Blog

Posted on

Happy Anniversary Freelance Sweatpants!!!!!!!

Can you believe it’s been ONE YEAR of FREELANCE SWEATPANTS at this point? Formed from the EMBERS of a dying house party FIRE, FREELANCE SWEATPANTS rose from the ASHES to put forth unto this world some ALTERNATIVE ROCK AND ROLL. The band members, JUSTIN, SEAN, AJ, and DOM have shown tremendous GROWTH in their PLAYING and SONGWRITING abilities since they formed ONE YEAR ago TODAY!

Since then, they have logged over 41 HOURS, 36 MINUTES, AND 24 SECONDS of practice time during our WEDNESDAY SOCIAL jams. Yes, WE do LOG everything. Down to the SECOND, because if we don’t, WILL YOU? That’s what I thought!

These practices have culminated in two LIVE APPEARANCES, at the ROCK DEN and JUSTIN’S BACKYARD. They have also led to the development of a YOUTUBE channel, a MANIC BLOG, an INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT and much more.

None of this would be possible without the DEDICATION and COMMITMENT from the band. This is the type of COMMITMENT that gets you COMMITTED for believing in the band THIS MUCH. Yet here we are A YEAR INTO IT, with MORE TO COME.

How much more? WELL, we have an EP in the FINAL STAGES OF MIXING. More LIVE DATES, and some cool cover songs coming your way!

IN addition to jamming on HIGH ON A PLANE (with a new, EXCITING ENDING) and OH WHY this WEEK, some covers were played. WHAT COVERS? Well, that’s where the FREELANCE part of our name comes in.

We may be ALTERNATIVE ROCK, but our influences are WIDE RANGING. Everything from NIRVANA’S “LOVE BUZZ” to badass composer ENNIO MORRICONE’S main theme to “THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY” were given the FREELANCE SWEATPANTS treatment. Maybe, just maybe there will be some JEFFERSON STARSHIP in the future as well.

So, here’s to YEAR TWO of FREELANCE SWEATPANTS, may it bring more GIGS, RECORDED MUSIC, BRIGHTLY COLORED INSTRUMENTS, BLOGS, and SWEATPANTS our way.

Posted on

Back To The Basics

This past Thursday saw a return to form for FREELANCE SWEATPANTS. The quartet made no bones about it and got right back into being a BAND AGAIN. Jamming for a solid hour of hits, and soon to be classics. The band tore through the RIP ROARING “WEDNESDAY SOCIAL”, the punk rock tinged “SPOOKY”, they even gave good ole “OH WHY” a try! “Oh Why” did we chose to focus on JAMMING, instead of RECORDING?  Because that’s what GOOD BANDS do! They make the choices that help keep them creative and active on a near CONSTANT BASIS!

For the SECOND SET, more of the same was played. In these BAND meetings, everything is TOP SECRET. No one goes INTO or OUT OF the meetings except for members of the band. How SECRETIVE? So much so that this time, NOT EVEN A PHOTO could capture what took place during it.

Though with EVERY BAND MEETING, we always look to the FUTURE. A mockup for the “SPOOKY” MUSIC VIDEO has been shot (not yet edited) . When it comes time to release the OFFICIAL VIDEO, you will be THE FIRST TO KNOW. Otherwise, whatchu doin’ here?

For those awaiting the EP, it IS COMING. As the CGI old man once said, “YOU CAN’T RUSH ART.” That is PRECISELY why things must be KEPT SECRET. So that when it’s out, EVERYOOONE will know about it!

Posted on

The Day of Recording Is Here

THE DAY OF RECORDING IS HERE! That’s right, the debut EP (that’s Extended Play for digital listeners) is almost UPON US. For the last few weeks, the band has been slaving away to deliver MUSIC unto YOU! So far, the GUITAR, DRUMS, BASS and VOCAL tracks have been LAID DOWN. This is exciting stuff! Last week’s rehearsal saw SEAN belting out the vocals, SOLO, delivering his lyrics TO THE WORLD.

Meanwhile the band has been BREAKING AND ENTERING INTO JUSTIN’S house to deliver onto the EP their command of the sonic hard driving sound FREELANCE SWEATPANTS is known for.

AJ and DOM delivered the goods on the RIFF front, and JUSTIN beats his drums like they owed him money. ALL IN THE NAME OF ROCK AND ROLL.

Even more INCREDIBLE NEWS, this month marks the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the musical machine that is FREELANCE SWEATPANTS. One year ago, FOUR GUYS WHO LOVE MUSIC, got together, and showed the world that they can make their own.

How will we celebrate such a MONUMENTOUS OCCASION?  We have a new EP coming, but if you had read the above, you would have already known that FACT. There are some LIVE APPEARANCES in the works.

Keep checking in as I KNOW, and YOU DON’T when things are happening in the MANIC WORLD OF FREELANCE SWEATPANTS.

Posted on

Big Stuff’s Happening!

It appears it is that time again, time FOR BIG STUFF TO BE HAPPENING. How big? So big that I can’t even DESCRIBE it to you. This week, the RECORD button is FINALLY BEING PRESSED. Creative tensions are high within THE BAND. After a very productive meeting a group decision to record an EP HAS finally been reached. Like OPPENHEIMER with the bomb, the band is ready to EXPLODE onto the NORTH WALES music scene.

This is a scene already bursting with creativity, with another NORTH WALES based act LASER SHARK, providing us with a LASER FOCUSED goal of being a great band. What do all great bands need? A LOOK, something we have discussed and will be unveiled in true FREELANCE SWEATPANTS fashion in the MONTHS TO COME. What else DO THEY NEED? They need LIVE SHOWS to promote the recordings. Dates for open mics nights WILL BE ANNOUNCED soon.  Additionally, the songs have been selected for the EP to be recorded THIS WEEKEND.

But, the drummer is out of town, so how will the band pursue their MUSICAL PASSIONS? By doing what most hard working, hard drinking bands do, BREAK INTO the drummer’s house and RECORD. This EP has been a YEAR in the making, the SONGS are there, the DESIRE is there, the FIRE is there, all that needs to be there is YOU!

Without YOU, there would be no band. So, THANK YOU, THE FANS, for listening, supporting and hoping you continue to do so with all the great stuff coming soon!

Posted on

There’s a Reason These Sweatpants are Freelance

Last week marked the SECOND MAJOR GIG of FREELANCE SWEATPANTS career. Originally intended for WELL CRAFTED in LANSDALE, plans took a BLUES BROTHERS esque turn. The band, which was currently slated to play for 15 minutes, was confronted with an obstacle, the ELDERLY. While one day this band hopes to be rocking until THEIR HAIRS TUNRN GREY, these kind, elderly folk were not ready for our brand of rock. Or maybe they were? Since the days of ELVIS first SWAYING HIS HIPS to rock and roll, these patrons of WELL CRAFTED’S open mic night could have been converted to FOLLOWERS OF THE SWEATPANTS. Though not a band to cause issues, it was proven that night in the immortal words of JETHRO TULLS IAN ANDERSON, that there is such a thing as being TOO OLD TO ROCK AND ROLL. With that sad news, we departed WELL CRAFTED, leaving behind a few unconverted new fans.

Though, as they say, THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

Picking up the pieces of our shattered dreams of playing another open mic, the band decided to have an impromptu concert. Like THE BEATLES in the days of old, a rooftop concert was put together. Friends, family, and certain influences gathered in a semicircle of chairs at the ALTER OF ROCK. The priests PREACHING TO THE CHOIR, DOM, SEAN, JUSTIN, AND AJ. The band took to the stage at just about 7:50, delivering unto them a sermon of 8 songs in various stages of development, though they were executed with the methodical precision of SEAL TEAM SIX going in for a kill. What were they there to kill? The notion that not even a cancelled gig can STOP THEM. FREELANCE is in the band’s name for a reason.

SET LIST: SONGS MAY BE OUT OF ORDER OR INCOMPLETE TRACK LIST

WEDNESDAY SOCIAL

OTHERSIDE

OH WHY (LIVE DEBUT)

SPOOKY (UNFINISHED LYRICS) (LIVE DEBUT)

HIGH ON A PLANE (LIVE DEBUT)

NEW MATERIAL (LIVE DEBUT)

ENCORE: DIANE (UNFINISHED LYRICS) (LIVE DEBUT)

and yes, THEY DO HAVE A WEBSITE!

Posted on

No Picture, No Problem, Just Performances

FREELANCE SWEATPANTS WELL CRAFTED, LANSDALE 7PM TUESDAY JULY 11TH

BE THERE!

What do bands hate when they are on stage? CLOCKS. That is precisely what the band rattled against during a particularly STORMY, and TOP-SECRET Monday night MAMA JAM. What Monday was it?  Was it last week?  The week before? Time has no meaning when singing about the concept of TIME ITSELF! The jam has universally been decided to be one of the BEST OF THE BANDS GROOVES. It will find its way onto our forthcoming SHOWSTOPPING PULSE POUNDING, GRAND SPANKING DEBUT ALBUM.

But first, before we get to all of that, there are THE PERFORMANCES. Starting TOMORROW, yes, TOMORROW, I know it’s a TUESDAY, but what else do you have to do besides rock? The band will take the stage at WELL CRAFTED in LANSDALE on JULY 11th! Continuing their OPEN MIC TOUR, the band will presumably go onstage around 7PM for 15 MINUTES (with a chance for more, because let’s be honest, who DOESN’T NEED SWEATPANTS these days?) So come one come all to a fun-filled night and watch the BOYS MAKING NOISE at WELL CRAFTED in LANSDALE at 7PM!

Other KOOL SHIZNOISE that has come across my fingers to type to you, FREELANCE SWEATPANTS has expanded their SOCIAL MEDIA EMPIRE. PAST PERFORMANCES and other cool content can now be found on our official YOUTUBE page, simply titled FREELANCE SWEATPANTS. Oh, and we are now on THREADS, don’t ask me what that is, I just know it exists to make us AWESOME. If you do ask me, find another blog to read because I won’t answer unless you ROCK WITH US.

THINGS ARE HAPPENING for THE BOYS MAKING NOISE. The week off has allowed us to recharge, reassess and ROCK YOUR COLLECTIVE FACES OFF.

COME ON DOWN TO WELL CRAFTED AT 7 PM TOMORROW NIGHT FOR FREELANCE SWEATPANTS, LIVE AT WELL CRAFTED, LANSDALE!

Posted on

New instrument, Same Old Kick Ass Music

In what was a total shock, Justin let it slip on one of the worst kept band secrets. He got himself a SNAZZY NEW DRUM KIT. The kit in question: a TAMA CLUB JAM! AND jam it did. The kit jammed so hard that this blog started a sentence with AND.

The band tore through a mix of old and soon to be classics.  This jam included dusting off an older version of “High on a Plane”. The song may not have had the punk rock edge that it did the previous week, but like its title suggests, you’re too wowed by its STRATOSPHERIC SOUNDS to care.

A possible NEW SET was torn through. Kicking things off was the ROLLICKING “WEDNESDAY SOCIAL” Social it was, as it was the first full band meeting in a WEEK AND A HALF. Though there were no signs of laziness, only determination, grit, and ROCK. The band then plowed through soon to be set staple “OH WHY?”.  The question audiences will be is asking is “OH WHY” did its creators not make this masterpiece LONGER.

SPOOKY, the 2000’s pop punk throwback was next, followed by the blistering ‘NEW MATERIAL”. It seems that for the next open mic, the band will be showcasing material new and old alike. They get audience familiar with the classics, then proceed to tug AT THE HEARTSTRINGS when their favorites are replaced by new songs. It’s a bold strategy to get the audience invested, if you don’t hear one of your favorites at a FREELANCE SWEATPANTS show, you’ll wanna come to another to HEAR EM ALL.

Speaking of show, the WHITPAIN TAVERN shuddered its doors that evening, for fear FREELANCE SWEATPANTS would blow the ROOF OFF OF THE PLACE.

“We’re coming to rock the house WHITPAIN, you best believe it!”

NEXT OPEN MIC DATE: TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

Other highlights of the night included but not limited to:

JOHN BORKOWSKI

A possible AC/DC cover? I KNOW ABOUT IT, YOU DON’T!

Posted on

New Guitar, New Direction, New Purpose

Down Pour, downed bridge, but no downed spirit. That was the vibe at the first night of rehearsals post Rock Den. That last phrase has new meaning now that the venue has closed its doors for good. On a night where we wanted to talk shop, the band decided to speak with their instruments.

A band jam was initiated due to the arrival of a grand spanking new guitar. DOM brought his new SQUIRE JAZZMASTER to the fold. The guitar mastered not only JAZZ, but the NEW SONGS as well. First up, a reworked version of HIGH ON A PLANE was crafted that night. This new version took it from a spacey jam to a spacey jam that pulls a fast descent to a NEW WORLD.

The song, now 9 years old, had that anniversary celebrated with some added PUNK ROCK SPICE. The song is expected to make its live debut soon, so keep your ears to the SWEATPANTS.

The next one up is SPOOKY, a song that sounds as if THE FRATELLIS and THE CURE had a love child with PUNK ROCK. A soon to be showstopper in the making.

The funky bass grooves of OH WHY held the jam together until the collective pounding of drums and riffage of JUSTIN and DOM make the chorus sounds as fiery and explosive as a band that knows what they want. WHAT DO THEY WANT?

THEY want to play a new live show. Now armed with as many songs as there are bullets in a revolver, the band will keep FIRING OUT HITS in the jams to come.

What to expect in the coming weeks?

MAYBE A LIVE THING? MAYBE A RECORDED THING? I KNOW, YOU DON’T

SO KEEP TUNING IN.

The future is looking up for FREELANCE SWEATPANTS.

Posted on

Hello, We’re Freelance Sweatpants!

Friday night, the big night. The moment that everyone in the band had trained 9 months for. The FIRST GIG OF THE YEAR! After a week of rehearsals and stressful scheduling, a 7:30 booking of a 15-minute time slot was scheduled. Nerves were rattled, but no one was deterred. The band had but one mission; come out swinging and kick the ROCK DENS ASS!

Adding to the chaotic yet historic nature of the event, was the fact that this was the last week of Lansdales’ historic ROCK DENS existence. The historic venue, known for its open mic nights, was shuttering its doors for good. Meaning it was now or never for FREELANCE SWEATPANTS to move from drummer JUSTIN NEWMANS’ basement to a stage.  

After what seemed like months of trying to book a show at FREELANCE SWEATPANTS version of THE RIVOLI, the wait was well worth it. Armed with a great time slot, a fantastic entourage, and most importantly, great tunes, the band took the stage slightly after 7: 30.

Sean declared to the crowd, “We are FREELANCE SWEATPANTS, it’s going to get loud out here!” Loud it did, with an eruptiuos applause from fans new and old alike (you know who you are). The band immediately tore through a blistering version of “WEDNESDAY SOCIAL” The song made its official live debut in front of an audience, who nodded and tapped along to the rhythm. Following a blistering solo from DOM SPIER, the first song reached its rocking conclusion.

SEAN then told the crowd that it will get a bit quieter, the band led by JUSTIN this time counted in “OTHERSIDES'” signature BEATLES-esque drumbeat. During this song, the band battled the elements onstage as a rogue smoke machine tried to blind them.  AJs’ killer bluesy solo parted the fog, making it clear that nothing can stop this tour de force of rock.

“Alright we got one more, DOMS singing this one.” SEAN said as he went to take a breather. “That’s good or bad depending on who you are.” DOM, hyping up the next and final song making its live debut, “NEW MATERIAL”. By this point the crowd was fully on the side of the band, engaging in more applause following another intense PUNK-TINGED guitar solo.

While The ROCK DEN had prided itself on being an open mic night and not a battle of the bands, FREELANCE SWEATPANTS clearly won that night. Everyone in the band was given their moment to shine, and despite SEANS ominous words of one more song, this will NOT be the final LIVE PERFORMANCE.

Posted on

Justin Ate A Burg

The band featuring John Borkowski (background) with special guest Left Shoe (bottom right)

This week marks the first official live gig for Freelance Sweatpants. After keeping this baby, a secret for nine months, the band, Sean, Dom, Justin, and AJ will push it out into the world. This week’s rehearsal on Tuesday May 30th marked the first time the band has moved from sitting and playing to standing. While the vibe changed, their sound and passion for playing did not. They looked the audience of three including influence John Borkowski dead in the eye and told them without uttering a breath, “We’re here to fucking rock!”

The band proceeded to blast through soon to be classics including the proto-punk influenced “Wednesday Social”.  The group, having rocked the listening parties’ collective tits off, slowed things down a notch. The Beatles influenced “Otherside” was up next. Many a “yes sir” was uttered as per the lyrics go. If the way the band sounds in rehearsal translates to the live performance, then hopefully audience members would agree with the statement. In between songs, Sean had a violent altercation with an unresponsive microphone. Technology, thinking it can get the best of us humans, caused the microphone to crap out. Leaving Sean no choice but to kamasutra slam it into the ceiling, putting the mic out of its misery.

The next song is a true story that came from the band asking a simple question, “how the fuck did I get on this bus?” The question was answered in the trippy “High on a Plane” with vocals provided by Dom. The band kicked it into overdrive with the mid-tempo set closer “New Material”. If these four songs earn great audience feedback at the Rock Den, then “New Material” is what will be promised.