Important update

THE VELVETEEN BAND regrets to announce that we will unfortunately be unable to perform at STEAMPUNK WORLDS FAIRE, in May of this year.  We were not able to coordinate from afar all the logistics needed to ensure that we could perform the best possible show for ourselves and our fans and friends in New Jersey.

We just want to say that it was truly an honor to be invited.  We hope you all have a great time at the STEAMPUNK WORLDS FAIRE this year, and we wish them the best!

re: hitRECord

From the beginning of the Velveteen Band, we have sought out other talented musicians and artists to collaborate with. This spirit of collaboration is what has fueled us, and continues to inspire us. To date, this collaboration has been done with one or two artist at a time; our next historic move will enable us to collaborate with thousands:

We’re contributing not just our entire album, but the individual stems (the isolated recordings of each performer), to hitRECord.
You’ll find those contributions here:
http://collaborate.thevelveteenband.com

At this point, you might be asking yourself “what the heck is hitRECord?

Great Question!

hitRECord is a community of artists in every medium, who have agreed to let each other play with their work in a sort of copyright cease-fire. It’s also a production company, owned by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. We’ll let him explain:

Under Joe’s direction, the community at hitRECord has published books and music to traditional outlets, produced live performances, and is currently completing a 2nd season of “hitRECord on TV” on Pivot.tv

…which you should totally watch. Here’s the first episode from last season:

So, what does this move mean?“, you ask.

You’re just full of good questions today!

  • Members of the hitRECord community will be able to use any part of our songs to score videos.
  • They can clear space in our songs to insert themselves into, singing parts or playing instruments.
  • They can arrange their own covers or remixes, or use our stems as raw materials to create entirely new works.
  • These are a few small examples; the potential uses extend far beyond what we, ourselves, can ever imagine.

All of this is recursive; it iterates forever. The users can transform and improve on each other’s submissions, from any starting point. And those users include us. By posting their works back to the site, these artists can let us be part of continuing those projects in a way that, to our knowledge, no band has ever done before.

We quietly launched with three songs over the weekend. Stems were provided, along with a “video fakebook” to lay out the lyrics and chord progressions (so artists can skip the boring mechanical part of dissecting our work, and jump straight into what they do best).

http://collaborate.thevelveteenband.com will direct you to those records, as well as the release schedule for the rest of our catalog.

If you’d like to be a part of this daring initiative, just sign up at hitRECord.com — this is an ongoing effort, and it’s open to everyone.

April 3rd! CIRQUE DES BETES is coming to Ventura!

It is with much fanfare that we announce CIRQUE DES BETES (San Louis Obispo) will be bringing their beastly circus and fantastical feats to THE VELVETEEN BAND’s first Friday’s residency at BOMBAY BAR AND GRILL, April 3rd, 2015!!! Fresh from a weekend of performances at the annual Wild Wild West Convention in Tucson, Arizona, CIRQUE DES BETES will transform Bombay into circus of wonder and amazement!

Daniel Flores, Manager of the Velveteen Band stated, “We saw them perform on the Queen Mary earlier this year, and were absolutely enchanted! We knew we had to bring them to Ventura. We are so excited to get them!”

Cirque Des Betes

Started as the duo Fawn & Bear in 2012, this new performing group has grown in size and expanded their talents to include circus flow arts such as hooping, contact juggling, fan dancing, staff manipulation and the aerial arts. In addition to circus arts we have included a variety of neo burlesque dancers who are excited to thrill and chill you with intriguing dances and skills. We have also expanded our connections to other troupes of performers in the San Luis Obispo Area as well as steampunk groups up and down the coast of California.

The First Friday event will be held at Bombay Bar and Grill in Ventura, Ca on April 3rd, as part of THE VELVETEEN BAND’s First Fridays residency, starting at 8pm.

Radio Threat (Oxnard) will also be performing, and featured artists Kimmy Lenwell, Beverly Treadwell, and Carl Gustavsson will be presenting and selling artwork.

THE VELVETEEN BAND will begin their first set of the evening at 9:15 PM, and CIRQUE DES BETES will take the stage at 10pm. This event is FREE, and 21+

Click here for more event information:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1528877070727384/

For more information on CIRQUE DES BETES, click here:
http://cirquedesbetes.weebly.com

Tokyo Status, April 18 2015 w/ Lolita Dark

We are very excited to announce that THE VELVETEEN BAND has been invited to perform at TOKYO STATUS, a Japanese airline themed music showcase hosted by the epic J-Rockstars, LOLITA DARK!

Flyer - Tokyo Status on April 18

The event takes place on Saturday, April 18th at 9 on Vine in Hollywood.  Please visit the Facebook event page for more information.

If you haven’t checked out LOLITA DARK yet, you absolutely should. We fell in love with them after playing together at Central Coast Comic Con last year.

Check out their page and music!

Don’t miss Adam West the Bat – joining us tonight at Bombay in Ventura

Here’s a video from our friends “Adam West the Bat”, covering John Williams’ iconic Superman theme. We’re obviously fans.

They’re driving out to Ventura to play with us at Bombay tonight. If you come to see us, make sure you don’t miss them.


March 6th, 2015
Live at Bombay in Ventura, CA (map)
adam west the bat banner

  • DJ and Art Vendors – 8:00pm
  • The Velveteen Band Set 1 – 9:15pm
  • Adam West the Bat – 10:15pm
  • The Velveteen Band Set 2 – 11:15pm

No cover charge, 21+

Featured artists include:

  • Stefani Scoggan
  • Amber White
  • Kimberly Weaver
  • Seth Bradley of Seths Games and Anime

more info