Sunspot Blog Has Moved

All future blogposts will now be located at http://www.sunspotmusic.com/blog - see you there!

Posted on: 8 July 2013 | 11:31 pm

Sunspot Road Mania 199

Mike and Wendy visit The Madison Area Music Awards 2013, with a glimpse of all the performers and some backstage action as well.

Posted on: 24 June 2013 | 3:14 pm

Sunspot Road Mania 198

Mike and Wendy hit the music industry panel of Monroe's Wisconsin Music Arts Festival and watch Tom Jackson work on making over a song with Emily Gatzke, Broadjam's Roy Elkins give some advice, and a funny story from PiL's Martin Atkins!

Posted on: 22 June 2013 | 3:12 pm

Sunspot Road Mania 197

Rockfest in Delavan, the van turns 100,000 miles, special appearances by The Guppy Effect and The Dots!

Posted on: 16 June 2013 | 2:48 am

Sunspot Road Mania 196

Posted on: 9 June 2013 | 5:10 pm

Sunspot Road Mania 195

Posted on: 8 June 2013 | 4:08 pm

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 194

Night one of our June Midwest Run! A little bit of Kill Jr and One Last Run from The Wisco. Some "Wasted Years" from Iron Maiden and Mike and Wendy talk about McAuliffe's Pub and World War Z tonight (June 6th!)

Posted on: 7 June 2013 | 4:46 pm

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 193

Mike and Wendy talk about this weekend's rock shows in Madison, Racine, and Cincinnati!

Posted on: 5 June 2013 | 3:07 pm

Brat Fest Greatest Hits

As we gear up for our show on Friday at Brat Fest 2013, it's time to look over a little bit some of our favorite Brat Fest moments. It's usually the drunkest I gets all year (like the one time we started out at Brat Fest and ended up at Woof's - well, I guess from one sausage party to another...) Here's the Road Mania from 2007, which was our first performance at the festival. In 2008, they featured us in the ad for the show! And a picture of Ben looking like a champion from the stage that year! (thanks Watson for the sweet shot!) Wendy's Drummercam in 2009 And bringing the flask was a hugely bad idea that year... I spent most of that fest in the van finishing up the videos for the Singularity DVD, even after we were done playing (we had to ship it out that day or we wouldn't have made the release party deadline two weeks later!) But when it was done, it was time to party. 2010 we played in a trailer in an area where there was no beer. Let's just forget that one ever happened. In 2011, we took the year off... 2012, however, was our best one yet, and here's some action from the Road Mania. And we're planning something bigger and better for this Friday at 7pm! (Click here for details and directions)

Posted on: 22 May 2013 | 3:21 pm

May 2013 Newsletter - Send Us Your Craziest Pictures and Short Videos

We Need Your Craziest Face Pics Hey guys, we need your help. We're looking for the scariest craziest pics of your faces that we can get for our live show next Friday. Take it with your camera phone or webcam, scan an old favorite, whatever you like - but send them to our email address - we want your nastiest faces!  Check this face out! Also looking for video introductions from YOU! If you can get yourself on video introducing yourself and the city you're in (preferably with some kind of shot of the city in the background, but not necessary) and say "Hi, this is <your name> from <your city> and I just wanted to say hello to Madison, Wisconsin and Brat Fest 2013." That would be the coolest thing ever. We're going to be using them for our show next week and we'd love to have you involved. If you have any ideas for anything else you want to say (or a Sunspot dedication or request), just send us an e-mai l and let us know what you want to do. We're powering this summer's rock shows with content from our favorite people and that's you guys, who keep us going every day. So, if you have any ideas, send 'em in! Also, thanks for voting in our Sunspot Cover Poll. It was a close call (the winning song literally pulled through by one vote.) You picked the song and now we're going to remake it. We'll have a live video of the track up in June and we can't wait to see what you think! Send in your ideas! Upcoming Shows FRIDAY MAY 24TH 7PM BRAT FEST MADISON, WI  FRIDAY JUNE 7TH MCAULIFFE'S RACINE, WI SATURDAY JUNE 8TH MOXY FEST, CINCINNATI, OH SATURDAY JUNE 15TH PHOENIX PARK, DELAVAN, WI See you soon and Thank Jeebus Summer is Here! Mike, Ben, and Wendy Lynn SUNSPOT  <

Posted on: 15 May 2013 | 7:05 pm

Brat Fest 2013 - We're Crowdsourcing The Show!

We love you. Very deeply and grossly. And we always had an awesome time at Brat Fest. So this year we wanted to combine our love of you and our love of the show by finding more ways to make our peeps part of it. If you check our social networks or your email over the next couple of weeks, you're going to have several opportunities to join in the show with us. Here's a press release that we're sending out about the show and remember to contact us if you have any more awesome ideas! Madison rock band, Sunspot, has always been close with their audience. Whether it's the video blogging from their van with the "Sunspot Road Mania" podcast, hanging out every week with a webcast on Google+, or letting people in to a 24-hour live feed from their 2013 SXSW tour, Sunspot has never been afraid of their crowd. And this year for their special Brat Fest show, Sunspot is going back to their audience by not only getting them involved during the concert, but making them part of the show! Sunspot has already approached their audience about picking a brand new request for a cover song for the show, but they're also making video requests and video introductions from their fans part of the show as well. Sunspot will be broadcasting a live stream of the concert on their website so that their fans and friends can enjoy it as well from wherever they're from. They'll be interviewing Brat Fest attendees during the day and taking live texts to the band phone number (608-561-2263) as well as their Twitter feed (@sunspotmusic) for anyone who wants to join in with something witty or clever. When you combine that with the band's tendency to improv songs on the spot, it's going to be a "crowdsourced show" where the audience is just as big a part of the concert as the band. Friday May 24th, 2013 7PMSUNSPOTBRAT FESTWILLOW ISLANDQUANN-OLIN STAGEAll-AgesFree Sunspot has racked up a few awards and a lot of recognition during the past decade, including winning Rock Album of the Year in the Madison Area Music Association Awards for "The Slingshot Effect" (2012),"Singularity" (2010), "Loser of the Year" (2004). They're a symphony of guitars and voices, soaring melodies wrapped around hyper literate poetry and wicked rhythms. Male and female harmonies collide with expert guitar work and pop sensibility. Sunspot is rock music that's smart, fun, and powerful. The band has shared the stage with Death Cab for Cutie, The Flaming Lips, Sponge, SevenMaryThree, Hot Hot Heat, Crash Test Dummies and Sick Puppies. Also, Sunspot licensed their song, “Go, Pack!” to FOX Sports for their Super Bowl coverage, with some residual coverage for the song on NPR as well as numerous Wisconsin radio stations.

Posted on: 8 May 2013 | 4:52 pm

New Sunspot Live Acoustic Videos

Here's some live performance videos from Mike and Wendy Lynn's show in Los Angeles in April... My guitar strap falls off in the middle of the song on this one and it was a severe pain in the ass to try to play the rest of the song and sing, but I still think I pulled it off! There's also a little gallery of photos of this show right here!

Posted on: 6 May 2013 | 2:42 pm

Show in Middleton Tonight! April 25th!

Posted on: 25 April 2013 | 9:51 am

Some fun Instagrams from Mike and Wendy's LA Trip and Show!

Posted on: 24 April 2013 | 11:58 pm

Sunspot - Change the World Live - April 13th, 2013

Posted on: 15 April 2013 | 2:17 pm

March Drummercams

Direct from Wendy's camera onstage... Big V's in St. Paul, you know how to party! It was time for some afternoon drinking at The Thirsy Nickel in Austin. Still out on a Tuesday night, pretty good Springfield, Illinois! Hitting it hard during SXSW at Aussie's in Austin!

Posted on: 10 April 2013 | 6:12 pm

RIP Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert meant a lot to me when I was younger because I would get excited when his show came on Channel 10 on Saturdays. We were a movie-going family and that’s the show that would get me excited about what I wanted to see (and also they’d review the R-rated movies that I’d have to beg my parents to let me see.) Plus, they were in Chicago, right down the road.  As I got older, I would read his reviews to compare them to my own opinions. Out of all of the film critics, he was probably the most geek-friendly (though he could be hard on some of my favorites) and that combined with his presence in my living room on weekends made him someone who was very much a part of my life. Interestingly enough, once he was on Twitter, I probably read him more than ever because even after he lost his voice, it seemed like he was writing constantly. I followed and admired him and whatever happened, if I would read just one review of a film, I’d read his.  Sometimes to see if my opinion was right, sometimes just to see what he thought of it. I’m often still a movie-obsessed little boy and he was a big part of that. In his passing, he was a model of dignity so that it feels more triumphant than sad. He lived well, wrote well, made a big impact, and left while he was still relevant. I’m sure he would have said it could have been longer, but definitely have given it a thumbs-up.

Posted on: 5 April 2013 | 11:59 am

Ogre Mage

Ha, my buddy Jim just turned me onto this band, Ogre Mage,  this week and I gotta say, I love their style.   I'm insanely jealous of taking the idea of a Dungeons & Dragons game and turning it into a video (I think this would have been awesome for "Power Word, Kill", our most obviously D&D-influenced track.) They even get it right, that the girls look bored during the game (I wonder if they also thought about when the girlfriend of the DM who's usually there because she's trying to spend more time with him, gets "special bonus rolls" during the game.) Plus, they keyboard riff on the chorus is frickin' killer.  They also get a +4 bonus for covering "Surrender" (which we're known to bust out on occasion as well!) Plus, the dude chugging a beer while wearing an American flag cape is about as good as it gets.    I hope they can make it to Wisconsin sometime or we meet them out on the road!

Posted on: 3 April 2013 | 11:03 pm

Some fun shots from SXSW 2013

There's not always time to take photos, but we tried to get some of our trip down to Austin this year. Here's some of my favorites... The stage setup at Aussie's. Celebrating Ben's B-day! Getting stupid in the van! Wendy with the live Road Mania cam on 6th Street Looks like the birthday boy won this round! View the whole album here.

Posted on: 31 March 2013 | 2:24 pm

Mike's 3 Favorite Acts at SXSW 2013

I was just thinking about some of the many many many bands we saw in Austin this past weekend and one of the great things about a festival with so many other acts that are absolutely in it to win it, you hear incredible music and you learn a lot. You see good moves, gimmicks, and sheer talent (or course that makes me wild with jealousy) that you just want to steal a little bit for yourself. Here's my 3 favorites and what I felt like I learned from them. Golden State - World On Fire These guys were a seriously awesome band and completely inspiring. They were solid veteran musicians all the way through, but this track was a killer. It was beautiful. Great music comes through. It made me realize that when you have a GREAT song that moves people emotionally, they pay attention and I was enraptured. I hope they come through Madison sometime soon because I would love to play with them again. The Noise FM - Best Mistake Best Mistake by The Noise FM Really excellent stage presence and working with the crowd, plus they handled samples and a footswitch without them being “showy”. They even covered "Let's Dance" by Bowie and had the best version of "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" since The Revolting Cocks. My personal favorite was that the singer had a boat captain's hat on for much of the show and would hand it out to the crowd for someone to be "The Party Captain" for the song. Totes Brills! ¡Oh Antonio! and His Imaginary Friends- "Kiss Me Like A Robot" Just sheer joy at playing and being onstage. That's the magic of live music, he really brought the crowd up with his energy and enthusiasm . There was a lot to learn from his raw honesty onstage. He was so appreciative of the audience. He’s a guy I’d genuinely like to spend time with. Plus, he talked about geeky stuff without pandering, it just felt natural. Anyway, Austin during SXSW has so many famous musicians and "buzz" bands, that it's easy to forget that there is so much talent out there and we're all in this thing together, trying to make awesome music and believe in its power. And sometimes it feels like we're fighting a losing battle against a world of apathy and commodified art, but for a few days in Texas Hill Country every year, thousands of bands come together to create something incredible. 

Posted on: 20 March 2013 | 11:50 pm

Sunspot Google+ Hangout #37 is LIVE NOW (3/5/2013 7:00 PM CST)!

Hangout Instructions here: http://sunspotmusic.blogspot.com/2012/06/instructions-for-tonights-sunspot.html

Posted on: 5 March 2013 | 6:58 pm

Sunspot Google+ Hangout #36 is LIVE NOW (2/26/2013 8:30 PM CST)!

Hangout Instructions here: http://sunspotmusic.blogspot.com/2012/06/instructions-for-tonights-sunspot.html

Posted on: 26 February 2013 | 8:27 pm

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 190

We bring the party to Route 20 Outhouse, a gorgeous club near Racine, and play with the excellent power-pop band, The Pulltops, outta MIlwaukee.

Posted on: 25 February 2013 | 10:41 am

Addiction (Porn and Otherwise) and Why You Totally Can Get Addicted To Pot

Hat tip to io9 for featuring this video today in one of their posts. This little movie is probably the best and simplest description of addiction I've seen outside of "Master of Puppets". A non too subtle song, but extremely to the point nonetheless. Sure, it uses Internet Porn as the vehicle to describe addiction. I'm sure all of our browsing histories have been "cleared" at one point or another. There's a reason we talk about the porno buffet and D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner" in our track about the love/hate relationship we all have with the Internet, "Deus Ex Machina". What I like about this video though is that it explains simply how we can become addicted to anything. Alcoholics and junkies. as well as annoying marathon runners, kind of give addiction a bad name. Yes, I saw that 26.2 on your fucking rear window. We are biologically adapted to become addicted to things and this drives us up the goddamn wall. It's push/pull, nobody becomes addicted because what they're doing is not fun. Your body is rewarding you for something that gives you pleasure. Can the word "pleasure' never not sound dirty or is that just the relapsed Catholic in me talking? And, just in case you're too lazy to watch the fucking video,  Dopamine is what's released when that pleasure happens and your brain wants more of it. You'll change your behavior in order to achieve that pleasure again. Dopamine is a helluva drug. Hell, I think about it enough that we tackled it in our song about love and death, "The Price". It's the shit that makes loving the ladies so awesome and partying so much fun. But because it's so powerful it can fuel our addiction to anything that we enjoy. Internet Porn is one thing. Well, it's not one thing, it's about a million different things. All wonderful naked things. But how many times have your friends told you that they're not "addicted to pot", they just like to smoke it all the time? Well, truth is, they are addicted at some level. Look, I don't think there's anything wrong with pot or that it should be illegal, I'm just using it as an example of something that people say they're not addicted to. And they say it constantly, usually while bogarting the j.  I'm sure I've addicted to a bunch of things at one time or another in my life. I can't say my relationship with alcohol has been the healthiest, one listen to "My Own Worst Enemy" will tell you that one. But I've probably been more damaged by my addictions to people than any particular substance or website. But can you believe The Hun is still around after all these years? Wow, that guy is a champ. I guess I'm just blown away that the mind is so awesome that our predilection for addiction is an evolutionary advantage. Of course, musicians love to sing about this. It's one of the most basic facts of the human condition. A great way to start a cheerful day staring into the abyss is this song list from Pearl Jam to Depeche Mode to Amy Winehouse.  I guess my point is, whether it's cocaine, latvianmilfs.com, Jack Daniels, or cheese (search your feelings, you know it to be true), I need to be thinking what actions I take that I wouldn't rationally do in search of some kind of pleasure. I'll do irrational things to make sure that I get to perform, that I don't run out of beer, that I get enough protein on workout day, etc... I'll do things that are dumb or dangerous in order to get some kind of reward that might not be commensurate to the risk. I don't know if that realization is good enough to warrant any kind of behavior change, but it certainly makes me more conscious of some of my actions. And also it helps me realize that a lot of the people I have judged and considered weak aren't just a little sick, but just predisposed to the same things I am. We're all still ultimately responsible for our behavior, but in the end, I'm not that different than the homeless guy begging for his fix or a binge eater desperate for a waffle cone. Hey, I just think I found my first shreds of human compassion. All it took was a video on Internet porn!

Posted on: 21 February 2013 | 2:04 am

Sunspot Google+ Hangout #35 is LIVE NOW (2/19/2013 7:30 PM CST)!

Hangout Instructions here: http://sunspotmusic.blogspot.com/2012/06/instructions-for-tonights-sunspot.html

Posted on: 19 February 2013 | 7:30 pm