Oso Closo

No need to fret if you’re without cup in the wilderness. Adrian shows you why…

1 Comment » Posted by adrian / Uncategorized

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well folks we successfully started our june and july summer weekend dates. i’ve got to say the only bad thing about the first trip was realizing that we have to come home for all the weekdays. i freaking love playing out of town. if it were up to me we’d be on the road everyday. i love it. here’s the rundown

Denton:

gotta love starting it off at home. it was good to play at andy’s again. and the crowd was rowdy and ready for some rock. i love you denton. thanks for coming out during the summer. all you townies make all the difference in the world.

Austin:

another night at the flamingo cantina. my absolute favorite place to play in austin. great vibes. semi open air environment. and ridiculously good sound. not to mention katy the bartender coming and trying to put hair on my chest with lots of whiskey. thanks darlin. you nearly did me in.

San Antonio:

the second time we’ve gotten to play with our new friends Nothing More. who are a fantastic band from san antone. we’re definitely looking forward to being band friends with them forever and ever. also the new venue that we played at. scout bar. its rad. the sound is sweet and the people smile. you gotta love texas. anyway this one was cool. we played pretty early and had a short set but it was a blast. jacobi and i were talking about playing the short, sweet, high fast and loud set is really fun sometimes.

basically it was an all around fun trip. on our way home from austin we had a wicked blowout near temple. that was interesting. but man. technology. between the iphone and the garmin and jacobi’s special nationwide AAA, i pretty much didn’t even notice that anything went wrong. pretty sweet day and age we live in. anyhoo. hope everyone is well. here are some smiles and frowns

smiles:

Global Positioning Systems

Team Oso

Cold Showers in june

new tunes (we’re crankin out the jams lately)

Greenhouse’s stuffed chicken (i have dreams about it)

frowns:

all the technological advancements in the world and there still arent tires that never blow up. come on good year. sell the blimp, put some money into research.

coming home to broken AC (though its fixed now, thanks mcqueen)

all my exes live in texas

not being on the road right now

ok so yo know those carwashes that you put in coins and do it yourself?…the sound they make when you need to put more money in. man i hate that sound.

1 Comment » Posted by adrian / Uncategorized

sometimes its really good. however, sometimes it can be a little ocd/ annoying. i realized the power of this method back in high school when some kid who had an important bells part on a concert didn’t show up to school that day due to sickness. i needed to cover his part that night, but i had absolutely no time in the day to practice. so i carried the music around school all day and practiced it in my head during class, starring at the music and picturing the bells in my head. that night i didn’t play a wrong note. that really did something for me. 

we just had a fantastic oso closo weekend. when we play back to back nights, the music just keeps getting better and better, because we talk about it a lot in the van and during free time. we discuss what we liked as well as what could go better. and the next show always goes better. so lots of times i’ll practice what needs to go better in my head before the next show, and sure enough, it comes out on stage. also, the band often practices in the van with a little guitar. mostly vocal harmonies, but this gives me a chance to hear the music whilst going over my changed parts. 

look for some pretty sweet drumming on the upcoming album. there will probably be 3-4 grand cymbal grabs in there. (no one does that in rock drumming really, i’m going to be the Davy Crockett of that technique. short note = cymbal grab!)

RJ

No Comments » Posted by jacobi / Uncategorized

I thought I’d take a moment to clear up one of the most commonly asked questions by fans - What does the name Oso Closo mean, where does it come from? The story behind the band’s name is actually quite fascinating. 

Back in the late 90’s front man Adrian Hulet was busily on tour playing drums with Texas alt. country band Rodney Parker and the 50 Peso Reward. To stay true to their name’s theme, the band was on an exclusive Mexican tour. One dark and ominous night in a little town called Estusiendo, just 24 hours before a big show, Adrian found himself in dire straits - he did not have a pair of drumsticks. He had traded his last functional pair for three cigarettes. Being in Estusiendo, a dusty little town with no major music stores, Adrian knew he needed to start making the long trek to the nearest town with a Centre del Guitarón - Christo del Rogéro. He could not use the band’s touring van because earlier that day Rodney had traded it for two bottles of whiskey and a carton of cigarettes. Adrian began the long desert hike on foot, following the roadside signs to Christo - of course only wearing a flimsy pair of flops…

Adrian walked all through the night, his beard growing inches by the hour. His determination kept him going. There was no turning back. The hot Mexican sun rose and then set again. The desert was barren, the occasional lizard kept him company. Eventually Adrian gazed at the sleepy shadows of Christo del Rogéro’s city limits. Was it a mirage? He certainly hoped not, because by now he was literally crawling on all fours due to exhaustion and fatigue. Little did he know that his trip was far from over - doom was actually lurking ahead…

If you’ve ever heard of Christo del Rogéro one thing should enter your mind - grizzly bears. The spanish word for bear is oso. Additionally, the second thing that should enter your mind when you hear Christo del Rogéro should be quesadillas. The city had a reputation for the most delicious quesadillas in Mexico. Naturally, the savory smells of beef, chicken, cheese, pico, and sour cream lured the many bears out of the neighboring woods, called El Smítho del Guelda. So many bear attacks occurred that the town had recently appointed a townsman to stand guard atop a moderately sized lookout post. The town’s faith was entrusted in this particular townsman, named Lindseiro Milleirgro. Lindseiro was armed and prepared to sound the alarm at the slightest sight of a bear figure approaching the fearful town…

Adrian was approaching the outskirts of Christo. Fatigued, helplessly exhausted, crawling on all fours, and quite hungry, Adrian’s keen nose perked up at the scent of delicious quesadillas, wafting above the town like a delectable rain cloud. He moved his arms and legs as fast as he could, practically charging on all fours towards the town, full straggling beard encompassing his entire face as the wind blew. The sand, still hot from the blistering day, began grinding up against Adrian’s limbs, and he let out low pitched, growling like groans…

Just when Lindseiro felt himself drifting off to sleep in the dead of the night, he saw his opportunity at heroism - an unmistakable form of a bear charging towards to city, growling loudly. Lindseiro had trained for this. It was no test. This was the real deal. Raising the torch in his right hand and his half eaten chicken quesadilla in the other, he twirled around and called into the megaphone, those two words he was trained to say at the sight of such a beast…

“OSO CLOSO!”

2 Comments » Posted by jacobi / Uncategorized

Greetings Oso Bloggers! As my first post, I have decided to express some thoughts on a fantastic musical experience I recently had. Last weekend I attended the Bonnaroo Music and Arts festival for the sixth time. Bonnaroo regularly boasts an unforgettable weekend of huge music names, food, art, comedy, and camping - pretty musch a surreal experience for the senses. I have seen some incredible musicians in Bonnaroos past such as Radiohead, Dylan, James Brown, Tom Petty, Dave Matthews, Joshua Redman, Bela Fleck, John Mayer, Herbie Hancock, the list goes on and on.. This year had a stand out performance though - The Swell Season. Don’t recognize the name? Its the duo from the indie cult darkhorse candidate film gone famous - ONCE, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I enjoyed the film and joined the rest of the world in feeling warm on the inside when the two won at the Grammy’s after an inspiring performance of the song Falling Slowly. I anticipated their performance at Bonnaroo 2008, but I had no idea that it would become, dare I say it, the best musical performance I have ever seen in my life. I can be a dramatic guy, but I stand confident in my assessment.

The duo was backed by a band containing members of Glen’s previous project called The Frames. They played the hits from the soundtrack, other songs from the album, and a couple well-chosen Van Morrison covers. The performance dripped with heartfelt singing, emotional guitar playing, and an overall honesty that reached all in attendance. Everyone in the band looked like they were thrilled to be there. They interacted with everyone on stage and in the audience. They smiled and laughed as they played. They took their music seriously but still looked as if they were children who just picked up an instrument. Musically, the performance was unbelievable. Some might not realize after seeing the movie or hearing the soundtrack that this band completely rocks out. Their dynamic range is broader than most. One minute they will play sensitive and quiet, and the next loud and rockous. They held the highest energy level at all dynamics. They held the audience in the palm of their hand at every instant. Sometimes you could hear a pin drop, sometimes the entire crowd was cheering as loud as they could in the middle of a song. Glen made honest and inspiring comments in between songs like “If you’re walking and you come to a wall that cannot be climbed over, simply turn around and walk away from it. Eventually you’ll walk around the entire planet and be on the other side.” Now, I know, I know, maybe a little bit cheesy. But in the moment of this concert, it was perfect. I really felt people’s spirits being uplifted around me. It was like a Christian rock concert, except without all the stuff that makes Christian rock concerts awful. Maybe the experience was like what you’re supposed to feel like in church. Whatever it was, it was different, special, heartfelt, maybe a little life changing. A music concert. For real. This group is in the middle of a tour, and I am led to believe that the performance the Swell Season gave at Bonnaroo was typical of how every night goes for them. Their performance had an aura around it unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. 

Of personal significance was the Swell Season’s cover of the Van Morrison tune Into the Mystic. Unfortunately, I had recently been part of a terrible performance of this tune, a tune that I have loved since a child. The Swell Season’s performance of it completely kept it alive for me and saved it. The next day I saw Glen and Marketa walking on the grounds. They were nice enough to speak with me for a couple minutes and seemed genuinely interested when I thanked them for their Into the Mystic performance.

The strange and perhaps surreal aspect of this group is that they absolutely seem for real, more than others. Glen and Marketa looked at eachother like they really did love eachother during the set. It was like we were watching a live version of Once on stage. Their performance made the movie seem like it wasn’t a movie, but a documentary. And it wasn’t just for show. It appeared genuine. 

I hope to someday touch an audience with Oso like the Swell Season touched their audience at Bonnaroo and probably wherever they go. I really do believe in the power of Music. I’m thrilled to be part of a group that has such musical and personal talent. Congratulations if you’ve made it this far. I might enjoy this thing called Blogging, as i’ve got lots to say. 

RJ

No Comments » Posted by jacobi / Uncategorized

Hey there, we’ve got lots of stuff going on, check it.

Remix on Rest

We have almost completely run out of our first 1000 pressing of ‘Rest’ and we’ve decided to give the debut record a remix before it goes to press again. This means it’s going to sound totally different (and we hope way better) this time around. It’s being mixed at this moment in LA by Jason Cupp, a pretty serious engineer who just did a record with Finch, at one of the best studios around–Sage and Sound. We’re driving out there tomorrow for several days to finish up the mixing process. Look for some road-related postings on this’ere blog.

DVD, New Merch, New Website

We’ve got it all folks. The live DVD of our CD release show in Denton, with live strings and orchestral percussion, is finally hitting the pavement. It will probably be packaged and released in conjunction with the freshly mixed ‘Rest’. Also we’ve finally got a new line of T-shirts, stickers, and other merchandise for your consumption, with new designs and girl-friendly options. Apparently some people thought the old shirts were “creepy”. I don’t get it. Also we’ll have a brand new website that will be up and running right around the end of the summer when the remixed ‘Rest’ comes out.

Writing

Adrian and I took a week out of our lives a couple months back to go to a cabin and write a bunch of new music. We came up with seven new songs, most of which we’ve brought out into the world at this point. There are still a couple waiting to see the light of day, and several more songs are brewing right now. So keep looking out for new songs at all of our shows.

Shows!

I almost forgot about the shows, we’ve got lots of them. Maybe the most exciting is we’re playing for the first time at The House of Blues in Dallas August 2, opening for Fair to Midland. So that show is going to rock.
Here’s a brief synopsis of what we’ve got:

June 26 - Denton, TX - Andy’s Bar
June 27 - Austin, TX - Flamingo Cantina
June 28 - San Antonio, TX - Scout Bar

July 11 - Fort Worth, TX - Lola’s
July 12 - Oklahoma City, OK - Belle Isle Brewery
July 17 - Tulsa, OK - Exit 6C
July 19 - Monroe, LA - Blue Monkey Tavern

Aug 2 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues w/ Fair to Midland

As always, you can get details on all these shows at www.myspace.com/osocloso.
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Thanks for reading, keep checking in with us in the next month or so. We have a really big announcement we’ll be making soon (wink).

-Chris

1 Comment » Posted by mcqueen / News and Updates

so we got this blog thing that estus told us we have to write in all the time. hopefully you’ll read it. tonight the majority of us are going out to a nice little place called the greenhouse to see some friends play some jazz. the greenhouse has really good stuffed chicken, although unfortunately by the time we arrive the kitchen will be closed. there is however a fantasically low price on draft beer tonight. so i’m sure we’ll all make good use of that.

some records i’m listening to:

tommy -the who

till the sun turns black -ray lamontagne

the diary of alicia keys -alicia keys

the new death cab (don’t know what its called)

mcqueen making noises on a half-discombobulated piano in the living room -chris mcqueen

movies i’ve watched recently:

atonement, pick of destiny, tommy, brick

alright, i promise to do a much better blog from now on. i just had to put something up to get things rolling.

love you all

adrian

No Comments » Posted by adrian / Uncategorized

Welcome to the Oso Closo blog – pretty much the best thing on the internet.

1 Comment » Posted by admin / Uncategorized