Press Release (4-09)
For Immediate Release:
The First Ever Eugene Chosen Event is finally here!
Eugene has chosen and the big show at the WOW Hall on May 16th is a celebration for everyone who created this new on-line game featuring local bands and
Sexy Tattoo and Piercing Artists!
Saturday, May 16th 7:30pm @ The WOW Hall
$8 advance/$10 at the door
** FREE if you dress like Blinky & Vektra!! **
Winning bands:
The Killer Wails (2,610 votes) www.myspace.com/thekillerwails
LYCKWYD (2,591 votes) www.myspace.com/lyckwyd
Half Shark Half Jesus (2,052 votes) www.myspace.com/hshj
The Sons of Confusion (2,037 votes) www.myspace.com/sonsofconfusionband
Bonus game sponsored by High Priestess Piercing:
Sexiest Tattoo Artist winner is Chris 51 of Area 51 tattoo in Springfield (477 votes) www.area51tats.com
Sexiest Piercing Artist winner is Josh from High Priestess (132 votes) www.highpriestess.com
What is Eugene Chosen?
www.eugenechosen.com was launched by local promoter Cindy Ingram (www.cindyingram.net ) in collaboration with the WOW Hall (www.wowhall.org ) on Feb. 27th, 2009. The goal was to create an opportunity for local bands to get onto the venerable WOW Hall stage for the first time. Only bands who have NEVER played there before could participate. The top four bands who received the highest number of e-mail votes get to play the show and receive bragging rights for eternity! Over 60 local bands participated in the game. A total of 12,599 votes were sent into eugenechosen@yahoo.com from unique e-mail accounts within the “band game” and a total of 1,622 unique votes for the Sexiest Tattoo and Piercing Artist game that followed shortly after. With over 14,200 unique e-mail votes to a site that is only a couple months old, in a town struggling to find it’s identity as a “music scene,” that’s not bad. That’s not bad at all.
“I’m so impressed by the numbers of people who rushed to the site to leave comments (almost 500 comments in all) about their favorite band, help them get votes and spread the word about the game. It really shows us that people in this town LOVE our local musicians and we are eager to help them out. Playing the WOW Hall for many is a dream come true! I’m glad I could help connect these inspiring bands and the folks at the WOW.” – Cindy Ingram, Creator of Eugene Chosen.
Who is Blinky & Vektra?
Blinky & Vektra are two wonderfully sarcastic and rude critters created by local artist Michel Erickson (www.michaelerickson.blogspot.com ) and Cindy Ingram. These two 8 bit, foul mouthed creatures from outer space host the daily blog. They are edgy and sometimes offensive to people causing flurries of comments and banter among fans of the site. People love to hate them! We know this because folks would beg to be included in Blinky & Vektra’s tirades by leaving comments such as this “Hey Blinky! Call me a slut… Please?”
For those low on cash, folks dressed up like the site’s hosts, Blinky & Vektra will get in free to the show and are also encouraged to participate in a costume contest for cool prizes. High Priestess Piercing will also be there at the event to give away free stuff and show their support of this new game to encourage healthy competition and camaraderie among bands and fans of body modification.
Band Bios:
Killer Wails: The story of the Killer Wails begins with Jarred and Andrew, who first started writing music together in 2003. Numerous attempts at starting a metal band, countless hours of “jamming”, and 2 years later they met bass player Jason Fylan and guitarist Andrew Gunsul. After 2 years of causally throwing around the idea of starting up a band it is now a reality, and now, at the University of Oregon we have settled into a unique style that blends alternative rock, blues, and reggae. We have finished recording half of our debut EP, which is currently in the mixing and mastering phases. The one song we have posted from the up-coming EP, entitled “Marquam,” is a story about getting lost in downtown Portland (which has happened to us more than a few times). We enjoy writing songs about real life, typically experiences relating to the lives of the five of us. Nothing to political, or over the top. Just topics that are easy to relate to and fun to listen to.
LYCKWYD: A rock band with members, Mike Nelson, Todd Anson and Eric Boteilho. They write their own songs and they throw free stuff into the audience at every show.
Half Shark Half Jesus: What is Half Shark Half Jesus? Why they’re a rock band from Eugene, OR, of course. But don’t let the name fool you. They are not a religious themed band that’s ready to bite your head off at the first sign of spiritual repudiation. No. Instead they are one of Eugene’s up and coming rock bands that combine obsessively memorable songs with a high energy and enthusiastic live performance. They are led on vocals by Jenny Oberst and backed on drums by Joe Ricken, both Willamette Valley natives and whose names both start with “J.” Whisked away from Florida by the taste of micro brewed beer is Chris Lupton on lead guitar and from the mostly sunny Los Angeles area comes the multi talented Cory Davis to play bass. Coincidentally, their names both start with “C.” The marriage of their alternative musical sound with wide ranging female lead vocals is quickly making HSHJ an indelible part of the local music scene. They are dedicated, unique and guaranteed to entertain everyone from the agnostic to members of the Mammalogical Society of New Brunswick.
Sons of Confusion: Sons Of Confusion is a rock band consisting of four guys who have all played music together before. Here’s a little condensed history. Lance and Terry used to (and sometimes still do) play in Victims Of Internal Decay. They also played together in bands like Kittens & Hubcaps, PHWSE, Reltne and The Angst Ridden. Jake and Terry played together in what became Sullen. Lance and Jake played together in The Quintons. Jake and Dustin played together in Shedd. Dustin and Lance played together in Sometimes Why. And Dustin and Terry played together in 19 Limbs. Confused yet? They are!! Sons Of Confusion got together sometime in 2008, and play a mixed bag of rock, pop, folk, punk & metal…with a lot of soul!! They have a self-produced 6-song demo(all songs are featured here), that includes a Ween cover and 5 originals. It’s currently out of print and unavailable to the public. They recently recorded a 7-song ep at the infamous Central Node Studios in Eugene. It will someday go platinum. Wait and you’ll see!
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