Interview at AJ&DBS

I did an interview about the band at AJ&DBS.   It covers most of the usual stuff and the our upcoming plans to tour Easter Island.  Check it out here.  

Rusty Trombone Comp Review

You may recall that a little while back our song Commando was on the ska punk comp Everyone Likes a Good Rusty Trombone.   Well, now there is a review out for the comp from the blog Real Gone.  Here's what they say about us:

"The marvellously named Johnny Cakes & the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso are on hand to bring you some top-quality ska-punk. In ‘Commando’ they offer a song with a simple chorus and enough chops to stand with the best bands of a similar nature. During the intro, a big horn riff stands alone, filling the empty spaces and during the pre-chorus they create a great build-up. For the main chunk of the verses though, it’s Aaron Kommer’s rhythm guitar which is the driving force. Being a fan of Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Mustard Plug, I hear so much of their sound in Johnny Cakes...if you’re a Bosstones fan, you’ll probably want to hear more by these guys. (Be warned though, they may have a lot in common with those aforementioned ska-punk bands, but their debut album ‘Rise of the Pink Flamingoes’ features the kind of childish smut and vulgarity you’d find on a Guttermouth disc, so it’s not for the easily offended). "

Very nice, except I find it strange that they mention Aaron playing guitar on the song.  Aaron left the band in 2008.  It was in fact Mikey OD who is playing guitar on that song and all of Rise of the Pink Flamingos.  But, I love the disclamer that they put at the end!

Anyways stay tuned, we will have some big changes coming up for the band that will be announced in a couple of weeks.  

Creative Loafing 2010 Reader's Poll

The results for the 2010 Creative Loafing Reader's Poll are in and we were voted runner up in the Best Local Reggae/Ska Band for the second year in a row.  Hooray!  One of these days we are going to take the number one spot!

Of course we were also voted runner up for Worst Local Band Name.  Hopefully we don't eventually win that one.  Maybe I should start some side projects with even worse names so they win it instead of Johnny Cakes!

You can read all of the results here:  http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/page?oid=1227205

I am Entertainment

Hey we just got a review published in I am Entertainment Magazine.  Even though we got a fairly low score (2.5/4) the review is complementary:

"The best way to describe these guys is AWESOME!! I'd pay top dollar to see them live in concert."

See that's pretty sweet but they also said that we were

"...an interesting cross between Marley,  Limp Bizkit, and Weird Al Yankovik."

Limp Bizkit?!?  Oh, that's the worst thing I've heard us compared to.  How disappointing.  Limp Bizkit is from Jacksonville (where I grew up) and is regarded there as a source of never ending shame and humiliation for the River City.  Besides Ace of Bass it would be harder to find a comparison that is more personally insulting to me.  I, however, assume that insulting me was not the author's intention so I am going to let it slide, especially since the rest of the article was so nice.  Go give it a read for yourself.

By the way IAE Magazine is pretty cool so you go ahead and check out the other thing they have going on.

While I Was Away

Hey, I was pretty busy last month getting ready for and going sailing in the British Virgin Islands (I know you're jealous) and I forgot to post up this interview that I did with Junior's Cave.  It's a pretty fun interview and it opens with this kind description of the band:

"Our Webzine’s newest interview comes from the indie ska band Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso who is managing to create beautiful music that combines elements of different genres into one fantastic sound. In this special spotlight, we learn about the band’s origin, their major influences, and what fans can expect from them in the near future. "

It's a pretty good interview so I suggest you give it a read here.  The interview has some pretty good questions like the one about my fantasy band line up.  I'm happy to report that we have actually made some of  my dream line up come true since the time of this interview (Tuba) and we might be closer than you think to getting a cannon!

Speaking of interview questions we are in the middle of adding a FAQ to the Johnny Cakes website.  So, if you have any questions please send them over to guttercalypso@gmail.com.  Do your best to keep it classy.

Also, on July 4th we were featured on the Podcast Red Red Wine on a Sunday for episode # 37 which is all about great American bands.  For some reason they decided to feature us.  I guess we qualify we are located in America and I think most of us are actually Americans (except for Skippy who is a resident of Antarctica, James who is an illegal immigrant taking American bongo players jobs, and our bass player Zombie Burnsides who is legally deceased.)  Maybe they had one song left to fill and decided to throw on a song about butts!  Thanks Red Red Wine on a Sunday!

Anyways we have a lot more coming up, so keep checking back and come out to some shows!

K Punk

Our cover of Bad Town was featured on a special all covers edition of the K Punk Podcast.  The Podcast is described as "the soundtrack to a revolution on hold."  Episode 55:  Duck and Cover starts off with Bad Town.

New Music Tampa Bay

We have been getting some of our songs played on the local podcast New Music Tampa Bay as of late.  This podcast is a very cool, very eclectic mix of music.  It is definitely for people who are into a wide variety of genres.  We have been featured in episodes 256, 257, 258, and 259.  I believe we are scheduled to be played in one more episode as well.  Anyways, go check out New Music Tampa Bay for a cool mix of awesome music.

Q's House

We are featured in the latest episode of the Q's House internet radio show out of Orlando Florida, episode 256 Apocalypso.  The host is hilarious and although the show is two hours long it is worth listening to the whole thing.  There is a really fu interview with me that is broken up into small segments throughout the show.  They also talk about honesty and integrity in writing music after which they play one of our songs about butts. The show is awesome, you can listen to it in podcast form.  My only gripe is that I suspect that Q may not have actually drank a pirate belly like he said he would.

Update:  We are also featured on episode 257.  Q even reads a letter that I sent in!

Sonicbids

Hey,
We have been getting some attention from Sonicbids lately and not just from promoters working through them, but from the actual Sonicbids people.  (If you recall Sonicbids is how we booked Sunfest and the Florida Music Festival).  Anyways last week we were up on there homepage as one of the bands booking gigs and now an brief interview with me (Ostrich) is featured over at  http://www.sonicbids.com/success/

Since it will eventually be replaced by an interview with another band I am going to record the whole thing here for posterity:

Artist: Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso

How often do you update your Sonicbids EPK?
We update the EPK whenever we have something new to add. So when we book a great show I add it in as an upcoming event and afterwards I change it to past tense event. I try to make sure that the EPK is as up to date and accurate as possible.

Describe a recent gig or success you've had through Sonicbids. What happened, and how did you use Sonicbids to get it? 
Lately we have had a lot of success through Sonicbids. The biggest one, however, would have to be getting booked for Sunfest 2010 in West Palm Beach. The festival was huge with an estimated 300,000 people in attendance over the five days. It included major national acts such as Weezer, ZZ Top, Flogging Molly, Ben Harper, B-52s, Shinedown, Rise Against, Damien Marley, and many others. Originally, I thought that we had been turned down for the gig. But, later the same day I received the rejection notice I got a phone call from Sunfest telling us we had been selected to play.

What was it about this gig or opportunity that made you think it was appropriate for you? 
Sunfest is an eclectic festival in South Florida. We usually do very well down there and sounded like a good time so we thought we would give it a go.

Did the gig/opportunity meet your expectations? Did any other opportunities come from this? 
Yes, it was fantastic. We played right after Five for Fighting and before Big D and Kids Table and Flogging Molly. Our crowd was huge and we sold a good deal of merch. Because of that show (which was less than a week ago at the time of this writing) we have received several show offers for South Florida. We are also going to do an internet radio interview, and one of the local radio stations was playing one of our songs during their independent radio show.

What do you like the most about Sonicbids? 
I like how the website genuinely seems to be interested in helping independent musicians by developing new features on the site to improve transparency and efficiency of booking Sonicgigs.

What’s the one thing you wish promoters understood about the band’s side of the submission process? 
I wish that promoters understood that they will get more appropriate entries if they describe the gig or whatever they are looking for in more detail. Personally, I have spent a lot of time writing and updating our EPK to make it as interesting, but also as accurate as possible. Some of the listings are fairly ambiguous and don't really explain what they are looking for. The more specific and detailed their entry the more closely the responses will match what they are after. It will save them time in looking through submissions and it can save bands time and money.

Do you have any additional advice you’d like to share with other bands? 
Take a look at the EPK of some of the more successful bands here on Sonicbids. That's what we did and since we did that our success here has increased dramatically. Also, keep your press kit up to date.

Tell us about some cool things you're currently doing with your music (playing live, your song on a soundtrack, shooting a video, etc.) 

One of the cool things we do with our music is make cartoons. The cartoons are about fictional characters and our alter egos. When we make a new cartoon we unveil it at our shows right before we take the stage. It really grabs the crowds attention and gets them excited and having a good time before the show. It also helps people remember us. We try to put on show rather than just play music. So we have professionally trained costumed dancers at our show along with other visual surprises to add to the musical experience. So far this has been very well received. We have a few other things in the works as well, but I don't want to give away any surprises.

Real Punk Radio

We have been doing quite a few interviews lately and I have been a little behind in posting about them here.  So I am going to start with the most recent one:  Happy Hour with Hell Kitten on Real Punk Radio.  This was an interesting one to say the least.  The show has a drinking theme and the theme this week was Long Island Iced Teas.  Well of course we changed the drink to Long Island Iced Tea Island Iced Teas.  They are just like Long Island Iced Teas but with more alcohol and they taste really bad.  So we were all drinking those during the interview.  Mostly we talked about "pederifires"  and wrecking the mansion that belongs to Hell Kitten's brother in St. Peter.  That place is doomed next time she comes to visit.

Give the whole thing a listen here: http://lphellkitten.blogspot.com/2010/05/happy-hour-johnny-cakes-special.html  I think it's pretty amusing. 

Also, check out Real Punk Radio.  It is an awesome 24 hr punk internet radio station.  Everyone involved is really cool and they play some awesome music.  

Punk Rock Theory

Check out this review of Rise of the Pink Flamingos from the Belgian online zine Punk Rock Theory:

"Johnny Cakes and his Horsemen clearly had a good time recording “Rise Of The Pink Flamingos”. They somehow manage to combine punk rock and ska with calypso music and everything else they damn well feel like."

They seemed to like it alright except for the butt jokes.  Apparently they don't go over quite as well in Belgium.  Oh well...

Read the full review here.

Angry Ska Blog!

Hey,
I just found out about a cool Ukrainian blog called Angry Ska .  The blog focuses on, well, angry ska and ska-core, ska punk type stuff.  They just put up a post about the music from our first release, EP in the Butt.  Our latest album, however, is not to their taste.  I guess it is not angry enough.  Maybe we need to put some more angry ska on the next album?  I do kind of miss that stuff.  Anyways check out this post for a trip down Johnny Cakes memory lane.

The Biggest Letdown

The Biggest Letdown just posted a great review of Rise of the Pink Flamingos:

"Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso is my new favorite band of the week. Seriously, I thought this type of music was dead. Ska, calypso, punk, reggae and rock - all rolled into one fun-filled CD. It's like I'm living back in 1996 when the 3rd wave of SKA was king and every band geek in high school joined a group and played their instruments in front of friends on a Saturday night at the local pizza joint down the street. Thank you, Johnny Cakes, for bringing this musical style back. I've still got my entire collection of American-style Ska collecting dust in the back room, and this album is reviving my thoughts in my purchases over the years. 

Then later he says

" My favorite tracks on this album are:COMMANDO, ACID MOUTH, SOMETHING IN THE AIR, PEE IN THE BUTT, and DNA.  So go out and buy this album! It's worth it! And if there's a fan club, join that, too!!!"

My favorite part is that the review talks about how great the ska on the album is, but the author picked all our non-ska songs as his favorites.  But, we are happy to remind people of the good ole days of the 1990's.  Read the full article here. 


We do, by the way, have a fan club.  Well, sort of, we have a mailing list.

The Big News

Hooray!  Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso will be playing at Sunfest 2010 in West Palm Beach on Sunday May 2nd.  Other acts at this festival include Weezer, Flogging Molly, The Flaming Lips, ZZ Top, Rise Against, Ben Harper, and Damian Marley.  You can get a five day pass to see all of these bands for $60.  More details will be announced as the event gets closer.  For now you can see the list of headliners and buy tickets at the Sunfest website.

Review from Independent Clauses

Alright, another review of Rise of the Pink Flamingos!  This time from Stephen Carradini at Independent Clauses.  The review is very positive, but oddly enough it focuses mostly on the album artwork and the author's new rock and roll theory:

" I’ve been recently developing a theory of rock and roll that is currently at this state: It’s no longer a particular sound that’s rock’n'roll; it’s a particular attitude. "

Anyways, we meet his definition of rock and roll!

"Johnny Cakes is still gonna keep on being what they are: rock’n'roll."

Read the full review here.

Australian review of Rise of the Pink Flamingos

Dizzybeat is an Australian online magazine dedicated to ska, reggae, and rocksteady music.  Recently Glenn Smith just wrote an article there reviewing our latest album and he likes it (I think):

"So what is it? It’s well polished uninhibited smut, with a splattering of steel drum, and I actually quite like it."

I think he might have found some of the lyrics a little off-putting.  That's okay, he dug the music:

"The music is what makes the record for me. Take away all the joke lyrics and what you have is a fusion of punk rock and a West Indian sound that is not often attempted, but in this case works well."

Read the rest of the review here it is well worth the read.

Orlando Show Review

 Marc Ganancias wrote an article about our show last weekend in Orlando with 20wt.  The show had a pretty low attendance because the local headliner backed out, so the show was two out of town bands.  Even so, we had a great time.

Check out some excerpts about the Johnny Cakes set:

All the musicians in this band are tops, and as a whole, very tight. It’s easy to see past the musical skill that this band displays, because they have a scathing sense of humor in the lyrics and the live set becomes a party. It’s undeniably infectious...it made me want to dance, and I’m a crappy dancer. They raise hell on stage, and bring the good times with them wherever they go.

Read the full review here.

Pink It Up Aftermath

Good news everybody, the Pink It Up Breast Cancer Awareness Benefit show raised over $1200 on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came out and to all the bands that played.  It was a great time!  We especially look forward to playing with the Shady People again this Friday at Holly and Dolly's in Orlando, FL.

 

Those are just a few choice photos. You can see more here.  For those of you who missed out, it looks like this is going to happen again next year, so you may get another chance.  

A little tbt* love

Johnny Cakes has been getting a few mentions on the tbt Soundcheck blog lately.  Nothing major, but  two cool blogs in past few days:

The first one is about bands playing at WMNF's Tropical Heatwave on May 15, 2010:

http://blogs.tampabay.com/tbt/2010/02/raul-malo-out-bob-schneider-rachel-goodrich-in-at-2010-tropical-heatwave.html

The next one is an article about our friends the Long Johns and the upcoming Pink It Up Breast Cancer Benefit:

http://blogs.tampabay.com/tbt/2010/02/artist-of-the-day-the-long-johns.html

New Rise of the Pink Flamingos Review

This one is a little odd, but I like it anyways.  It comes from Punk Rock, Hardcore, and Ska Music Resource n Review, which is run through a myspace account.  You have to be their friend in order to see the review, so feel free to add them.  What?  You don't have a myspace account anymore?  Really?  All the cool kids have the myspace.  Okay here is the text from the review:

I reviewed Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso awhile back and really enjoyed their sound and how they add steele drums to it. They really have created their own tasty caribbean ska whitetrash sound.these guys continue to push the envelope not just in a different kind of ska sound but with their songs "eternally missing you!","pee in the butt (summertime jamboree spectacular acoustic marmalade version)" and "dna" which all indicate some sort of sex act including the ass. "Dna'in particular claims to teach you how to play a Johnny Cakes song which I'm pretty sure it does but it ends up not just teaching you the chords to learn the song but you listen as the singer sings the chords off and also is brilliantly singing about his d (meaning dick of course) being in a females a (ass) then at the end of the song he says the police would be so unhappy if they could see my d (dick) in a minor. The song although quite controversial is brilliant on how they thought it up and actually has to be one of my favorite songs on the album. Just quite clever how they pulled it off. They do a cover of harry belafonte's "jump in the line" and might I add they pull it off with flying colors. Their album "Rise of the Pink Flamingos' is a skapocalyptic adventure and masterpiece from start to finish with the exception of a few songs.they also mention on the back of their record tha they're well known degenerates and that they're not responsible for any degeneration caused by listening to this album. This concludes my review of Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso's album "Rise of the Pink Flamingos" 10!, for fans of Mephiskapheles, Voodoo Glow Skulls and Big D and the Kids Table 
best songs "swimming in the summer", "commando", "acid mouth", "dna","jump in the line", "something in the air(featuring Tom Connors)", "surf and destroy" worst songs "pee in the butt" and" kansas here we come

 punk rock

beth

 Note:  I removed our links at the end of the review, because you can access them on the sidebar.  I also added some capitalization to the review because I am neurotic.  I am pretty sure that the author does not capitalize as a stylistic choice. Or maybe her shift key is broken.


Anyways, overall this was great review of the new album Rise of the Pink Flamingos.  If you have not heard it yet, give it listen.  There is a music player on the sidebar of this blog primed and ready to play it for you.

Download Rise of the Pink Flamingos on the Cheap

Really cheap or really expensive.  It's up to you.  We just set things up so you can pick how much you want to pay for our new album Rise of the Pink Flamingos.  Just click below:

http://guttercalypso.bandcamp.com/

You can listen to most of the album streaming right on the site (I left off a few surprises that you won't get to hear until you download it or get your hands on a real CD).  Once you download it, you can also pick from a whole bunch of different file types so you can listen in real high quality (if you are an audiophile or glutton for punishment).  So if you are broke you can download it for free (you have to give us your e-mail address, but we promise we won't e-mail calling you a cheap-skate).  Or, if you have your parents' credit card you can pay $700 for it.  Don't worry, we promise we will use your money irresponsibly.

Stay tuned, I am going to get our first EP up on there before too long.

EDIT:  Our first release E.P. in the Butt is now also available.  Check it out if you have not heard it before.  People who download the whole E.P. will get a bonus track.

Cancer Benefit Feb 20, 2010 in Ybor City

Our next show is a breast cancer benefit called Pink It Up.   Here is an excerpt from an article that explains all about the benefit:

"On February 20th at 7pm at Market On 7th,Pink It Up!: Ska Bands Against Breast Cancer! will be hosted by Jeremy Gloff and will feature a number of Ska bands from the Tampa and Orlando music scenes. All proceeds from this event will go to the education, screening and treatment of breast cancer. 

Featured bands:

Johnny Cakes And The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypso

The Long Johns

Shady People

SuckerFish

Parcel Thirty Three

Also, the art of Wade Slater will be on sale, with all proceeds going to the cause as well.

This benefit event is organized by Bylli Peiper in honor of her dear friend and colleague, Kim Campbell, a breast cancer survivor. "

Read the full article here.  The show is going to be a great time, so come out and help us raise some money! 

Skipper's Videos

Here are a couple of videos from our show at Skipper's on January 24, 2010 for those who missed it or for those who have repressed the original memory.

Both videos feature the Johnny Cakes Jellyfish Dancers and you can see more videos from the show at Spitbaby's Youtube page. 

New Johnny Cakes Blog

Well, this is the new blog for Johnny Cakes and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso.  This is replacing our old myspace blog because the blog function on myspace is not really user friendly and myspace seems to be dying.

For now, however, you can still access all of the old blogs and information here.  As soon as I figure out how I am going to have this blog feed over to a gadget on myspace and the other social networking sites that allow.

Testing

Testing the new Johnny Cakes blog.  Go!