Making History

It's actually one of the first questions I get asked when someone finds out that I'm in a band: "what kind of places do you play?"  This question is tough, because with The Kiera Plan, I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play in a number of different kinds of places. 

So I'm really excited about the new Kiera Plan Show History we've put together on our website.  It gives the full breakdown for every show we've ever played.  And with some of the notes I've added, a quick browse through the history gives even more of an idea of The Kiera Plan than our bio alone could.

Please check it out if you get a chance.  And if you have any memories from these shows that you'd like to share, we would love to hear them.  Feel free to e-mail us at: tkprock@gmail.com

1/11/11 (Are You Ready?)

TheKieraPlan.com: under construction

Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope you all had a great holiday season.  For The Kiera Plan, 2011 is a year where we're going to be swinging for the fences.  We're going to step it up in every way possible this year.  Like Diddy always used to say, "We can't stop, 'cause we won't stop."  [Heck yeah!  That's what I'm talking about! 2011-style!]

We'll be starting not stopping with the internet. On January 11th, or the numerically exciting 1/11/11, we're officially launching TheKieraPlan.com.  We'll be bringing you music, videos, pictures, and all kinds of fun and excitement like never before!  So mark your calendar, and get ready for the next level!

But the website isn't the only thing excitedly under construction: on New Year's Eve, I was back at The Skylight Studio with my man (and sonic magician) Vince Ratti, putting the finishing touches on a BRAND NEW SONG!

Shawn in the studio cooking up a new track.

We're well into writing album two, but I couldn't wait for those sessions to bring you some new music.  So, we're just a touch of post-production and the right moment away from the next entry in the soon-to-be epic Kiera Catalog!

There's so much in store for the new year, and having been infected with an exceptionally go-getitive spirit, I'll be back with more news pre-launch.

For now, thanks for ruling!

Shawn

Hello, College Radio!

It's easy for me to fall into the habit of focusing my musical energy exclusively on performing and recording.  But, I know that I need to do more than just play and record, because there is so much that I want to make happen for the Kiera Plan.  So lately, I've been putting a lot of time into the behind-the-scenes business stuff that it's all too easy to neglect.

One big project has been getting the Dedication album to as many college radio stations as possible.  I've had a number of great experiences with college radio in the past -- in fact, West Chester University's WCUR was spinning the album months before it even came out -- so I'm really excited about what I've dubbed the "College Radio Mission."  This could be a big help in introducing new people to the Kiera Plan, and building up buzz as we gear up for the next record.

If you'd like to hear the Kiera Plan on the airwaves in your area, here are a list of stations that currently have our album, and the phone numbers for their request lines:

WKDU, Drexel University / Philadelphia, PA – (215) 895-5917

WDNR, Widener University / Chester, PA - (610) 499-4440

WPRB, Princeton University / Princeton, NJ – (609) 258-1033

WERS, Emerson University / Boston, MA – (617) 482-8890

WICB, Ithaca College / Ithaca, NY – (607) 274-3217

Radio DePaul, DePaul University / Chicago, IL - (773) 325-7308

KEXP, University of Washington / Seattle, WA – (206) 903-5397

WJCU, John Carroll University / Cleveland, OH – (216) 397-4438

KZSC, University of California, Santa Cruz / Santa Cruz, CA – (831) 459-4036

KPSU, Portland State University / Portland, OR – (503) 725-5945

WNYU, New York University / New York, NY – (212) 998-1818

BSR, Brown University / Providence, RI – (401) 863-9277

WBRU, Brown University (Commercial) / Providence, RI – (866) 382-9555

KALX, University of California, Berkeley / Berkeley, CA – (510) 642-5259

KXLU, Loyola Marymount University / Los Angeles, CA – (310) 338-5958

Radio K, University of Minnesota / Minneapolis, MN – (612) 626-4770

WRMC, Middlebury College / Middlebury, VT – (802) 443-6323

CHUO, / Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – (613) 562-5967

CJLO, Concordia University / Montreal, Quebec, Canada – (514) 848-7471

CFUV, University of Victoria / Victoria, British Columbia, Canada – (250) 721-8700

We appreciate all of your support!  And, of course, you can still rock to Kiera Plan Radio on Pandora, or stream the full album at ReverbNation.  What I really want, though, is to be on your iPod, so e-mail the title of your favorite song to tkprock@gmail.com and I'll e-mail you the mp3 for free.

When you realize that you have to have the rest ;), you can download them from iTunes or get the physical CD from Amazon.

Never Underestimate the Value of Kickin’ It Old School

In keeping it old school, here is one of John and Shawn outside the studio way back in 2005

I’ve spent a fair bit of time over the last couple of years both lamenting the fall of MySpace, and complaining about the constant frustration of trying to use ill-suited Facebook to promote our band.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not Facebook’s fault.   Facebook was created as a sort of online yearbook for lonely single people, and I assume that it still works well for them today – just not for bands.  The band stuff on Facebook was kind of an afterthought, and the resulting chaos means that a band has to fight the site for every basic thing it would like to do (fact: I would need to scan and upload my driver’s license for permission to upload a KP video directly to Facebook).   MySpace, on the other hand, was created specifically so that any person (let alone a band of people) with enough money to buy a guitar could easily and intuitively bury their friends’ MySpace inboxes in so many requests and event invitations that it would be impossible for those friends not to acknowledge that person’s possession of said guitar.  All you needed was that ax and that MySpace, and you were set.  Having three guitars, you can imagine how happily occupied with self-promotion I was back in the glory days when MySpace was still a thing. 

Back at It / Free Music

l-r: your boys John Collier and Shawn O'Brien

John and I are officially back at it, working on new material for Kiera Plan Album Two.  Right now there are a lot of songs in contention for a spot on this next record, and if you’ve been to any of the last few shows then you’ve heard one or two of these contenders.  We’re still so proud of the Dedication album that it’s that much more exciting to be building up the catalog.

In fact, I was so excited that I couldn’t wait for album readiness to hit the studio.  I popped down to The Skylight Studio a couple weeks ago with our all-star producer Vince Ratti to start work on a new track.  We released a couple of singles while we were working on the last record, and I really liked the way that worked out.  The track I just started recording isn’t finished, but just know that we’ve got new music coming your way sooner than you might think.

Meanwhile, we’re really trying to get some buzz going and introduce more people to The Kiera Plan. So from now until the end of 2010, we’ll be giving out a free MP3 to everyone who wants one.  All eleven songs from Dedication are streaming on our Facebook and ReverbNation pages.  You can check them out, and pick your favorite.  Then just e-mail the name of your favorite TKP song to us at tkprock@gmail.com, and we’ll send you that song for free.

So feel free to get your free MP3 today!  And please let your friends know that we have a free song waiting with their name on it.  We want to spread the love.

Thank you so much for your support!

Shawn

Do you want to be in our new video?

We want you to be in the new Kiera Plan video “Cross My Heart”! You can create an awesome cameo for us from the comfort of your own home!

For your part, all you’ll need is a camcorder, webcam, or anything that takes digital video.

The idea is that a bunch of people log on together to rock out to “Cross My Heart.” So whatever you use, set it up in a webcam-like position; that way it seems like you’re in front of your computer (even if you’re totally not).

THINGS WE'RE LOOKING FOR
A. You with a “promise sign” [see the YouTube video for an example]

B. You singing (and eventually clapping) along with the group vocal outro (singing starts at 2:33, clapping joins in at 2:51)

C. Any smiling, laughing, waving, head-nodding, or other clips of you rocking out (to this song) that you’d like to throw in

D. Any combination of the three that you're into.

You don’t have to send them all, you could just do B and we’d be very grateful. But the more you send us, the more screen time we can try to get you.

Don’t worry about your vocal performance; we won’t use the audio. We’re syncing your visual performance to the studio recording we made of “Cross My Heart.”

Please make sure the volume of “Cross My Heart” is nice and loud in the background of your clip. We’re sort of low-tech, so we need that to sync things up properly. If you don’t own the Dedication CD, or don’t have the loot to download the song on Itunes, you can stream it on MySpace or Facebook.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
- Offensive clothes, backgrounds, language or gestures will need to be edited out, as will big name logos (Nike, etc.), so think about what’s in your shot. In some cases, your footage might not be usable otherwise.

- The best footage will fit the vibe of the song, so a sign like “Dear Sally, I promise to never talk to you again” wouldn’t be right for this video.

ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR VIDEO SAVED
1. Go to yousendit.com

2. Send your video (via yousendit.com) to tkprock@gmail.com

The biggest file you can send for free is 100MB, so best to not tape you doing the whole song. Stick to a couple little highlights (promise sign, smiles, etc.) and definitely the outro.

Once your video is sent (or if you have any problems or questions before that), please e-mail us directly at tkprock@gmail.com . We’ll need to follow up with you about the details for legally allowing us to use your clip in our video.

Please submit your clips by September 10th 2010 so we can try to get you in the video.

Thank you so much for all of your support, and for your interest in this project!

We are psyched to see your submissions!

Tomorrow Night's Show = Awesome (and now at 6pm)

I am so excited for tomorrow night's show at St. Paul's Church in Levittown, PA! Here are just a few of the reasons why:

1. This is the first full-band Kiera Plan show in quite a while.

2. This marks the debut for a couple of first-time Kiera Plan performers, and the return of a veteran all-star. They have been a particularly fun crew to work with (incidentally, the new guys will be the 11th and 12th people to join me as part of a Kiera Plan live show).

3. For one night only, TKP posters will be free and the album will be just $5!

4. St. Paul's is a really fun place to play, and I'm psyched to be back!

5. We'll be performing several songs that may be on the next Kiera Plan album! It's fun to try out new stuff live, and I think that we have some really good tracks in store for you.

It's going to be an awesome night! I hope to see some of my favorite blog-readers in the building.

Oh, and apparently the start time has been bumped up to 6pm, and we're slated to go on pretty early, just so you know if you're planning on catching us.

Thanks for reading, and we'll see you tomorrow night!

Shawn