Heavy Breeding

Thank You

2009-09-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

From the final Matches show on August 23rd at the Fillmore, San Francisco, CA.

Keep up with my new projects here:
www.1thisweek.blogspot.com
Maniac Facebook Page
Free Maniac "#1 This Week" downloads
Maniac Myspace Page
And my art company Oxen here:
www.oxenoxen.com
Oxen Facebook Page

Thank you again to all of the Matches fans across the world for an unforgettable decade.
-Shawn

NEW MATCHES MUSIC

2009-08-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

DOWNLOAD/STREAM THE NEW RECORD HERE

I hope you guys enjoy. Thanks to all who helped us get these tracks together, mixed, and on the web so quickly. (only a day late!)
Shawn

ps- if you have 20 seconds to spare, please help Oxen out by voting our 3 Keyboard Cat Moon design bestee of the month on threadless HERE --> http://www.threadless.com/bt/monthly merci!

Incoming Facts

2009-08-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

MANIAC hit #1
ow.
The video stars Lord Legless's long lost brothers Count Drunkula and the Hairy Godmother.

and the aptly titled 4th Matches album
"the Matches album 4, unreleased; graphics? title? or not needed?"
will be available online for stream and download tomorrow, Tuesday the 11th. (Woops. I meant the new tomorrow, Wednesday the 12th.)
-Shawn

Maniac

2009-07-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

I've got a new blog with Jake Grigg of the Australian band Something With Numbers.
We're recording an album together under the name Maniac, and while we're waiting to get together for our next session, on separate
continents, we've decided to do a somewhat random string of covers, as determined
by the billboard charts...
This was our first week, and our cover of the Black Eyed Peas is up, and can be
downloaded free at http://1thisweek.blogspot.com. Enjoy.
Shawn

Holy Shi(r)t!

2009-07-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Three Keyboard Cat Moon
The Internet hath spoken, says "PRINT THIS NOW!"
Story by Threadless, design by OXEN.
Published July 21, 2009
Thank you, series of tubes for giving us "Three Keyboard Cat Moon." Once there were two separate Internet memes: Keyboard Cat - the loveable slapstick video closer, and Three Wolf Moon - the tee that launched a thousand satirical comments.
Now, you've morphed them together on Threadless via a design duo called OXEN to create a tee of historical proportions. In a matter of days, it's become Threadless' highest score ever, most votes ever, and most "I'd Buy It's" ever. This tee is so ridiculous and amazing that we're printing it now before the end of our scoring period!
Ironic jokes are just a fraction of what makes Threadless such an amazing place, and we thank you for weaving those tubes together to create the artistic diversity of our community.

For a grin, read the comments on threadless...

2009-07-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

Me and Emilee's new Oxen design

You can score it HERE, on threadless.com, and subsequently order it, if kitsch is your fancy. When the shirts arrive, we're gonna have 3 Keyboard Cat Friday, and see how many people walk around town matching.

Shawn

can't write. responding w song.

2009-07-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you all, for more than I can begin to thank you for.
The music will not cease. I promise this.
Shawn

Red Cup Fulla Weird Water

2009-06-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

After a recent NYC show we were toolin around with a couple songs we'd been writing. In front of a camera.
Here's one.

From Beyond...?

2009-06-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

http://shawnisdead.blogspot.com/

Makes sense that I'd be the last to know, I guess. I was wondering why my sister has been ignoring me...

Jon Played a Slammin Prince Song at the Acoustic Show Tonight

2009-06-06T00:51:00.000-07:00

Naysayer

2009-03-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Emilee and I (Oxen) have been doing illustration and design mostly for bands and musicians for the last couple of years. We've been left with some odd drawings that don't really fit any group's particular style... Could you imagine us slapping a "Biffy Clyro" in Horsie's speech bubble and calling it a night? Ha. Just doesn't feel right. But-- could you imagine the weird bugger emblazoned across your torso? Maybe so--
If you dig the Naysayer, help us make him real by voting over at that threadless link below. Thanks!

A Dispatch from This Day I Will Always Remember for Having Won My First Ebay Auction

2009-03-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

I can promise that the quality and quantity of music to come from this guy is inversely proportional to the quality and quantity of my late posts. We played a couple new t. Matches tunes at Bottom Of the Hill last week, so those might be searchable.. I think I saw a few camera phones up in the air.
Since I can't much talk about what is to come though, I thought I'd reacclimate myself to posting by showing you some really bad ideas of mine from the past which thankfully never came to be.

It actually really IS ironic that I thought this was somehow twee and ironic at the time. And 60's Fillmore psychedelic font? shudder...

We thought we were on to a series of these doomsday cyborgs destroying images of beauty and comfort. An alternate caption was "ridding the world of all that is evil." What the fuck? I love cats. (See, I really wasn't being ironic above.)

Here's another one. I think that's a flamethrower with a propane body-pack attachment.

alright.. this one's funny. Luckily the Pokemon phenomenon is well behind us (except for the odd revival/epic battle at the end of my last post's comment section), otherwise I might be wasting this very day doing watercolor paintings of these for a line to pitch to Hot Topic. From time to time I'm frightened by the stupid stupid things I make. There was this image in my head last week of a circle of 4 or 5 toddlers passing a pacifier around like a joint, with a caption reading "Pacifier to the left-hand side". I'm still fighting the urge to draw it for a merch pitch to T-shirt Orgy.
-Shawn

14 Year Old Shawn's Biggest Wish Granted

2009-01-11T23:00:00.001-08:00

height=62 width=144 controls="console">
Or if that embed is effed, try THIS.

Midnight Request DJ's

2008-12-31T01:00:00.001-08:00

..!
Rock our Flowers Forever cover
'Happy New Year' tonight off that olde myspace player.
Go. Further.
S

Oxen Side Show

2008-12-31T00:39:00.000-08:00

Me and Emilee have a piece of art in a Philadelphia show during January-- the deets:

ALTERNATIVE PRESS MAGAZINE PRESENTS: "Side Show" - Art by Musicians and Music Inspired Art

Friday January 2nd, 7pm is the opening, and it continues all month.
Emilee didn't qualify as musician on the list of artists, and oxen is billed as me for to adhere to the show's theme, but it is a piece we did together-- made of clay, acrylic paint, digital photography and illustration.

An ongoing preview is available on www.tandpfineart.com
here's a jaypeg o the piece for sale (7 3/4" x 14"giclee print in a swanky frame)

I think there's a contact on the website for inquiries about takin the puppy home...

Making-of the Yankees Video

2008-12-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Louie Knutsson for shooting and editing the making-of.
*Shawn

Whiny Vegan Yank

2008-12-08T22:41:00.000-08:00

from the blog of JJ Speedball:
-------
THE MATCHES STRIKE A LIGHT with PIGS HEAD INCIDENT on Triple J.....

I played a show the other night and it was brought to my attention from my fellow band that there had been an incident mentioned on Triple J Radio involving US band The Matches and a pig’s head on one of their Australian shows. Another punter came in on the conversation and had heard the same thing. Much laughter erupted as the band in mention was us: JJ SPEEDBALL. ....

I was informed the Matches were complaining about a smell in the venue and later tracked down a pig’s head in one of the rubbish bins. He then went on further to whine about how the microphone smelt and how some heavy metal band had sacrificed a pig the week before. ....

I would like to get the story straight. JJ SPEEDBALL was touring their latest album “Behind Enemy Lines” with brothers in arms The Dreamkillers. Before the Coolangatta show, I came in straight from Toowoomba, west of Brisbane. This year I had a pet ‘rock pig’ called Porky. Porky came into some trouble and had to be slaughtered recently. True love between man and animal cannot be thrown astray. I had always promised Porky I would take him to a rock show and I am a man of my word. So I took Porky to the Coolangatta Hotel where we rocked the house. Porky had a cracker. He sang songs with me, rolled around the stage and sat well on both Guitar and Bass cabinets. Everyone saluted Porky in true rock and roll style. Even if you are a whiny vegan yank, no one can stand in the way of the power of love!....

Well for the record we are JJ SPEEDBALL. We play rock and roll ....

JJ Speedball Oct 2008 ....

Happy New Year cover

2008-12-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

We just added our cover of the Omaha band Flowers Forever's "Happy New Year" to our myspace player. (It's the naughty version that Santa didn't put on the Foggy Holiday Vol II disc, which just came out on SF's Talking House Records). It's also the first of our recordings featuring Dylan on bass.
Take note that this is our second holiday-esque song, though to our defense, we steer well clear of nativity scenes and overall cheer in the both. Are we becoming a cranky band version of Amy Grant? My favorite x-mas present to receive is the glorious gift of nothing-- no obligatory gift needed in return. Truly the gift that never starts giving, and perfect for the whole family. But last minute, when the guilt hits on December 24th, maybe I'll throw a CD in a stocking or two. Maybe even this one.

Bonus Essay Question

2008-11-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

We're soon heading back to the studio to begin demos for our next album. What do you think the next Matches record will be like? What do you want it to be like? Are your premonitions compatible with your wishes? Answer with complete sentences. Flip over your paper and put your pencil down when finished.

Post Your Scores

2008-11-12T14:18:00.001-08:00

PLAY HERE
PLAY HERE
PLAY HERE

Halloween Stills

2008-11-04T05:11:00.000-08:00

a marginal era rife with analogy

the tender box juggles itself down the beaten path; the abused path.

The neighbors in the grass all know what goes on when the tired tires come home.

Fell down the stairway to heaven. I'm sorry kid.

Sorry sport. champ. chimpanzee.

Provide for the future and an exit will be provided. March into the dark.

stand up. lie down. a day is a lifetime. be born. be burnt. born someday. sumday.

count them up. measure your amount.

The sheep's wool, shorn and waiting to be spun.

The boy is setting in the west.

A sure handshake. Lease me. Release me.

Heartcore vs. theMatches

2008-11-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

My friend Jimmy prints beautiful shirts. This is no exception. They're the kind that, brand new, feel like the hand-me-down Police tour shirt from '78 that you stole from your dad's closet. If you're lookin to rock new threads, click here.

There Is A Curse On Our Fingers

2008-10-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

In a maze of two by fours, confused by fog, and animated crudely by strobe lights, I really, truly was being hunted. I grabbed at Ben to tell him this wasn’t a gag anymore.
“We need to escape!”
He laughed,
“Yea, that dude scared the fuck out of me too! “
“No, Ben, seriously,” I moved my hand from his shoulder to grab more forcefully at his wrist. A bloody hand print stayed clutching his shoulder. Oh fuck. My stomach did a somersault. I swiveled my head around, finding the silhouette of a chainsaw-wielding Leatherface swelling as he approached to finish his kill.
“He’s for real Ben! He’s going to fucking kill us!”
Ben hooped with a mixture of fright and glee as a picture slid from the wall and a clown groped out at his neck. We were so dead.

Just strobes ago we’d entered the pig farm maze, leaping, running, and then clumping and cowering before the next bend in the path. As we moved, there was a constant struggle for the middle two of four spots. Our friend who’d invited us for a free haunt was taking a break from the register at the door to take me, Ben, and a girl we didn’t know through the house. Our friend was pretending to be scared to make us even more scared, and it was working.

Hopscotching through zombie hands that clutched at our ankles through cracks in the gates, we’d run straight into Leatherface, who, with choreographed lightning at his back, revved his chainsaw at our ankles. A hairpin turn in the path left me the unfortunate last of the pack. The blade swept high, meant to graze over my hair, but being a good head taller than the kid in the mask, I had to duck it, raising my hand to protect my face from getting whacked by, logic calmed me, a chain-less chainsaw. The machine struck the side of my hand, and I thanked myself for not taking it in the forehead. Though free of spinning blades, a heavy piece of industrial machinery could never be a pleasant thing to connect with the skull.

My group was rounding the next corner, and I jogged to catch up with them. Slightly shaken from my collision with the saw, I reminded myself that every boogie man and werewolf was just a high school kid getting paid minimum wage to hold a hatchet painted with red nail polish and grunt unintelligibly. I could still feel where the cold edge of the chainsaw had connected with my hand. My skin’s memory of the touch had turned warm. Damn, maybe I’d have a bruise. I was almost annoyed as I raised my arm, squinting in the dim light to see if it had left a mark. I should complain to my friend that they should be more careful. No, not complain, just say “hey, i don’t mind, but you should know.. You know, for next time. Because not everyone is as easy going as I am. You don’t want lawsuits... This isn’t me complaining. I’m telling you for your own good. You know, just have a talk with your staff... tell them, uh, chainsaws below the waist only. I mean, that’s still totally scary. Other than that though, I totally thought you did a great job. Yea, tell all of the high school kids in masks that they did a great job. Make sure you don’t just reprimand them, because overall, it was totally great. Just chainsaws below the waist, that’s all...”

The strobes burst back into effect, and from my fingertips, a line of red was splitting the distance to my elbow by halves with every flash of light. Fuck.

We were so dead. I had Ben by the wrist and was pulling him as he laughed like an idiot. He tried to twist free of my grip.
“Hold on, look at that guy in the stilts!”
I was saving his goddamned life and he had no clue. The saw’s motor had diminished to a mosquito’s buzz, lost in the bowels of the house, but I couldn’t be sure we were safe until we were back on the street. Who knew how many accomplices the chainsaw guy had in here... What a cover for a real psycho; sneak into a haunted house and amidst the fake gore and masked employees, get away with really hacking up some tourists. The exit in sight, running for dear life, I pushed the clown on stilts aside, Ben protesting in tow.

I highly recommend the Oklahoma State University Medical Center ER. The staff was courteous and professional. When I couldn’t wield the ball-point pen to fill out the necessary paperwork at the front desk, the triage nurse allowed me to squiggle a left-handed mark on the signature line, and while I got my blood pressure checked, she checked boxes for me. I joked that I could sign the contract in blood. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard the joke, but she laughed for me. They gave me a shot of Novocain and three stitches, and before an episode of Seinfeld had elapsed in the waiting room, I was good as pre-chainsaw.

By the time I got back to the venue, Bayside was just loading out their gear.
Everyone wanted to know, “what happened?”
I wanted to know what happened.

Best I can figure is that something inside a chainsaw whips around to spin the blades, and though that thing is not a blade, it is still doing 3600RPM’s and so even if it’s a blade of grass sticking out, it’s gonna make an argument for taking your finger.

Or maybe a real psycho masquerading as Leatherface in Tulsa narrowly let his victim escape to tell the tale.

Happy Halloween.

oxenoxen.com/blog.html

2008-10-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

Me and Emilee Seymour have an art blog, by the way, and it is here.

We're in need of a few titles yet, if you are inspired to submit copy in exchange for kudos.

Bayside tour begins tonight. Cleveland. Backstage looks like my high school's drama room. Secondhand, overly plush upholstery and lollipops in a dish. Someone's "Happy Birthday Dad" Costco cake is sitting sadly beside me. It says hi. It just asked me what a "blog" is.

-Shawn

A Proper Introduction

2008-09-25T21:21:00.000-07:00