently. Or you can call them at (518)
218-1031 and simply gush over how much
you love it :)
Also we'll be at the Lark Tavern on 5.16.09
(Saturday) so you organized folks can mark
that one down if you're so inclined. . . till next
time, be good ~ MNF
4.01.09
Happy April to all you fools out there!! Got
the whole group together again yesterday for
a tune-up rehearsal for the Red Square party.
Also in the works - hitting up some of the
colleges, cause it's that time of year when
the books start to close and the beers start
to open. . . we were voted to play in the
College of St. Rose's "Rose Rock" festival
and will be doing Siena College's
"SienaFest" as well at the end of this month.
Everyone in the group is mad excited to get
to entertain these college cats that put in a
tough year and are ready to celebrate. . .
work hard, play hard!!
In addition, MNF will be travelling back down
to Brooklyn to perform at a benefit concert
on April 18th. We were contacted by a
woman who saw us perform at Public
Assembly BK in March, and kindly invited us
to help raise funds in support of AIDS.
We happily agreed, and are able to do this
type of thing in large part due to the fans that
buy tickets, CDs and Mirkchendise at our
shows. Ya'll have a hand in this one. . .
Surrounding this benefit are inherent
messages that we'd like to echo: (1) Even in
tough economic times, there's always a
reason to give back (2) The cures for AIDS
are out there (ahem. . . Magic Johnson), but
the remedy for the U.S. health care system is
far behind. That means we, as citizens,
need to pick up our government's
inefficiencies and slack, rather than wait for
their magic answers. . .
OK, enough commentary - get your butts out
to the Red Square on Saturday and we'll see
you there!!
3.25.09
Let's start with THIS section of the site!!!
Our goal is to keep it updated on a regular
basis with what we are doing, how things are
going, what we are up to, what's going on,
things that are happening, who we are
working with, what we are working on, and
what's in the works. . . (did a lyricist write
that?)
Presently we're doing a lot!!! To start we
rocked and promoted our album release
party/debut performance at the Red Square
on Fri. Feb 13th. . . In case you weren't there
or didn't already hear. . . We broke the
attendance record and put over 300 heads
in that mutha fucka!!! Let's just say it was a
great night and leave it at that. Since then
we've been steady rocking crowds bouncing
between Albany and NYC, keeping folks
dancing one show at a time!
Come check us out!!!
We've also been working with Various artists
and on additional projects such as:
Timbre Coup
Iona Maclean
Demi
Ciara. . . Yes, THE Ciara. . . Mirk did the
dance remix for her single, "Never Ever"
. . .AND a couple big, huge, insanely large,
major artists, that shall remain nameless
(until the checks are cut). . .
We, as in Mirk & The New Familiars are also
working on a couple additional release for
you!!! A four-song EP. . . A Maxi-single let's
say. "Records that were clearly hot enough
for the album, but didn't fit the concept". . .
that's just the working title. Let us know what
you think. As a matter of fact help us name
it. Click here and submit your EP title idea. .
. Oh and if you buy advanced tickets for the
show on 4/4, we'll email you an advanced
copy!!!
We're also going to start recording all of the
shows we can to put out "LOVE" the live
album. . . It might take a minute, as we are a
band of perfectionists. . . but expect it!
So....working on this new album and we're
done with the recording phase (actually did
this over 2 days in January) and been mixing
ever since. We celebrated our 1-year
anniversary show at Elda's on Lark St. and
had a great show with you all, thank you so
much.
The new album is gonna drop in early June,
and be on the lookout for another
CD-release party like the one from our first
show - it can't come soon enough!
Meanwhile, some of the new album tracks
will be up on here before then so be on the
lookout!......MNF
01.13.10
Happy New Year everyone! First, we want to
start by thanking everyone involved in the Gift
Wrapped in Sound concert at the Red
Square in December - everyone's
contributions resulted in a $1,015 donation
to the Langan School of the Center for
Disability Services, as well as over 50 toys
collected for their holiday toy drive. This was
a great success and we're extremely proud
to have been a part of it....
Lately, the whole band has been in the studio
working on our second album (coming this
summer), as well in rehearsals for 'LOVE',
the live album which we'll be working
on/recording concurrently. These two
projects are really coming together well, and
we can't wait to share the final products with
everyone.
In the meantime, some new shows are
booked and poppin up, including our debut
performance on national TV, and showcase
gigs at the South by Southwest Festival in
Austin, TX in March.... we'll keep you posted!
Check back for updates periodically - a New
Year's resolution to update this section more
frequently has already been made ~MNF
12.03.09
Please join us at our next performance, 'Gift
Wrapped in Sound' with some of the
area's finest performers. Every dollar and
toy collected will be given to the Langan
School of the Center for Disability Services
Come party for a great cause, and bring an
unwrapped toy for a kid if you remember!
12.02.09
Wanna give a quick shout to everyone that
came out to Elda's on Lark for Thanksgiving
eve show, and a real special one to
everyone from Justin's last night. You're the
reason we keep at this grind!
11.23.09
Yo Yo - Couple of big shows behind us and
some more on the way. . . SUNY Albany's
UA Hillel event on Thursday night was
fantastic and it was great to see some of you
again. Thanks like the third time we've been
on the campus since this summer, and we're
very grateful for your support.
On Saturday at Siena College. . . wow. . .
what a turnout and event to be a part of!
Much love to everyone who worked to put
together the Fall Fusion event, and for
graciously inviting us to perform. We were
more than happy to be a part of it!
We'll be down at Arlene's in NYC to
celebrate the Tuesday before the
Wednesday before Thanksgiving, courtesy
of Nopulp Music. Then on Thanksgiving Eve
we'll be rocking Elda's on Lark along with
Sea of Trees. DJ Joker will be on the ones
and twos later, and expect a special
performance from DL2G featuring Wyte Boy
and B-way. Peace see you all soon ~MNF
11.06.09
All you cats up on Lark St. are crazy and we
love you! Going to be doing Lark Tavern
and Elda's (back by popular demand). The
band has decided we'll keep doing Lark St.
shows until the whole place turns into a giant
slum. . . .
10.23.09
Many thanks to SUNY Albany and the cats at
After Hours with Joe Bonilla! Got to be part
of a great show featuring Albany Mayoral
candidate Nathan LeBron, and met some
wonderful people along the way. . . .
10.21.09
So we'll be at the CMJ Music Marathon in
NYC this weekend. The venue is
BLVD/Crash Mansion. Some serious talent
going on at this showcase, check these
artists out. We are performing at 10:30pm if
you're in the area. Thanks to the heads at
DubFrequency for putting this thing together.
Peace ~ MNF
10.01.09
Some crazy press circulating about a
Mirk-produced track that Jay-Z ran on.
Crispy Benjamins is for real but the rest is
kinda foggy, aside from Ms. Spektor's voice
on the hook. Thanks to James Montgomery
from MTV News for clearing it up
substantially.
8.28.09
Thanks to SUNY Albany and the great
people we met over there. Having been
warmly received we wish you all the best of
luck this year in yo studies and what not. . . .
we'll be back around Albany soon enough
but in the meantime gonna begin to hit some
regional spots/expand our horizons!
7.22.09
Hello again from the world of Mirk and the
New Familiars, where apparently it's been a
while since our long-form twitter update scroll
here has been, well, updated. . .
Back on June 25 we did a cool gig in the
East Village then the next day a few of us
stopped by Sony/Jive to say hello. The
previous night's show had been a success,
and special thanks to The Big Takeover for
playing with us that night - very impressive
group if you have not heard them. Anyways,
after swinging back through Williamsburg the
van scooted over to the BQE to head for our
show that evening in Bridgeport, CT at the
Seaside Park. Recalling past experience
with leaving NYC on a Friday in the summer,
we rolled out at 3:00pm to leave ample travel
time for the 50-mile trip. All was well, up the
ramp from Meeker onto 278 and then. . . . . . .
three-and-a-half hours later we arrived in
Bridgeport. Unreal traffic; apparently I95 is
treacherous all the way to Florida -
nevertheless we got there fine, in fact just in
time to see the crowd scattering for cover as
a monsoon with lightning bolts came rolling
in from Long Island Sound. What a
downpour - and it struck with almost no
notice, like the clouds knew we'd been in
stop and go traffic all day and wanted to
stick it to us! Alas, the day was salvaged
with all of us going to a nice Italian place in
the town, a couple bottles of wine, and a
clean hotel. And the picturesque journey
back through Connecticut was one hell of a
contrast to the Van-Wyck-Whitestone-I95
debacle.
Back to business, we played at the grand
opening of Putnam Den in Saratoga, NY on
July 10. This place is real nice and we'll be
back for more during track season up there.
Suggestion to all - go grab a beer and see
for yourself (how about Friday) if you're
curious!
Also, there's an interview with us on Jason
Keller airing on Sunday, July 26 on 103.1FM
in the Capital Region - tune in if you want to
hear some more about what we're up to and
where we've been ~ MNF
5.12.09
Update time crackas! We're keepin' things
moving along with a nice little stretch of
shows for late May, and filling in the rest for
June/July/August as they finalize (we'll put
them up as soon as they're a lock). Also got
the twitter feed up there if you're feeling
super-voyeuristic and want to hear things like
"Josiah needs a diaper change" or "Mirk is
making a 2" (yeah, that was an actually tweet
from a few days back).
Also exciting is this new record that those
who have heard are calling it "Forbidden
2.0" -- almost certainly going to be the single
from the new album (timing on that is release
is TBD so we'll have to sit on it a bit).
Meanwhile, we've had Queens murderer Lou
Harvey up in the Albany studios the past few
weeks and if you haven't heard of him - trust
that you will shortly. Sometimes the timing
just needs to be right for these ultra-talented
artists to hit their strides. . . . . . .Back to the
shows, the NYC shows coming up are going
to be Le Poisson Rouge on Bleecker on
Thursday May 21, then The Delancey on
Thursday May 28 - (you can figure out for
yourselves what street that's on). Finally,
Dan Gerken's band Timbre Coup will be
playing with us at the Lark Tavern on
Saturday May 16 so we hope to see you
there! Till then, keep checking twitter and
we'll update you on every bowel movement
we make :) Out like the Director of the White
House Military Office ~ MNF
5.05.09
So whats up. . . just released today what
we're calling the New Familiar Stimulus
Package!! This 4 1/2-track EP is entitled
'BROKE' and it's got a bit more hip-hop feel
than the 'LOVE' album and we love our fans
so we're giving it away for free (would ruin
the whole theme if we didn't right?). Anyway,
pass it around, bump it in your cars, and
you'll start hearing these records pop up in
our live set reeeeeaaaal soon. We all hope
you enjoy this new music as much as we're
gonna when we play it for you.
In the meantime, we'll be at Tess' Lark
Tavern on Sat. May 16th with Timbre Coup.
There's been some considerable buzz about
this one, so get there early ya dig? Anyway,
enjoy the new music and we'll see you soon.
Love & Respect ~MNF
5.01.09
Props to The College of St. Rose for
throwing an awesome party on Saturday!
We had a great response from the upbeat
crowd on a hot summer day in April. Also
impressive were bands 'The Dear Hunter'
and 'Say Anything' that rocked the house. . .
and after the show all the bands agreed that
it was one of the best college show
atmospheres we'd seen.
Next up is gonna be a few May shows; one
in the East Village for some industry cats
and then back to home turf at Tess' Lark
Tavern along with Timbre Coup. This one is
going to be a packed house, and there will
be a film crew shooting for a documentary in
which Mirk and the New Familiars are being
feaured.
The film will be about up-and-coming bands,
producers, and venues and is has also
following Soulive, Dropkick Murphys,
Captain Squeeze and the Zydeco Moshers,
as well as The Demos.
We'll let you all know more about that and
other happenings as they come. All said, a
good April for the project and thanks again
to the students at St. Rose for all the love. . .
Till next time- MNF
4.03.09
So. . . if you guys are near a radio in the
Capital Region this Sunday, tune into 103.1
FM to hear your affable pals Mirk & The New
Familiars on Jason Keller's Big Break Show.
Request that track and any others off the
"LOVE" album sometime thereafter and we'll
start getting these records on the air more
frequently. Or you can call them at (518)
218-1031 and simply gush over how much
you love it :)
Also we'll be at the Lark Tavern on 5.16.09
(Saturday) so you organized folks can mark
that one down if you're so inclined. . . till next
time, be good ~ MNF
4.01.09
Happy April to all you fools out there!! Got
the whole group together again yesterday for
a tune-up rehearsal for the Red Square party.
Also in the works - hitting up some of the
colleges, cause it's that time of year when
the books start to close and the beers start
to open. . . we were voted to play in the
College of St. Rose's "Rose Rock" festival
and will be doing Siena College's
"SienaFest" as well at the end of this month.
Everyone in the group is mad excited to get
to entertain these college cats that put in a
tough year and are ready to celebrate. . .
work hard, play hard!!
In addition, MNF will be travelling back down
to Brooklyn to perform at a benefit concert
on April 18th. We were contacted by a
woman who saw us perform at Public
Assembly BK in March, and kindly invited us
to help raise funds in support of AIDS.
We happily agreed, and are able to do this
type of thing in large part due to the fans that
buy tickets, CDs and Mirkchendise at our
shows. Ya'll have a hand in this one. . .
Surrounding this benefit are inherent
messages that we'd like to echo: (1) Even in
tough economic times, there's always a
reason to give back (2) The cures for AIDS
are out there (ahem. . . Magic Johnson), but
the remedy for the U.S. health care system is
far behind. That means we, as citizens,
need to pick up our government's
inefficiencies and slack, rather than wait for
their magic answers. . .
OK, enough commentary - get your butts out
to the Red Square on Saturday and we'll see
you there!!
3.25.09
Let's start with THIS section of the site!!!
Our goal is to keep it updated on a regular
basis with what we are doing, how things are
going, what we are up to, what's going on,
things that are happening, who we are
working with, what we are working on, and
what's in the works. . . (did a lyricist write
that?)
Presently we're doing a lot!!! To start we
rocked and promoted our album release
party/debut performance at the Red Square
on Fri. Feb 13th. . . In case you weren't there
or didn't already hear. . . We broke the
attendance record and put over 300 heads
in that mutha fucka!!! Let's just say it was a
great night and leave it at that. Since then
we've been steady rocking crowds bouncing
between Albany and NYC, keeping folks
dancing one show at a time!
Come check us out!!!
We've also been working with Various artists
and on additional projects such as:
Timbre Coup
Iona Maclean
Demi
Ciara. . . Yes, THE Ciara. . . Mirk did the
dance remix for her single, "Never Ever"
. . .AND a couple big, huge, insanely large,
major artists, that shall remain nameless
(until the checks are cut). . .
We, as in Mirk & The New Familiars are also
working on a couple additional release for
you!!! A four-song EP. . . A Maxi-single let's
say. "Records that were clearly hot enough
for the album, but didn't fit the concept". . .
that's just the working title. Let us know what
you think. As a matter of fact help us name
it. Click here and submit your EP title idea. .
. Oh and if you buy advanced tickets for the
show on 4/4, we'll email you an advanced
copy!!!
We're also going to start recording all of the
shows we can to put out "LOVE" the live
album. . . It might take a minute, as we are a
band of perfectionists. . . but expect it!
