EP Review

Performer Magazine just did a review of our 2011 EP in thier December 2011 issue. You can download a copy at www.performermag.com. Performer Magazine supports many DIY artists and also features mainstream artists as well, check it out!! Here is a copy of the review;

“Punky Brew-sters”
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The adage goes that if you like one hardcore band, you like them all. Stripped down, raw, and blistering - lightning tempos, aggressive strumming,
lyrics spat at you as much as sang – you either like the scene or you don’t. The boys in Serious Problems stay pretty close to the archetype on their debut EP but with a wider range of influences than your everyday, pissed off punk trio. As such, the boys have found enough spice for a solid post-hardcore sound, and have delivered an equally solid debut. A self-proclaimed excuse for some buddies “to get together on Friday and Saturday nights to drink booze,” Serious Problems apparently woke up Sunday morning with a 5-song EP hangover. And as it goes with hardcore garage punk, five songs are generally all you need anyway. Over the course of the EP, the hardcore hallmarks are all there - thrashing two-minute songs full of disaffected ferocity. However, that ferocity is shouted at you by a singer who occasionally (gasp!) approaches a melodic line. And that thrashing is peppered with precise and slicing guitar solos - there are even backing vocals! With that variety, all told it’s a developed and impressive debut for just a couple of drinking buddies. Beer and guitars will do that.
(Self-released)
Produced by Serious Problems
-Ari Goldberg
seriousproblemsband.blogspot.com

Check this stuff out!

We got posted on indiereviewer.com, it's not much of a review but it's a cool website and it links readers to our music. http://www.indiereviewer.com/new-music.html

Also check out www.wvbr.com and www.thelastexit.org. A cool radio station and radio show, they played some of our tunes and also has links on their website for videos of awesome bands like Sanjuro Fields and The Lobster Quadrille!

We also have our 2011 EP up on band camp now, it's a pretty cool site for downloading music, a great resource for musicians! www.seriousproblems.bandcamp.com

Also our other band I Live With Zombies (which is mostly inactive) just released our new CD (years in the making) which is available for free download. www.ilivewithombies.bandcamp.com

Fall News

Hi friends! Not much news since our last bunch of summer shows. I moved to Philadlphia in August, and we weren't sure what the future of Serious Problems was going to be. Since I've setteled in in Philly, Mike and I had done some talking, and we decided it would be a total bummer if we stopped playing together. We have had a lot of fun playing and writing in this band, and we feel the songs keep getting better.

So how are we going to keep it going now that we live 4 1/2 hours apart? Long distance song writing, a long practice every couple of months and a cram session before tour. It will be difficult, but we are determined and are pushing ahead.

We are also going to focus more on promoting the band, sending our music out to get reviewed and try and get some independent radio play. We are also looking for some other hard working bands that would be into doing split records with us.

When everything starts coming together we should hopefully have some more updates. Thanks for reading!

Summer Shows

We finally have some confirmations on our shows for next week. We are still looking for a Sunday show somewhere between New Jersey and Northern Virginia, so if anybody knows of a show that we could hop on or any other possibilities please send us an email, upchuckrecords_rock@yahoo.com. We have some new songs up, check them out at www.reverbnation.com/seriouproblems.

Thursday June 23rd
Louisville, OH @ The Carriage House
Show starts 7:30 pm - All Ages
Other bands are, Handguns, We Are The Union, and I Call Fives

Friday June 24th
New York City, NY @ ALPHABET LOUNGE, 104 Avenue C (at the corner of 7th Street)
$10 admission - 21+ w/ID, For further info: www.alphabetnyc.com
7:30pm Serious Problems (reverbnation.com/seriousproblems) - UNCONFIRMED
8:30pm The Nifty Shrimp Band (myspace.com/theniftyshrimp)
9:30pm StoneBaby (stonebaby.us)

Saturday June 25th
Cortland, NY @ Harry and Tony's Basement
18 and up, $5 admission
Other bands, Sanjuro Fields, The Dead Army, One Room, and Serious Problems

Sunday June 26th
TBA

Hope to see you at the shows, we have a new demo, and t-shirts!!!

New Songs

I uploaded some of our new songs on our myspace, which we never use, but it's good for an mp3 player. The media player I have downloaded for the blog isn't working well. www.myspace.com/seriousproblems

Summer News

We are getting ready to play some shows this summer. Lewis was unable to play any shows with us, so our friend Bradley from the Richmond band Micro Joy is filling in for bass. We have a new recording that we finished in late winter and hopefully I can get a couple of those songs up in the next couple of days.

We are still confirming some of our dates. A couple of shows we are just waiting for details, but if we don't hear back in the next couple of days we might have to rearrange our schedule. We are also looking into getting on some local RVA shows, and will post that information as soon as we find something out.

Thursday June 23rd - DC (not confirmed)
Friday June 24th - New Jersey/Philly (not confirmed)
Saturday June 25th - Cortland, NY @ The Basement
Sunday June 26th - Baltimore/DC

Serious Problems Demo

December 2010 News

We're playing a couple shows in December.  Usually it's not a good practice to play two shows in one week, but since we still have not played Richmond yet, and we hardley have free time to play it's not a terrible idea.  The Wednesday show is a house show, you can email us for directions, and that's BYOB and all ages.  The Friday show is at Wonderland, which is a 21 and up venue located in "the bottom" between 17th and 18th st. on Main st.

Other than that we are trying to finish our new recording for our other band (I Live With Zombies) within the next few months, and looking into recording some more Serious Problems stuff before February.  I'm leaving to backpack around Europe for a couple months starting in March, but when I get back we plan to continue the band.  Hopefully we can play some more shows and complete a recording or two before then, but only time will tell. 

Fall News

So our next show will be October 24th.  We all have a lot on our plates, and other than the occasional practice, we don't have time for much else.  We still plan on recording more, and I just caught wind that there is a slight chance my stolen laptop might come to surface.  Police in Cortland, NY (where my laptop was stolen) arrested some dude who is charged with a string of burglaries, and found a large amount of stolen electronics, mainly laptops.  It's a long shot, but if mine is in the mix, we would have our recording console back in our possession.

Other than that no real news.  Just really exited for the show in October, which is a house show so feel free to contact us for directions.  The line-up will be IRON CHIC, SISTER KISSER, STATIC RADIO, THE ARTERIES, LANDMINES and us, not in that particular order.  Really doubt that anyone currently views this blog anyways, but just in case. Thanks for reading.

News

We crammed during the month of July to finish our demo, make a 25 minute set, teach Lewis the bass parts and play a weekend tour up north.  We have all been busy during the beginning of August, but everybody is interested in doing some more shows, and we should be getting back to practicing and learning some new songs by the end of August.  There was a huge setback when my laptop was stolen during the weekend tour in July.  That served as our recording cousole, and our objective was to write and record as much as possible and release a series of demos over the next several months. This will be difficult at this point, and I'm in no financial position to buy a new one.  But on the bright side we have been offered a couple local shows, and we are going to start looking into booking some more out of town.

History

Serious Problems is a band that started with me and my friend Mike.  We are both in the band I Live With Zombies (www.myspace.com/ilivewithzombies) which has pretty much been inactive for the past four years except for the occasional show and a current recording project.  I was also in the band Botox Party (www.botoxpartyva.myspace.com) which broke up last November.  We also payed together in a band called the Randy Savages that survived a short life span from 2002-2003.  Prior to that I had lived in Cortland County, New York and had played in a band called Filthy Primates that lasted from 1995-2002, and Mike played  in other musical projects as well, Abe Lincoln being the band that preceded the Randy Savages.

We started this project at the beginning of the year, with the initial intention of learning a bunch of songs that I had wrote over he past couple years, simply to record them. We recently decided that we both had the time and ambition to play some shows as a two piece, so I booked a couple shows in New York and New Jersey.  Our friend Lewis (who also plays in I Live With Zombies) offered to play bass for the shows, and that's where we stand right now.  Mike and I just finished recording a five song demo this month, and at this point we are intending to keep learning and recording new songs, and hopefully continue playing shows.  If anybody is interested in booking us or doing a show trade please contact me (Chuck) at upchuckrecords_rovck@yahoo.com.