Breakups and Flyers

What the hell. Two great bands come to an end today. Sux.

RIP(?) - Benzos

Loyal Friends,

benzos has decided to go on an indefinite hiatus with no plans for any performances or recordings in the future. This was not an easy decision by the band members, mainly due to all the supporters out there who have been emailing us to come play their city or town. We apologize to those great people. Since the band formed as a trio in late 2002 and went through many incarnations, member changes, sound alterations and the years, months, weeks, days and hours being taking our show to a venue nearest you, Christian, Brian, Eiko & Steve extend their appreciation for your support, in any way you've shown it. Buying or downloading our albums, attending our shows, saying hi after a performance or the many emails and comments left for us. It has kept us going and meant everything to this band. Thank you endlessly for that.

Here is some news on what each of the members has embarked on that we'd like to share with you:

Christian has been busy with both his new band, With Lions, and transitioning over to the producer's chair. With Lions, a duo featuring Anthony "Woody" Ranere, of Lake Trout is currently recording their debut in both Jersey City and Baltimore, which marks a huge leap in sound for the two. With Lions influences range from Nine Inch Nails, Chemical Brothers, John Murphy (composer of "28 Days/Weeks Later) mixed with an orchestral background. You can find out more about them here at www. myspace. com/withlionsmusic . In the production end of things, he is currently producing the album of New Jersey's, Ohshin, (with a few completed songs at www. myspace. com/ohshin) where you'll also be able to hear him on bass, synths and harmonies. He has been splitting his time between his home studio in Jersey City and Baltimore's Wrightway Studios (where "Branches" was recorded) as a member of their production/composition/licensing team with many more production projects coming up with bands such as Pittsburgh's Shade, among others. Check back at the With Lions page for future updates.

Brian has spent his time focusing on his family, as well as a new project with Steve and other collaborators. Focusing mainly on instrumental, improvisational composition, they are currently rehearsing new material. He also has a solo project being developed that will be produced by himself and Christian, which will focus more on the singer/songwriter sound, not unlike Wilco and Iron & Wine. Stay tuned for more on both of these projects at his page , which can be found in our "Top Friends" and linked to his name in the "Band Members" section.

Eiko has continued to work on his longtime, labor of love, Elco Deck (www. myspace. com/elcodeck). This features him as the sole multi-instrumentalist and writer. Elco Deck's sound is in the hip-hop, acoustic-folk realm. Along with that, he is a member of collective, BoomClique, which features Steve, as well. Now living in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, he's been writing and recording material daily. Check his myspace page for more updates, music and videos.

Steve has returned his focus to his solo career as the Drum n' Bass/Jazz/Hip-Hop extraordinaire, Cru Jonez (www. myspace. com/crujonez). Recently releasing his self-produced debut, "The Dynamic" and performing all over NYC. That, along with his many production efforts and other collaborations named above. You can keep updated with his doings on his myspace page.

Thanks again for your support of benzos. We hope to see you, hear from you, and have our new projects be added by you so we can keep in touch for the future. We will always maintain the benzos page so that we can continue to communicate with you, our friend and supporter.

RIP - The North Atlantic

As many of you know, The North Atlantic’s waters have been still for some time. We got back from tour in December of 2006 exhausted and broke. We’d covered a lot of ground. We recorded a few more demo tracks, wrote a lot of music, and enjoyed reconnecting with our friends and family here in San Diego. We played our last show at Denverfest this year, and it was a sight to behold.

The North Atlantic is done. The fun, however, is just getting started.

Jason H. and Jason R. have a new thing going. Defying the laws of probability, they teamed up with another Jason: Clark, the producer of Wires in the Walls, and added a Jeremy (on drums) to the mix. The result is Big Science, and you can find out a whole lot more about them
here. I’m excited by what they’re doing and can’t wait to get out and see their first show, which will be in Chicago. Keep your eyes peeled for further announcements. Add ’em on Myspace. Tag their name on your grandma’s Buick. Kick a eunuch where his nuts should be, but do it in their honor.

I’m playing in Pen and Ink, a band here in San Diego. We’re having a good time and playing the odd show, but we’re all working stiffs with other things occupying most of our time. I’m headed to Texas in the summertime, where I’ll be starting my first faculty job. I plan on taking up weekly residence at Rubber Gloves in Denton, so if you’re touring in the area, be sure to let me know.

The North Atlantic meant more to us than we’ll ever really be able to articulate. It was eight years of our lives, spread across two cities, fifteen tours, over 500 shows and a lifetime’s worth of great friends. It was some of the best moments of our lives, and indeed, some of the worst. What was always amazing was how those two things could sometimes be separated by seconds.

I’ll be updating this page periodically with information about our comings and goings, and any otherwise unreleased music we see fit to post. We’ve got a few things in the hopper, but I don’t want to say too much about those at this point.

It’s been great. See you all up the road a bit.

Cullen for TNA

On a more positive note, some fun shows this week. Lots of options for Friday.