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Showing posts from 2012

Fall in Love (Paros Svenska Academy Rmx)

A new version of our song Paros - the Svenska Academy Remix!  Have a listen, let us know what you think!

Next Show- Friday Dec 7th at the B Ex

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We are getting excited about performing Friday at the British Ex-Servicemen's Association . Joining us on the bill will be our friends The Population Drops and opening the night is none other than The Rain and the Sidewalk . We've been working on the set, making a few changes, adding songs, cutting a couple, and most importantly we've been rehearsing with Juice (former drummer of The Yoke Casionos - currently performing with Fine Times ).  In case you've not had the pleasure of witnessing Juice yet, you've got to come to our show next Friday.  Not only is he one of the best drummers in the country, but he's a consumate showman and professional (and drumming is only one of him many musical skills).  Things are sounding fantastic! To make the event even more special we've located an electronic drumkit for Juice to apply his genius (thanks Pat and Helen).  Some very astounding sounds have been emerging from that kit this past week, and I'm confident it

"Cities in Dust" - Siouxsie and the Banshees cover

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This clip is from our Shadowline performance on Thursday night at the Waldorf Hotel. We had some fun reworking an old Siouxsie and the Banshees favorite in honour of the Goth night. We'd like to thanks Rod Grim for shooting video on the night, turns out the mic on the camera is pretty good too! Looking forward to our next show at the B-Ex on December 7th .  Putting together a nice full set for the evening.  Plus it'll be a great night of music with The Population Drops and The Rain on the Sidewalk opening the night.  Come dancing.

Live on Radio - Live at the Waldorf

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It's going to be a fun week this week.  We are performing live on Co-op Radio 100.5FM today around 4Pm and then tomorrow night we are the guest performers at the Shadowline goth night at the Waldorf Hotel. Mark Bignall, host of Radio Bandcouver , has asked Combine the Victorious to play a few songs on his show this afternoon.  I think we're going to try out Smoke and Choke and Glasgow for the show, but perhaps we'll unveil our new special cover song too! Tomorrow night at Midnight we will be jumping on stage at the Waldorf .  The home of resident Goth experts Vampire Bats , we've been asked to make a special appearance to tie in with Alternative Fashion Week (Isabelle's fashion connections never seem to fail us!)  As mentioned we've even worked out a new version of an old favorite of mine for the show, gonna keep it a secret until the night though!  I think it's at least as good as our Donna Summer's cover , but of course this time we pull from th

Next Shows, video news, EP

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We are pleased to announce that we will be the special guests at the next Shadowline night at the Waldorf Hotel here in Vancouver.   Tied in with Vancouver Fashion week this is a special showcase on November 22nd.  Also in keeping with the Goth vibe of the night Combine is performing at Midnight.  A special cover song is being prepared in the spirit of the evening. Also we have just signed on to appear at the Indie Pop Vancouver night, Dec 7th at the B-Ex on Kingsway (British Ex-Serviceman's Association).   Combine is headlining the night but we are very excited to be sharing the bill with The Population Drops , a band that I've been recording over the summer and am really impressed with!  The Rain and the Sidewalk is slated to open the night.  We are hoping to make it into an early Xmas party. Still working on a Portland show, if anyone reading this has a good lead please let us know! Thanks for reading, we'll have another new video soon.  The multitalented Stefan

Crumbling Hearts (Stockholm Edition)

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We are pleased to present our new video - Crumbling Hearts.  It's comprised of footage we captured while exploring Stockholm on our day off in that lovely city!   Even in the drizzly October weather we were quite taken in by it: a beautiful place with exceptional people.  Great crowd too! Big thanks to the staff of Bonden Bar, especially Adnan who treated us so well.  Of course our friend Erika deserves special praise for setting up the showcase and getting us to commit to coming to Sweden.  We look forward to returning, hopefully next year. In the meantime we are excited to debut our latest adventure on video.  Please share if you enjoy it! Thanks for watching, cheers! Mark and Isabelle P.S. if you are a music supporter and would care to download the song it is available at iTunes as well as many other sites and our own bandcamp page as well.

London

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We just got back, but we're still buzzing from being in London.  Our show with the Club Fandango guys was brilliant.  The whole evening was entertaining, every band on the bill was great.  Big thanks to everyone involved and the fantastic audience on the evening. Buffalo Bar couldn't have been more convenient for us.  We were staying with our friends, the incomparable Baz and Ings, who lived a mere ten minute walk from the club.   Even though I was nursing a severe hangover on the day, the excitement of performing in London soon wore that off. Our set for the show contained every song from the new Crumbling Hearts ep as well as a new cover of the Donna Summer's classic "Hot Stuff."  This was the very first 45 that Isabelle ever bought, so it's a bit of a rite of passage for us to be playing it now.  We have to give thanks to our friend Kym Brown who so kindly videoed the show on our tiny camera.  The following video clip is that night's performance.

Stockholm!

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Our first time to Sweden was a success.  The show at Bonden Bar went over exceptionally well, the audience was so responsive and fun, the people at the bar were brilliant, and the place itself was absolutely perfect.  Can't say enough great things about the night or the city.  Stockholm has it going on. (soundcheck in Bonden Bar) There's something so reassuring about Stockholm.  The city itself is clean, organized and safe.  Though more expensive than Vancouver, the difference wasn't as great as I'd initially feared.  In fact we managed to have a marvellous time in our three days there without breaking the bank. The architecture, the transit, the bike lanes, the progressive nature to the society, and the Swedes themselves all impressed us.  For a European debut of our new Crumbling Hearts ep I don't think we could have asked for anything more.  Can't wait to return for another show!  Takk! Next up is our show at Buffalo Bar in London.  Gonna rock th

Behind the Scenes of Crumbling Hearts

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Here is a little interview, behind the scenes look at the writing and recording of our new five song EP Crumbling Hearts.  Video shot, edited and directed by Stefan Sigerson.

Promo for Stockholm

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Takk to the multitalented Stefan Sigerson for putting this clip together for us!

CtV vs. Ryanair: or 14kgs to poverty!

Our first week in the UK was a family filled adventure that took us from Northwest London area, up to Lincolnshire and then down to Kent where we took in the stoney beaches, the lovely pubs and the white cliffs of Dover.  Wednesday we got up early, boarded a train and made our way to Gatwick airport for our flight to Stockholm and our first show in Europe! I will confess that I had a scheme for this tour that involved travel "light" and simply.  We booked our flights to Sweden with Ryanair, the infamous budget airline of Europe.  It was at the check in counter that we just discovered the illusionary pricing of said airline.  Having paid only £16 (each) for our flights to Stockholm we were feeling pretty chuffed with the deal!  Interestingly enough we had the foresight to actually prepay our baggage for the flight (at £30 for one bag - each way!).   So I reckoned we were kinda set, with perhaps a small overage fee because we were both using the same bag and had some of o

Our First European Tour

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Bonden Bar Oct 19th Bondegatan, Stockholm  Sweden Gunners Pub Oct 20th Highbury, London  UK Club Fandango at Buffalo Bar Oct 23rd Islington, London UK The official release date for the Crumbling Hearts EP is October 19th, it will be available worldwide thru all popular digital stores and streaming services.   Big thanks to artist Robert Edmonds for his poster designs once again.  We both loved these the moment we saw them!  He's also assisted us with our promo cards for the tour as well.  Everything just seems so important with his art. We're both very excited about these shows, our first time playing in Europe and a first time to see Stockholm.   Look forward to writing more about our adventures!    Thanks for reading, please share.   Mark & Isabelle

New EP "Crumbling Hearts"

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We are very proud to announce our new EP - Crumbling Hearts . First off we both want to thank Robert Edmonds for his cover art,  Klee Larsen for the amazing photo, and of course model Megan Jones.  It's an ethereal image that almost appears holographic. Additionally we'd like to thank Stefan Sigerson for his help in the production, and Jim Berry and Simon Hunt for their drumming and Marc Wild for his guitar work. It was a pleasure to work with you all, thanks! Crumbling Hearts by Combine the Victorious Crumbling Hearts (dunlop, henning) Produced by Combine the Victorious with Stefan Sigerson Recorded and mixed by MRH at Imagined Aire Studio, Vancouver BC, Summer 2012 Vocals: Isabelle Dunlop Backing Vocals, instruments and programming: Mark Roland Henning Live Drums: Jim Berry California State of Mind (dunlop, henning, schroeder) Produced by Combine the Victorious with Stefan Sigerson Recorded and mixed by MRH at Imagined Aire Studio, Vancouver BC, Summer

first rehearsal tonight

so many ways to play these songs.   so many ideas. Stockholm is going to be amazing. Our London gig is going to even more amazing! looking forward to it. M

Our first European Tour!

 We are extremely excited to announce that we are going to Europe!   We will be playing shows in Sweden and the UK in October.   Hopefully we can cram in another show somewhere in between but we will be performing in Stockholm on Oct 19th and then two shows in London UK on Oct 23rd and 24th.   We'll be going in support of our new EP - Crumbling Hearts, which will come out on Oct 2nd through Boutique Empire. Isabelle has outdone herself these past few weeks and landed us a couple really amazing shows.  The gig in Stockholm is going to be blinding.  We're playing an excellent venue, the Bonden Bar , right in the heart of the city.  We've been assured that it is one of the best places to play and have a cool little room booked not too far away in the lovely old centre of town.  We're going to be there a few days early just to take in the city as I've only been there once way back in 1987, and Isabelle's never been there at all.  (Plus there's a good chance we

Crumbling Hearts - new song!

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We are pleased to announce our latest song - Crumbling Hearts .  This one has an interesting history, it was actually started in another band before transforming into this Combine the Victorious version. Isabelle had started writing Crumbling Hearts while she was still singing with Sex With Strangers last winter.  SWS was compiling ideas for their fifth album and Isabelle had put forth this idea as an option.  The SWS gang had a lot of songs to work on and though they made some nice progress on the tune it kind of fell to the wayside over the months of writing.  In the spring, when Isabelle decided to focus solely on  CtV she asked if she could take the song back so we could work on it.  Of course her former bandmates were only too kind to comply. So, we started working on it over the summer.   In seeming coincidence we were talking with a director about songs for her movie ( Random Acts of Romance - it comes out this October)  and suddenly the song took a new direction: it occ

Progress

We've been writing and recording our next album pretty much all summer long.  It's coming together, slowly, and though I can't quite see all of it yet, it seems to be taking shape! In August we started working with producer Stefan Sigerson to help us finalize a few of the songs we've been messing around with for months!  One in particular was our song " California State of Mind ".  While Isabelle had been in Scotland last summer (where she started writing our song Glasgow ) I was back in Vancouver working on new ideas.   California came out of those sessions.   I sent a copy of the rough mix over to our friend Ingrid Schroeder who gave us back a lovely vocal part.  We worked on a mix and came up with our initial version (you can hear that one thru this link ). Later last fall we sent it around to a few producers and got a couple brilliant remixes. Check em all out on our bandcamp page : I love how they have such variety in their approach.   Big thanks onc

Backdrops, painting and autumn tours

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We are currently actively seeking shows in the UK and Europe for late fall this year.  In preparation for such events, Isabelle has taken it upon herself to paint our new backdrop for stage. Based on her original photo taken in the Glasgow central train station last summer, we then used it as the cover art for our Glasgow single.  Now it is being transferred onto a large canvas backdrop so we can pack it up with our gear and fly across the Atlantic. I filmed her in action painting in our backyard yesterday afternoon.  She's doing a great job of it! that is of course our song Glasgow playing in the background of the video: the player below has the entire track if you'd care for a listen! Glasgow by Combine the Victorious

New Video - Paros

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We've been having a stunning summer here in Vancouver and Isabelle and I managed to capture a bit of that sunshine on our latest video.  Paros is a love story that starts in Greece, so we tried to capture the blazing light with this clip.  That, and we were having just too much fun playing around in the heat to notice it was perhaps a tad overexposed! Please enjoy our latest video offering.  We both feel it expresses our love of the Greek isles and our personal desire to get back there soon! download single from http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/paros/id548384543?i=548385066 or http://combinethevictorious.bandcamp.com/album/paros-single Boutique Empire presents "Paros" by Combine the Victorious video produced by Boutique Empire song produced and performed by Combine the Victorious recorded and mixed by MRH mastered by Clayton Worbeck (Henning, Dunlop, WIld) Drums: Simon Hunt Guitars: Marc Wild Vocals: Isabelle Dunlop Vocals, keyboards, bass: Mark Rol

New Single: Paros (released July 27-12)

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We released this song to coincide with our fantastic show at Electric Owl last month.  Written with the warm water memories of the Greek island Paros in mind, this is a summer love song from beginning to end. Thanks once again to the brilliant Robert Edmonds for his simple but effective artwork to accompany our song.  I think it's exactly the mood we were trying for! Combine the Victorious - PAROS (BE12015) Henning, Dunlop, Wild Produced and performed by Combine the Victorious Recorded and mixed by MRH at Imagined Aire Studio Mastered by Clayton Worbeck Artwork by Robert Edmonds original photography by Janis Nicolay Vocals, keyboards, bass: Mark Roland Henning Vocals: Isabelle Dunlop Drums: Simon Hunt Guitars: Marc Wild Paros by Combine the Victorious lyrics JP and Farrah were two young lovers who came together one night on Paros he was waiting tables she waited for him they spent

Live footage from the B-EX

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Isabelle and I were both happy to be performing this night, at the British Ex Serviceman's Association on Kingsway.  Despite the reeling news of our close friend  Todd Simko's death we ended up having a rewarding show and really pushed our set into new territory.  This clip is of us improvising an electronic, extended version of our song "All Together" at the B-EX.   Thanks to the fine folks who video'd this for us!  Cheers!

New Song! "Glasgow"

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9 Apr 2012 We've completed a new song, the first of many!  This one was started by Isabelle while she was in Scotland last summer.  Combine has been performing it live for the past few shows and we're both feeling really proud of both the song and this clip. We shot the footage in our own studio and thru a few creative turns it seems to have really become something unique and evokative. Please have a look, all reports back have been very positive! Video produced by Boutique Empire Music produced and performed by Combine the Victorious Recorded and Mixed by MRH at Imagined Aire Studio Vocals: Isabelle Dunlop Backing vocals, keyboards and programming: Mark Roland Henning Drums: Simon Hunt Guitar: Marc Wild download the song from here

Lyric Video: FKBC

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20 Feb 2012 Even though it's a few years after the initial release, here is a new lyrics video for our track FKBC.  Pretty straight forward, but it seemed fun to do.

New Song: California

New song: California (featuring Ingrid Schroeder) We have a new song: California, which features the lovely vocals of our good friend Ingrid Schroeder. This is an early mix, we are still working on a few things, but I was too excited to keep it under my hat for any longer. This will most likely be the first single off our upcoming third album (which we are still writing). Rather than hold off and wait, we thought we'd share the new sounds and get some feedback. California (f.Ingrid Schroeder) by Combine the Victorious 25 Sep 2011 Writing "California" After more than a year away from Combine the Victorious Isabelle and I have picked up the keyboards and started writing new songs again. Last year I was pretty much dedicated to Guilty About Girls and getting that band going, but suddenly I found there was a rather large collection of songs in my head that weren't going to fit that project. Instead they seem to have arriv

New demo If Not Love

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24 March 2011 New Demo - "if not love." This is a new song I've started writing for my brother. Still in the very early stages but I think it's coming together nicely. Isabelle was filming it, you can hear her singing from behind the camera in the second refrain. We're hoping to put together a new release and have it ready for release by sept.

Video: Charmer

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3 Mar 2011 Jellyfish vs. iTunes    We are offering a free download of this song at our bandcamp page.   Please click here to jump.  Jellyfish footage courtesy of Archives.org .   Lightshow courtesy Apple. 

Video: Back In Style

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25 Aug 2010 New Video - Way Stations in Space We've just made a new video for our song Back In Style .  Thanks to our friends Mark Hjorthoy (of Good Natured Threat ) we have discovered the joys of digital archives.  There is a great massive storage of video footage from all walks of life.   In a random scurry through the virtual vaults we discovered this film Way Stations in Space and Isabelle became very excited about the idea of placing our song to these images.   The most remarkable thing is that there are several moments where the two seemingly disparate narratives overlap to create an new story.   Kinda like that famous Wizard of Oz mashed with Dark Side of the Moon thing.   Only ours involves Space!   If you haven't already yet, please check out our new bandcamp page.  I honestly think this  is the best music service on the net>>> http://combinethevictorious.bandcamp.com/

"Candy Candy" video

27 Apr 2010 We just spent this past weekend shooting a video for the new Guilty About Girls song, Candy Candy .   It's turned out quite well.   Been learning Final Cut Pro; how to edit video.  It's very fun.  Here's the final cut, Jordy and I are both excited about it and I like how great Isabelle looks in this video! Things are getting busy these days.  Between playing shows with Guilty About Girls and Combine the Victorious it's hard to find time to work on new music.  Looking forward to the Seattle show.   Plus CtV is playing our first out of town gig ever on May 22nd in Brandon with The Invisible Men  (home town heartthrobs I'm informed).  Seems as though there are many things on the fire these days.  Exciting times again. I think we may have informally begun our third album.  Strangely compelling titles emerged the other night.  It's probably going to take a while to write, and hopefully we'll be playi

Boutique Empire - Rec:10

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24 Mar 2010 The First Boutique Empire compilation: I've been putting together a compilation for Boutique Empire.  We now are the proud partners in Boutique Empire: Rec'10 .   It features 10 different bands, with new singles form Guilty About Girls " Candy Candy ", Combine the Victorious and a remastered version of New City Anthem from Sex With Strangers .  Also in the mix is Ingrid Schroeder (London), Gilles Zolty (Saskatoon) and Marc Wild (Vancouver) as well as a new single from Ten Suns (Vancouver) who Isabelle and I saw for the first time last night and they were brilliant.  Additionally there are songs from our new friends Chiwawa (Montreal) and Piper Davis (Calgary) and a remix from Lurch of the CtV song The Hours . Things are busy.  I'm playing a show with Jordy Birch this Friday in Victoria as Guilty About Girls and Isabelle just got back from Sex With Strangers' first appearance at SXSW.  We're also still trying to book

Review: Disagreements

10 Mar 2010 A review for "Disagreements" Just found this one online.  It was published last month, but Isabelle came across it in her travels the other night.  Thought it was rather favourable. Combine the Victorious are having "a very fun life" in Vancouver "A love for music starts off quite innocent. It begins when you’re young and you hear something catchy on the radio. That’s when you decide “yeah I like this.” From that point on the gateway is open and it doesn’t take long to flood. Soon you’re an addict and there’s no turning back. Music has become the cornerstone of your existence. Mark Henning and Isabelle Dunlop are two people very familiar with the compelling addiction that is music, and Combine the Victorious is their electronic fix. Henning, former keyboardist for alternative rockers, Pure , back in the 90’s, is a renaissance musician. He’s one of those people who can walk into a jam session and show everyone a thing or two ab

Remix: The Hours

24 Feb 2010 REMIX: The Hours (Spoonfed in Delhi Hippy Curry MIx) Just wanted to give word of our new remix, done by none other than Lurch (who's also done a few excellent tracks with Sex With Strangers).  He chose The Hours and has given us a really trippy reworking on that track.  We proudly present: The Hours (Spoonfed in Delhi Hippy Curry Mix) - Combine the Victorious vs. Lurch .  Thanks Adam (let's do another) Please have a listen, it's very cool, kinda early 90's (which is where The Hours stemmed from ) and there are sitars! G'nite, MRH The Hours (Spoonfed in Dehli Hippy Curry Mix) by Combine the Victorious vs. Lurch

We Have A Very Fun Life

4 Feb 2010 A Very Fun Life Hi! Well we've completed our first new song in over a year.  " A Very Fun Life "  I've just uploaded it on the page today, so it should be available for a listen as I type this. This song came about from a conversation we'd had with my Mom a couple years back.  She'd suggested that I try to write a "fun" song.  The strangest thing about that statement is that I honestly didn't know how to!  I remember DJ'ing at a Christmas party in the Hyatt a couple years ago and the host asked me to play a "fun" song and my mind went blank!  Fun - what does that sound like?  Do you know?  I guess I'm a musical snob or something but the vast majority of music I enjoy is probably what most would consider "serious music."  I mean Sigur Ros became one of my favorite bands in the past decade and Mew ranks up there as well.  Neither of those acts could be considered fun.  In the past I&#

New Drumkit! (repost)

8 Dec 2009 Bought a new drum kit I bought a drum kit last week.  It was used, but it looked okay.  In fact, it turns out to be a little more than okay.  Nothing fancy, a white Pearl kit, with more toms than I'll ever hit, and a couple dodgy cymbals: but for what I paid, that's fine too.  I had a few more cymbals in the house that sounded better anyway. This move was in attempt to add a little more spark to our new album.  I thought I'd try writing from a more rhythmic perspective this time.  Of course there's the challenge of learning how to drum first, but I've been messing with the instrument for years now so it shouldn't be impossible.  Perhaps if I get a decent handle on it we'll start adding live drums to the show (again).  It's fun.  ":D p.s. we've been added to a New Year's Eve gig at the Anza Club this year too.  I think it should be a very cool way to spend the night.  Once again we're on first - whic

Sex With Strangers - Video- New City Anthem

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24 Nov 2009 New Video Yes I know I'm trying to steal a bit of their thunder, but I'm blown away with the new Sex With Stranger's video.  And really, Isabelle sings in both bands so it's not entirely unrelated to what CtV does.  Have a look, it's really fantastic! Produced by BKS Crew Productions , featuring Carol Yuen as the "Unreal."  Make up for the "Unreal" by Carey Williams, Edited by Stephen Green, Directed by Brett Harvey.  Shot on a Canon 5D MkII. Music production by Sex With Strangers and your truly!  you can see cameos from members of several Vancouver bands, including: Adjective, Accost, Girlfriends and Boyfriends, Danny Echo, Spotlight Carnival, and The February March.  A big THANK YOU has to go out to everyone involved in this video, from Brett and Stephen, Carey and Carol, Luna, Kokanee Beer and everyone who showed up for the party back in September.  I think it turned out amazingly and looks wo

Not Tired of Music

29 Oct 2009 Not tired of music Last night Isabelle and I went to see our friend's band Young Galaxy play at the Biltmore.  It was a nice night, and the thing that made me smile the most was how everyone's parents had come out for the show.  There they were, in their 40's, 50's, what ever, and standing with a glass in hand watching their children perform music. Seemed to make perfect sense.  My mom is still coming out to our shows, she's in her 70's!  Mind you she's also very cool so it's to be expected.  :D Last week was the Joel Battle cd release, and once again I was surrounded by family out supporting their own.  It's good to see the community surround it's artists. Even after all the glitter of the rock and roll era, music is still an intimate thing.  It's nice. >> oh, Bend Sinister opened the show last night and I thought they were great.  Check 'em out.  

CtV in Slovakia! (repost)

5 Oct 2009 CtV in Slovakia! Just got word from a new friend in Slovakia that he'd been on the national radio and spoke of our Boutique Empire label and played a Combine the Victorious song on air.  Apparently it even generated some favorable comments from listeners and there is a chance it will be added to the playlist next month!  All this from a CD exchange we did earlier this year in the summer.  Amazing things can happen on the internet.  This one was thanks to last.fm.  Also looks as though we shall have a song appearing on a compilation CD as well: appropriately enough it will be titled "Long Distance Compilation" on the AZYL/Bizarre Republic label.   (Interesting the "bizarre" connection as we've also got another song to come out on a "Some Bizarre" compilation next year too. hmmm...) Here's to being bizarre. ":D

Is Optimism Foolish?

27 Sep 2009 Is optimism foolish? It's strange how the common reaction to a bit of optimism (at least that I've encountered) is usually met with extreme contempt or that sad knowing little nod of the head as to indicate, "how naive you are, if only you knew what I knew you'd never believe any of what you just said." If you've read the books, heard the music, seen the movies and experienced the real thing, and you're still optimistic, does that make you simple?  Or does it mean you've seen a different whole from what most are claiming to be the truth.  Truth is so subjective. What is really gained from pessimism?  The ability to always guaranty the outcome; for everything will fail right?  How can we progress if we are self-fulfilling our prophesies of doom.   The icebergs are pretty easy to see, even from a distance, do we really need to crash into them to prove their existence? Somehow, thinking we can make it seems far more int

Our First Electronic Show

7 Aug 2009 First Electronic Show Isabelle and I have been working on reinventing our set as an electronic duo.  It's been very fun and a lot of work but I think we've come up with an interesting sound.  Isabelle's even learned to play the keyboards a bit!  Things are sounding good, hope it all works tomorrow night.  Fingers crossed.  Speaking of which, if you're in Vancouver on Saturday  August 8th please come down to the Railway club for our label Boutique Empire 's first anniversary party. It's a full evening of entertainment.  On first is our friends from Accost , with the electronic stylings.  Combine the Victorious will be on at 10:15, then the comedy troupe The Skinny shall change the mood with their exceptionally funny sketch comedy, Sex With Strangers shall storm the tiny stage and get everyone sweaty and our friends from Seattle The Keeper will be bringing their feel good brand of swords and dragon music to Vancouver for the first

"Selling Out" (op ed)

4 Jul 2009 "Selling Out" 'Morning, I was just perusing various pages on last.fm and reading some of the comments under certain songs.  One of the things that I found common was the sentiment that bands sell out when they become successful.  Or more directly, if they license their music to an advertisement.  Now we've had a modest amount of money come in from licensing our songs to television shows so far and personally I would appreciate the opportunity to have a song used in a cool ad (provided it was for a product we actually might use, or at least didn't despise).  I can assure you we haven't sold out, sold in, or sold through anything.  In the 2000's it's quite challenging to make a living from composing and performing music.  The old paradyms have changed, the old business model really doesn't exist anymore.  Gone are the days where a band might be discovered, signed to a deal with a major label, given the opportunit

More Songs Licensed (repost)

29 May 2009 More songs Licensed Another good week for Combine.  In addition to the Some Bizarre compliation we've placed All Together on, we've also licensed Fat Kids Big Cars and Decay (so far at least, we're hoping they use all seven songs off the Disagreements EP) to an MTV series called " The Peak ".   It's such a pleasure to see those e-mails come in, makes the days and months of writing and recording seem worthwhile.  Vancouver has been gloriously beautiful this week and both of us are taking as much time as we can in the sun.  Hard to get your head back into writing mode, but Isabelle assures me she's been keeping extensive notes and ideas, so perhaps we'll be turning over a few new songs rather quickly.  Hey, if they can get exposure on TV, I'm down with that. Oh and we just signed up on the Jango music service, so if you're a user, please check us out online.  It's a streaming radio service like last.fm,

"Music is Free"

28 Apr 2009 "Music is Free": In 1809 the only way you could "own" music was to purchase the sheet music.  Of course, you'd have to be capable of "playing" the music laid out before you which in all likelihood entailed years of lessons at an instrument, otherwise that paper was only dots on a page.  If you could read it but played poorly your music sounded bad.  If you were a capable player perhaps your music sounded enjoyable.  But to hear that music performed by a virtuouso, that could change your life. The 20th Century gave us recordings.  Recordings of brilliantly talently musicians performing works of genius by inspired composers.  Now,  for the first time, you could hear a performance of Django Reinhart, Dizzy Gillespi, The Beatles, The Sex Pistols, at any time, without having to leave your home! This is a very important distinction: way before the mp3, CD, cassette, 8-track, vinyl album and rotary disc, the only way to
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20 Jan 2009 Province Review of "Disagreements" Just had a heads up from a few friends that we received a review in the Vancouver Province paper today.   Not a bad one I think.  Always happy to see what Tom Harrison makes of our music.  

Disagreements EP release

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24 Nov 2008 "Disagreements: tomorrow (hopefully) Happy Monday to you! Well if all is going according to plan, we should have our second release up on iTunes tomorrow, November 25th 08 .  The Disagreements ep took quite a bit of work, and seemed as though it might never be finished: but we did put a stamp on the package and sent it in to our distributor last month in the hopes of it actually being processed in time for our release date.  We decided to release the ep entirely online, no cd's, just downloads.  So far we've sold almost five times as many copies of The World Over from iTunes than on cd (I'll admit that this might possibly be due to not utilizing a physical distribution system other than our myspace and .com page - but I've had nothing but grief from such services in the past) so it makes sense to us.  Additionally neither Isabelle nor I have actually purchased a cd in more than 15 months - we're truly converted to the con