The Rumble Strips.

I just realized I forgot to post about Halifax's best new pop band. The Rumble Strips are Kelly (Whimsy and Spite) on Ukelele, Sunny Bones on the Casio, and Steve Believe on Guitar. The songs are heartbreaking and adorable. There's a bathroom recording of "Paper Crane Puke" posted on their myspace page. Check it out "Here".

Love,
Steve B

Jawsh Carson Is Releasing A Dub Step Album.

Just Kidding. I'm Bored.

Holy shit...
Stagnant Stars have a recording of "I Could Hear It In Your Voice" finished.
Go listen to it now! Click -----> "Here".

Love,
Steve Believe

Maritimes Shows.

Mistake Makers played a really fun set at the Paramount in Moncton on Thursday with The Fucking Gummi Bears. They are sweethearts who play a more ska-y Lawrence Arms kind of pop-punk complete with two saxaphone players.

Check Them Out "Here".

Saturday both Mistake Makers and Stagnant Stars played at Cd Heaven in Dartmouth. The venue was a lot of fun and Candace who runs the place was great. A bunch of kids made the trek across the bridge to come and dance. The bill was rounded out with Stop Motion Massacre who are super high energy noise-punk. They have a really laid back, silly approach to performing and have ridiculous singing faces.

Check Them Out "Here".

Mistake Makers Recordings Are Right "Here".

Stagnant Stars souls were captured by Rosie Toes.

Love,
Steve Believe.

NEW SONGS!

I tried my hardest to find out how to post songs on the blog, but my frustration got the best of me and I gave up... for now. Regardless, Mistake Makers have two new recordings finished and you can listen to them by clicking "here".

"Earl" is about losing yourself and attempting to find yourself in the midst of a hurricane. Complete with power outages, Blackouts, Emotional breakdowns and spraypaint.

"No Sleep Till Thunder Bay" is about touring and being silly I guess. But really it's about three people who taught me more about life than I learnt in twelve years of public education.

Love,
Steve B.

Showz.

Tell your friends. Come dance and sing and scream and feel okay.

Love,
Steve B.

Making Gold Records.

In preparation for their MINI! Maritimes tour, Mistake Makers have been doing some recording. All the tracks have been laid down for two songs, and they are currently in the mixing/mastering stage. These songs will be available for free download and posted on myspace.com/mistakemakers once they are completed. I hate recording personally, but at least Rosie took some photo's and made us look like rockstars.








Love,
Steve. B

Success.

Mistake Makers played their first show this past Saturday to a crowded kitchen. It was a blast. Stagnant Stars proved that they're still the best band on this continent (maybe all continents). It was kind of a night of celebration for all the hard work we've been doing.

Devon Jupiter took amazing photos and DIY Halifax did a great show review. Check it out!

http://diyhalifax.blogspot.com/

Love,
Steve B.

Showtime.

Also,
Some of Taylor Doyle's new songs are up on his myspace page.
(myspace.com/therdkm)

Love,
Steve Believe.

Rockstars In My Kitchen.

I feel pretty lucky that my favourite musicians are my best friends. It means that I get to see my favourite bands without having to pay a 20 dollar cover charge, I get to listen to their records without having to blow my pay check at HMV, and I get to watch as they write new songs and grow and change.

Right now two of my favourite people (and favourite songwriters) are releasing a split record together. Taylor Doyle and Travesty. Tay's side of the split is done and Travis is currently recording his half. Both sides include the best songs either of them have ever written.

Photo by RosieToes
Taylor is a very shy and timid person and watching him perform (or even listening to his recordings) is such a brutally honest experience. It's almost as though you are catching a glimpse of something no one was see. Musically he is tough to describe. His songs always have huge melodies and seem very straight forward on the surface, and yet they are so intricate and noodley. Taylor really grabs me with his lyrics. He writes about his friends and love and loss, but in a poetic way almost reminiscent of E.E Cummings of T.S Eliot.


Travesty is hands down the best banjo player I have ever heard. He is so passionate when he plays that it's hard not to loose yourself in his brand of old-timey plucking. His yelp sounds like a 30's blues legend. Despite being a master of traditional folk and blues tunes, Travesty doesn't subscribe to the cliche of just singing about trains and whiskey. He sings about what he knows and his internal struggles, and this boy has seen and been through a lot.


Love,
Steve B.

I Can See My Breath Inside My House.

Brrr.

Well it's been almost two months since I last posted anything on the blog and I'd like to say it's because we've been so incredibly busy with the collective that I haven't had time to sit down and update this thing, but thats not really the case. The truth is things have been kind of slow moving and I've been kind of lazy. Jobs and bills and mental health.

That being said there are some wonderful people working incredibly hard to make things happen. Taylor Doyle is done his half of a split record with Travesty (Thanks to the acclaimed producer Jawsh Carson). Mistake Makers are preparing to play their first show in mid November along with Stagnant Stars. Poems are being written and read.

October was swell and chilly. The Halifax Pop Explosion Zine Fair was great. We met a lot of great artists doing some really great stuff. (However the tables that were ran by punks appeared to be the only people actually expressing enjoyment. Hipsters are generally fine people, they just need to lighten up. I mean come on, free vegan burritos?!)

Jawsh spent a lot of early mornings (after getting off the backshift), mixing and mastering tracks, including a Know Hope For The Skids song that will be on a G20 benefit comp. that I'm really excited about.

The month was rounded out with a really wonderful Halloween show at the flood house with Taylor Doyle, Travesty, The Rumble Strips (a new incarnation of Whimsy and Spite that sounds nothing like Meatloaf), Steve Believe and The Emotionally Crippled Narcissists, and Snail Party. There was ridiculous costumes, raining chocolate, Pumpkin puns, and sing alongs. My camera died around 8 o'clock but Rosie Toes has some great footage on her blog. (http://unbeatablehigh.blogspot.com/)

My fingers are frozen now, so I'm going to go cook something in the oven for the sole purpose of warming up. I will try and be more "punk"tual with updating this thing as to not let down my many blog followers (mom, dad).

Love,
Steve Believe.

No Sleep, Just Paint.

Things are happening, Slowly but surely. Mistake Makers are now a 4 piece, and include Jawsh Carson on bass, and Rosie Toes on keyboards. The world of pop punk and experimental waffle recipes will never be the same. We've been building up a collection of art pieces to sell at our table at the Halifax Pop Explosion Zine Fair (October 23rd). Daily jam sessions are taking place. And most exciting of all... Taylor Doyle and Travesty International are working on a split cassette/cd that is set to be released by mid-October as well.


Love,
Steve Believe

Stagnant Stars.

Last night (Sept 11th), Stagnant Stars played at a benefit show for G20 protesters legal fees at Doomwood Castle. I took some pictures to prove to the world once and for all that Taylor is more attractive than all the members of Hanson combined, and Jawsh is in fact a ghost.



I need sleep, I think.

Ahhhh.

Love,
Steve B

Distro.

Distro-ing at Stagnant Stars show tonight. All proceeds going to support G20 protesters.
Love,
Steve B

Waiting For Earl.

After months of hesitation and procrastination, I've completed a collection of poems from the "dark ages" of my life. It turned out to be a pretty emotional project and a bit of a struggle to finish, but now that it's complete I feel relieved. Now I can move on to better, more positive stuff. It's 27 pages of poetry about being sick and scared. PWYC.


I'm also still looking for more contributions for my graphic novel (see "Lets Talk About Sex" post). If anyone is interested please email or mail your story as soon as possible.

This weekend will be spent sending out mail, and if hurricane Earl doesn't knock the power out we will be recording Taylor Doyle's solo cassette. Bring on the rain.

Love,
Steve.B

Pooh At The FloodHouse.

Halifax has proven itself. 90's Babies has been busy.
Stagnant Stars and Mistake Makers have been jamming daily and will soon be recording both their first releases. Late night painting sessions have been a plenty. A "Graphic" novel is in the works (see previous post). Taylor Doyle will be recording a demo this coming weekend. Matt A's personal zine is on it's way. and bikes. and pie. and beaches, of course.

Self Portraits By Steve Believe.




Love,
Steve Believe.

Let's Talk About Sex.

Growing up there were two main venues that taught me about sex.

One of these teachers was the media. MTV and grocery store magazines told me that sex was a dirty, nasty game and that I should join the competition as a predator (especially since I was a male). I was taught that sex was the ultimate goal of my young life, and that I should pursue it using the most vicious of tactics. Words like “slut” and “whore” became synonymous with sex. I was given the impression that the less emotion I attached to this act, the more fulfilling it would be.

The second Sex-Ed teacher was a fairy tale story that was reinforced by my religious, conservative surroundings. It was here that I was taught that males fell in love with females, got married, made love on their wedding night, and produced children. This description was very vague and left out details where ever possible. I was taught that sex was a flawless exchange that was wholesome, pure, and should never be talked about.

I bounced between these two descriptions never short on confusion and guilt. As I became older attraction, affection and sex became realities in my life. I tried to act according to the way I had been taught.

Holy fuck, was I in for a surprise.

I want to put together a collection of REAL sexual experiences. A sort of reference guide of the unpredictable, often bizarre events that are rarely talked about. I want to document what sex is really all about, so no one I know ever has to be as blatantly mislead again.

I’m looking for anonymous contributions of your own sexual non-fiction. Any story would be greatly appreciated (funny, awkward, embarrassing, scary, difficult, terrifying, racy, sexy, etc.) I plan to illustrate the stories with cartoons, so it will be a sort of “Graphic” Novel (Pun!). Please keep your contributions down to a paragraph or two, but feel free to be descriptive. I wont change any of the plot lines, however I may paraphrase/tweek to better fit into comic strip format. In order to protect the authors’ anonymity, I’ve set up a email address and password that you can log into and send me your stories from.

email: zineproject@hotmail.com
password: banana123
Send all contributions to: stevo2404@hotmail.com
Or you can mail them anonymously to:

Steve Believe
2685 Clifton st.
Halifax, NS
B3K 4V4

I’m really excited about this project and can’t wait to start putting it together. Finished copies will be available from ninetiesbabiesartcollective.blogspot.com, or from the address listed above.

Love,
Steve Believe

Atlantic.

I'm overwhelmed, Sleep deprived, Over caffeinated, and feeling crazy. It's been a strange couple of weeks, but i've managed to get some stuff done.

I did a lot of painting while I was in Ottawa. I also mentioned to my friend Arj that I wanted to get a video camera, and he traded me a camera for one of my paintings and an old bike frame. I hope to collect footage as soon as possible and throughout the winter.

This is for Arj.

I also met a really sweet kid on the bus named Spaz who spent most of the trip drawing and talking about space. It was delightful. We swapped art and stories. Spaz makes these really eerie and twisted comic zines that are incredible, and is in the process of starting a zine collective of sorts. Hopefully 90's Babies will be able to help produce/distro them in the near future.

This is Spaz.

Things are currently a little uncertain here in Halifax. A lot of things are sitting in limbo. However in the next couple days things should be sorted out, my life will calm down a little and this collective will begin to bloom like melons or squashes or something that blooms in a very progressive way.

This is backwards.

Love,
Steve Believe

I Almost Forgot...

Happy Birthday Jawsh!
You don't look a day over 14.

I love you.

Oh Ottawa?

I headed east over a week ago now and i'm still fairly unsettled. I'm having a blast, I'm just constantly deep in thought and processing things (which I suppose is probably a good thing). I've been filling up my days with with painting, collaging, cooking inventive dishes (purple-pepper-squash-coserolle), writing, and a little bit of guitar strumming.

I've also done some collaborative paintings with my brother (Zach) that I plan on posting once I find a camera.

I did a rough recording of a new song called "Oh Ottawa 2 (Mice and Mold)". I don't know how to post audio, and I didn't want one of those boring YouTube videos where the song is set to the picture of a landscape, so I made a video. It's an educational video for people who want to learn more about boredom, loneliness, complacency, restlessness and insomnia. I hope you learn lots.

The song and video were both made in my brother's tenth floor studio apartment in the midst of an Ontario heat wave. The peculiar sound at the begging of the song is an African instrument called a mariba that Zach brought me back from Kenya.

I miss you/Can't wait to see you.

Love,
Steve.

The last couple days have been a little crazy. I quit my job. Released a split record (Long Distance Telephone Calls w/ Susie Winters). Played a show. Did mail orders. Spooned with stinky travellers. Played baseball in the park. And had a slumberparty and a barbecue. I’m pleased as punch.

The more albums I get rid of before I make the trek to Halifax the better. If you’re interested in one please email me (stevo2404@hotmail.com), phone me (780-719-4965), or message me on myspace (myspace.com/stephenrz). They are $5/pwyc/trades/whatever. I’m really proud of it and want to share it with willing ears.

Also, after nearly two years of begging, pleading and excessive flirting we will be releasing Free Shots on Nic’s first official album. They have been my favorite band for quite some time now and I want the world to hear them and love them as much as I do. The Album will be call “The Dark Hole of Forever Rising Like a Sudden Fearsome Anger” and will be out before the first snowdrops of winter drift to the ground. You can get a brief appetizer of the album at www.myspace.com/freeshotsonnic.

Goodbye Alberta, Stay Posi.

Love,
Steve Believe.

TBT.

There are a few lethal combinations that will never be topped., These include coffee and cigarettes, Big hills and bicycles, Summer nights and acoustic guitars, and garlic and everything. I was just made aware of another one of these combo's in the last couple weeks. Here's the formula:

Sonny, Jawsh Carson, Starla! Ubiquitous, Steve Believe, and Matt A, combined with covers of 90's pop songs (Savage Garden, Backstreet Boys etc.) and a general Albertan discomfort/boredom. Look out drunk bro's and hicks, we're coming for your money and your expensive cigarettes.

Love,
Steve B.

Final Touches

This weekend was the home stretch. Finished mastering the songs, Printed and assembled the album art, Got covered in "Hunter Green" spray paint, and grinned like a proud parent. After a failed attempt at making iced coffee (don't ask how I managed to fuck this up), Matt A, Jawsh and I worked all afternoon and night putting together the first official 90's Babies release. I'm so stoked on this. It will be ready for eager ears this week via myspace, (www.myspace.com/stephenrz and www.myspace.com/susiewinters). Or you can come get a copy this friday at Steeps Cafe (11116 82Ave). Or message/call me.

Here's some photos of our haphazard assembly line.
(Thanks Henry Ford for this efficient production method).



Steve Believe//Susie Winters
Long Distance Telephone Calls


Love,
Steve Believe

So Here It Goes... (Mini-Zine)

If I spent my sleepless nights studying textbooks I could be a doctor or an engineer by now. Unfortunately (or probably fortunately), I don't. I spend them pacing, smoking, being disgustingly nostalgic, and thinking about my friends. I have the best fucking friends in the world. This is a statement I'm willing to defend with unnecessary violence (just kidding, kind of...). The past few months have let me find out who my real friends are. They are a small group of people with hearts bigger than the Atlantic.

I'm not really good at expressing my feelings, especially when those feelings are attached to a "Goodbye", so I made a zine for the people who I love, The people who love me, The people I'm incredibly proud of, and those who will be thousands of kilometres away from me in a few weeks. Like most things I create, It's cheesy as hell.



Call your best friends. They miss you.

Love,
Steve.B

Weird.

Shit.

Yesterday I was taking photo's for an art project I'm working on and I fell off of a ladder. This was not a slight slip or tumble, but a full on wipe-out. I landed facedown on a stack of unfortunately placed milk crates, which resulted in a series of bizarre shaped cuts and bruises all over my body. More tragically though, I smashed my camera into the concrete and transformed it into a useless pile of glass and plastic. Shit.

furthermore, I somehow absentmindedly left the cap off not one but two glue sticks. (This is a violent pet peeve of mine).

And then this evening I missed the last bus home and spent two hours wandering around an unfamiliar part of Edmonton which seemed to be filled with only two types of people at one in the morning. Either (a) middle aged men who peer through un-curtained windows, or (b) middle aged men who want to discuss the "economy". This was strangely the most pleasant part of my last 24 hours.

If you happen to be a pro bono digital camera repair person, have an abundance of spare glue sticks, or want to talk about something other than the necessity of tarsands, feel free to send me a message.

Love,
Steve Believe

Tired and I Miss You.

Can't sleep, and I get all cheesy and nostalgic. I apologize for the corniness that my insomnia produces.



P.s
www.myspace.com/therdkm

Love,
Steve Believe

SW/SB Photo Shoot

I have to admit I've been kind of procrastinating when it comes finishing the Susie Winters/Steve Believe Split. I've been spending most of my time trying to cross things off my list of things to do before I move 5000 km across this country, and the split somehow seems to get pushed to the bottom. That being said, I am so fucking excited for this album to be done. I'm really proud of it. My hopes are to get my shit together and have it done in the next two weeks. Look out world.

Susie and I spent the weekend crashing minivans into curbs, laughing, screaming, listening to Kris Kristofferson, hiking through canola fields, and modelling for the prairie sunshine.

Don't stare too long, you might lose yourself.











Love,
Steve

Jawsh Carson-Piano Keys Resonate Like You and Me

Friday Jawsh and I had plans to take over the world.
Instead we lit candles, drank too much coffee and recorded this.



enjoy.

love,
Steve

I think that the sentence at the top of the page pretty clearly describes what this is all about, however I've always been prone to overcomplicating things, so here we go...

This past winter was hard. It left me pretty broken and questioning a lot of things. I got hung up on all the time I've wasted, the negative bullshit I've subscribed to, and the pity parties where I spent most my days. The good news is that spring came and thawed me out, warmed me up and reminded me why I was drawn to punk in the first place. That's where 90's Babies comes in. It's all about tapping into that powerful, honest feeling I got from my first punk show. The feeling I got when I realized there was an alternative to the capitalist garbage I saw on T.V. 90's Babies is about making something beautiful out of something ugly. It's about real friends. It's about screaming your lungs out even if no one is listening.

90's Babies isn't just me. It includes (and hopes to include) a whole slew of artists, musicians, writers, dropouts, and runaways, however I will probably be the one to update this blog regularly. I'm hoping to be punctual enough to do at least a weekly post including upcoming releases and events, artwork, writing, videos, photos etc.

Things that are currently in the works include:

-Steve Believe/Susie Winters split CD
-Jawsh Carson per zine
-Relocating ourselves closer to salt water

Thanks for enduring my cheesy babbling.
Stay Posi.

Love,
Steve