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The Great Fans of The Suburbs: Keith Morioka July 11 2013, 3 Comments
Keith Morioka has been an avid Suburbs follower since he first heard the song Love is the Law at a YMCA dance when he was 16. His passion for the band has taken him from Hugo, Minnesota, where he first witnessed the electric atmosphere of a Suburbs concert, to Costa Mesa, California, where Keith found an official cassette of Love is the Law after long searching for one. “I felt like I found the Holy Grail that day.”
It is the extraordinary connection between the band and the fans that has made The Suburbs a staple in the hearts of so many music lovers, young and old. Keith proudly states, “The fans are passionate about the band and the band is passionate about the fans.” One of Keith’s favorite memories was when he attended the sold-out 1993 reunion show. Beej was stringing the guitar to its maximum decibel level before turning around on the edge of the stage and falling back into the crowd. “We sent Beej crowd-surfing. That’s the way The Suburbs do things."
Even through the twenty-seven year absence of a Suburbs album, Keith has carried hundreds of conversations with fellow Suburbs supporters, trying to one-up his friends on the best concerts and stories each individual shared with the 80s rock powerhouse. Heck, before his wedding the 1984 tune Love is the Law was played.
When the news appeared on his Facebook feed that The Suburbs were preparing to release a new album, the thrill and emotion that ran through Keith’s blood could not be described. He immediately contributed to the Kickstarter campaign and started to encourage his friends to do the same. “I so want this album to happen. Let’s get this thing done!”
Well Keith, it’s time to loosen up those vocal cords and lace up your party shoes because the party rocks on!
Keith with his collection of The Suburbs albums
Ticket Stubs from various Suburbs concerts
A collage of The Suburbs
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WE WANT TO KEEP ON ROCKING! Please help fund The Suburb's first new album in 27 years, Si Sauvage. Learn more about the project and listen to our new song "Turn the Radio On" at our Kickstarter page!
Support our Kickstarter! June 28 2013, 0 Comments
Join us as we bring out a BRAND NEW Suburbs record.
10 new remarkable studio songs (and a couple bonus tracks for Kickstarter supporters).
Suburbs Fans are the best. They've really taken a "pride in ownership" of this unique Minneapolis band. They've gotten behind the band's incredible "Love Is The Law" campaign for marriage equality, they've packed the clubs and theaters, shared the songs, worn the band's indelible logo, and turned-on friends and family to The Suburbs nutty videos and Chan and Bruce and Beej's rocking, quirky, and lovely songs.
What better way for the band to raise the budget for the recording and promoting of their first new album in 27 years than to come directly to this great group of supporters who have grown and celebrated with them?
People who have heard advance mixes of some of the new stuff say it sounds like a culmination of the entire history of the Suburbs, and thoroughly contemporary at the same time. You'll hear the same energy in Hugo's drumming, the same gnarled and oddly sexy voices of Beej and Chan mining similar offbeat and humorous lyrical territory, yet tinged with a new depth and maturity lacking in the earlier recordings. (Life changes you, after all!) It's surprisingly upbeat, with plenty of dance grooves, yet also contains the beauty of older songs like "Girlfriend" and "Spring Came".
So why Kickstarter?
By now we've all heard the various sides in the battle for your entertainment dollar. We all pretty much understand the old music business model has changed, yes, but not the spirit or the intention of the makers or the fans. We keep making and listening to music.
The good news is that places like Kickstarter, where the music lover directly transacts with the artist, not only allows the artist the ability to afford to make his or her music the way they want, it inherently does away with a middle man, reducing waste and delivering good product at a cheaper rate, AND has the multiple benefit of actually adding value. If you haven't noticed yet, you get more stuff with your music on Kickstarter! T-shirts! House concerts! Signed posters and swag!
With your pre-orders and pledges we can pay for our own promotion, advertising, videos, marketing and publicity agents, touring costs, etc., not to mention the very best recording, mastering and manufacturing talent and facilities so the new songs sound as awesome as they can be.
Here's what we'd like you to do:
- Visit our Kickstarter page and watch the video. We made it just for you.
- Pick a prize level and donate. The skies the limit! Isn't this exciting?
- Tell your friends. The more the merrier!
Thank you!