Tag: news

Surprises, Lizards and 5,000 Pounds of Garbage

News From The Week That Was

Another recording week in The Cube – a test vocal line went down on top of the acoustic song last week and we are looking at recording a surprise cover to add to the new album.  (Ooooooh – surprise!!).  There were some mid-week remixes of “Run” and “Hesitant” and we are inching ever closer to getting the new record out to you fine folks.

Get to know your Whiskey!

What TV shows are you watching right now?

Boyne: My name is earl and Succession

Scarfo: Succession, Ted Lasso, and rewatching The Newsroom.  I’ll never not be watching Lost.

Puff: The Witcher, Trailer Park Boys, W/ Bob & David, Solar Opposites, Letterkenny, Sneaky Pete

What was the first LP/cassette/CD/eight track you ever bought with your own money?

Boyne: The soundtrack to TMNT the movie – the first one on cassette.

Scarfo: I genuinely don’t know.  It was probably Weezer blue, Smash or Pretty Hate Machine.

Puff: Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon was my first record, my first CD was either Queen or Run DMC

What is something that hasn’t happened yet, but would certainly break the internet?

Boyne: The internet is not a real place. I don’t really care what happens there. Or at least I don’t want to.

Scarfo: An EMP.

Puff: The Trumps turning out to be lizard people would probably do it, OR actual contact with really for real aliens.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. When people ask, “Do you know how much crap you accumulate over a decade?”, the answer is roughly 5,000 pounds.
  2. A bad day can be helped by the arrival of wacky tshirts.  Not fixed, mind you, but helped.
  3. Living with me can make someone feel dead inside in a matter of hours.

No Titles, Revolutions or Pants

News From The Week That Was

Another acoustic tune on the go for us this week as we have the base of a track laid down for something that as of yet is untitled.  Beyond that, just some mixes being worked on.  Honestly, as Scarfo is moving this week, we have been limited – so has his willingness to say a whole lot in the blog 🙂

Get to know your Whiskey!

If you could take a week off from your regular life to immerse yourself in learning something new, what would it be?

Boyne: Woodworking

Scarfo: I’d love to say learning a language, but a week probably wouldn’t do it.  I’d love to learn the basics of carpentry, it would be cool to be able to build things.  And it would be another reason that I’m cooler than Jesus.

Puff: The ancient alchemical art of distillery. 

If you could go back in time ten years and tell yourself something, what would you say?

Boyne: Get rid of shit, you don’t need all that stuff

Scarfo: Save every penny that you have and bet it all on Leicester City to win the 2015 Premier League.

Puff: I would give myself a list of the winners of all major and minor sporting events for the decade to come

If you could erase one event from history, which one would you erase?

Boyne: April 16th 1994.

Scarfo: I mean, you’d have to be a dick to not say the Holocaust, right?

Puff: The ‘merican revolution.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Linz’s son has an arm that is always wet and no one knows why.
  2. Puff takes having buttons seriously.
  3. I always thought I hated pants more than anyone in the world.  Among the 4 people who live in my new home, I’m number 3 at best.

Monkeys, Monkees and Bananas

News From The Week That Was

Another recording week at The Cube this week, minus Puffer as he was fighting a family cold.  Note: He was fighting the cold, not his family . . . or at least that is how I read the text.  We are looking at the possibility of splitting some of the songs from the new record off into a 3rd release, some of the more ‘fun’ songs that we’ve done and leaving the softer stuff on it’s own.  More on that decision to come. 

Get to know your Whiskey!

What’s something I would never guess about you?

Boyne: I have no concept of what others think of me, so maybe just that.

Scarfo: I asked Linz to help me with this one and she said, “I don’t know because you shock me every day.”  I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  Probably that I’m 41 and I still talk to and sleep with a stuffed monkey named Fritz.  He’s my buddy.

Puff: I played guitar on stage at the Ryman Auditorium

What has been your most memorable or inspirational gig and why?

Boyne: “The Mike and Mickey Show” – pretty much The Monkees, Mike Nesmith was pretty much my guy from the time I was 3 years old.  Seeing him in real life was emotional and wonderful.. plus I took my mom, seeing her seeing me seeing them, yeah that was special.

Scarfo: The most memorable would probably be the Mustache Festival with For The Hard Way.  Aside from it being a very receptive crowd and a great lineup (you can actually see the opening tune badly filmed here), the general level of bad decision making throughout the day was the key.  Knowing that we were in a field by mid afternoon and not playing until after sundown, our plan was to go beer/water/beer/water to stay ‘sober’.  14 waters later, we hit the stage . . . 

Puff: Hasn’t happened yet.

What are three words that best describe you?

Boyne: Cue. Green. Slime.

Scarfo: Stubborn, fun and gassy.

Puff: ***Note: Puff didn’t answer this one.  After reading his answers so far, I’m going to answer on his behalf: “Best Human Whiskey”.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Dishonesty regarding high levels of banana consumption can really set me off.
  2. People really have a hard time distinguishing between the names “Ken” and “Cody” and understanding which of them we are ‘fer’ and which we are ‘agin’.
  3. Capri Pizza is worth the drive to Windsor.

Boosters, Cuddles and Head Injuries

News From The Week That Was

Apologies for the lack of update last week, between work being nuts, getting boosted and some family stuff, I simply ran out of time.  As for news for this week, another new song was created in The Cube, though it certainly has some work to be done on it before it actually becomes anything.  Edits and mixes are continuing on the new album and we are moving forward nicely with that.  Lastly, today marks the beginning of our new feature, “Get to know your Whiskey!”  We blatantly ripped some questions from the “Exclaim!” questionnaire, but there are some additional questions added in as well.  Enjoy getting to know us, dinks.

Get to know your Whiskey!

Why do you live where you do?

Boyne: Everyone I love is here, it’s where I’ve always been.  I work here and love what I do.

Scarfo: I was recently evicted, so this is a bit of a jerk question.  I am in the process of moving to Galt for three reasons – 1. That is where my family lives; 2. It is very, very close to the Farm League Brewing tap room (stumbling distance) and 3. The aforementioned eviction.

Puff: It’s close to family.

What are the best and worst purchases you’ve ever made?

Boyne: Best, my last PC. The worst was the laptop I bought to replace it.

Scarfo: I should probably say something about my Les Paul, but I bought an air fryer a couple of hours ago that I am pretty pumped about.  As for worst, I took my chances on a Cleveland Browns “surprise box” from China recently – it came with 4 Browns masks that don’t fit me, 4 crocheted bracelets, a phone case that didn’t fit my phone and a hoodie that Linz immediately took.

Puff:  I’d say my ’86 Gibson Melody Maker has been my best. My worst purchase was a POS car that was a financial black hole.

How do you prefer to end your day?

Boyne: Reading myself to sleep.

Scarfo: By lying down in my bed?  A nice cup of tea in the evening is very relaxing and a little RDR2 is nice as well.  Something about a cup of hot Royal English Breakfast tea and shooting O’Driscolls in their penises that makes me settle right in.

Puff: Cuddlin’ with me wife.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. It is possible to not laugh while watching a 7 year old smash his head off of a cupboard door and hit the ground.  Not easy, but possible.
  2. When an impressionable young adult asks, “Can we do a celebrity death bowl?”, you don’t correct them on the bowl/pool issue, you just say yes.
  3. Euro shouting lyrics never gets old.

A Year Departs, Fresh Starts and Farts

News From The Week That Was

With the holidays, this has been a light week in terms of productivity for Fighting Whiskey.  There were some small mixing changes for “Hesitant” on the upcoming album, but we will be getting back to it in earnest in the new year.  In the meantime, as an end of year note, Puffer, Boyne and I wanted to thank everyone who has given the tracks a listen, told a friend and/or just said something nice about the project.  It has been a lot of fun going through the year of “Dandelions” and we are really looking forward to the year of “Crying”, or as Boyne calls it, every year.

Also, now available – a page for the third Whiskey – Puffer. Check it out here!!


Starting next week, we’ll be doing our “Get to know your Whiskey” feature with a few questions answered by each of the boys.  If you want to have your own question answered by all of us, just submit to questions@fightingwhiskey.ca.  From all of us to all of you, may 2022 be better than 2021 and please, don’t whiskey too hard on NYE.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Giving a magic 8 ball to a child who still believes in magic is a HORRIBLE idea.
  2. Chimpanzees do not have tails.
  3. If, while in range of a Google mini you say, “Hey google, fart!” – it will.

News, Reviews and Survey Blues

News From The Week That Was

A few notes before the holiday season from your barrel aged friends with punchable faces.  First off, a huge thank you to Divide and Conquer music for their in depth review of Dandelions and Failure.  You can read it here!

Another ‘acoustifying’ week in The Cube as the set list grows. As you can see from the picture, Scarfo tends to ham it up whenever cameras are around, Boyne gives zero shits.  This coming week will likely be quiet on the productive front as we are all taken over by family obligations, but never fear, 2022 will soon be here.

Additionally, while we have finished our current round of “Fighting Whiskey Recommends”, we will be bringing out a new ‘Get to Know Your Whiskeys” feature in the new year.  Learn about the madness beyond the method to our madness.

Finally, we officially exist on Facebook.  You can search Fighting Whiskey and give us a like.  We gave you a free album, c’mon, give us a like.  Once the page has its own URL, I will post both here and as a button at the bottom of the site.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. What REM sounds like is very subjective.
  2. Random surveys can hurt my feelings.
  3. When my girlfriend is making a gingerbread house, shouting “Push it!!!” over and over again at her is not considered moral support.

Fingers, Mouths and Joy

News From The Week That Was

The fingers have taken a real beating this week as we continue to ‘acoustify’ a lot of the Dandelions and Failure songs.  “Stay the Same” was a challenge, but this week we were able to create a version that we think may very much work in a live acoustic setting. 

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Who? Murder By Death

What? In Bocca Al Lupo

Why?

One of the most overlooked albums from one of the most overlooked bands you can imagine – even the band themselves ranked it low among their own list of albums.  Still, this was an absolute game changer for me.  It was one of those records that I listened to multiple times a day everyday for years.  Story songs, heavy themes of outlaws and a voice like Johnny Cash – it grabs you a little on the first listen and gets better and better with every subsequent listen.  It can be hard to find on streaming services, but there are videos of “Sometime the Line Walks You” and “Brother” kicking around on Youtube.  This is it, this is the record.  I will never dream of making anything this great. 

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Impersonating a dead celebrity can bring joy to a joyless man.
  2. My cat can accurately predict the outcome of a football game within 3 points.
  3. When someone says, “the person who baked these cookies said you couldn’t have any,” there is a good chance that they are lying, cookie thieving jerks.

Smoking, Stealing and Splotching

News From The Week That Was

Welcome back – another week plugging away in The Cube as the new album takes shape.  After last week’s powwow, a lot of mixing changes happened, not a glorious thing, but a necessary one.  Needless to say, the new giant ashtray helped with this.  Mixing goes with smoking like morning coffee.

Additionally, Puffer added acoustic guitar lines to “Hesitant” and we have lyrics for another new one, tentatively titled, “The Storm”.  This was a result of a writing challenge from Boyne to Scarfo.  Actual conversation from two weird dudes:

Scarfo: Give me something to write about.

Boyne: Manifest destiny.

Scarfo: Already did one about that for FTHW.

Boyne: Reverse Racism.

Scarfo: I hate you.

Challenge accepted – spoiler alert, the song does not come out on the side that it actually exists.

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Boyne’s #2 – Moseley Shoals

Who?: Ocean Colour Scene

What?: Moseley Shoals

Why?:

This is one of the most important albums in my life.  It is perfect, I used to cover these songs all the time as a kid playing chip joints and coffee houses. They made me a better songwriter and singer. I didn’t often say who wrote them mostly because this album would be half my set and that’s just embarrassing. But if someone asked I would gush about how great they were and I continue to do so today.

If you like ya know “music” you should give this a go.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Alexander the Great’s sister died and became a mermaid.**
  2. Being a ‘good winner’ takes practice.
  3. I apparently have splotchy skin and usually stink before noon.

**Not a verified fact.

New Tunes, Old Croons and Side Hustles

News From The Week That Was

Is everyone as excited as Boyne (pictured) about the recording process?  A double session this week as we finished the bones of a new song and did a review of what we feel might be ready to go for the newest album.  We have 5 songs that we are confident are ready and 7 more that may need a little tweaking.  Your newest Fighting Whiskey release may not be that far off!

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Scarfo’s #2 – Greatest Stories Live

Who? Harry Chapin

What? Greatest Stories Live

Why?

Okay, so I cheated again, picking a live album.  This hadn’t even been on my radar for this list until I found myself on a long drive back from Windsor last week.  It was kicking around in my car’s CD changer (it’s an ‘06 Yaris – live with the jealousy) and as each song passed, I remembered more and more how underrated and undervalued he was.

Known primarily as the “Cat’s in the Cradle” guy, Harry Chapin was a master storyteller and this delivers what it promises – some of his greatest stories, live in Los Angeles.  He has fun with the crowd between tunes and with his band – the songs are above and beyond great.  If you’ve ever had a dream, “Mr. Tanner” will break your heart, “30,000 Pounds of Bananas” will make you laugh and “A Better Place To Be” is both the greatest story song and greatest love song ever written.  I’m not adding a humble “IMO” to that – bow before the facts of Scarfo.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Trying to relearn a song that you had written, recorded and forgotten how to play is a frustrating and humbling experience.
  2. Boyne may have a secret second job trying to sell Youtube Premium subscriptions.
  3. There is a good time to be evicted.

***Note: For those wondering about the potato with a face from last week, a quick update.  “Mr. Potato” is having a rough time, feeling depressed and spent last weekend watching TV on his laptop and knocking back cartons of milk.  Your plant based thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

New Toys, Old Stories and Friendly Potatoes

News From The Week That Was

More of a writing and recording week in The Cube than an acoustic conversion focus over the last 7 days.  Vocals were laid down on a new song, tentatively titled “Run”.  Also, Boyne was able to play with his new toy (see pic), which isn’t nearly as dirty as it sounds.  Even in our 40s, birthdays can be fun.

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Boyne’s #2 – City Pop

Who? Benny Sings 

What? City Pop

Why?

At the height of the 2020 lock down I listened to it just about every day for about three months.

It was my escape. It was just about the only thing I wanted to listen to.  It had me completely transfixed, and excited about music in a way I hadn’t felt since I was a kid listening to the radio and playing video games.

A time when a song I liked was based on what I liked, and had nothing to do with how cool it was, or if anybody else liked it.

When I sang those songs to myself and sometimes aloud while I skated, played basketball or just on the playground, to pump myself up to skate faster, hit a basket or whatever.

I do that a bit with these songs now.

It may be a little cheezeball here and there but it is beautiful in its brilliant simplicity and universal appeal.

Think Michael Mcdonald meets Stevie Wonder. And if that doesn’t do it for you then I don’t care. Try it anyway. You are wrong, it’s a wonderful thing.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Be careful who is in earshot when you shout, “Sweetie, anything else to add to the grocery list”.  It may lead to a 10 year old shouting, “Potato!”.
  2. Potatoes aren’t just for eating, they also can be for drawing faces on.
  3. Trusting me to write lyrics to a song on a topic that I am fired up about can lead to thoughtful words until the last two lines.  The last two lines end up being mostly f-bombs.