THE MIMETIKS

more on this post. but for now: me, luke, kyle. in kyle’s apartment a couple of sundays back… enjoy.

good to my soul

akie

oh snap! how long has it been?! too long! and yes, however well intentioned that hiatus may have been, it must be made-up for. and i hope tonight’s post will get us at least partway there. tonight’s post is dedicated to the working band. of late is has been kyle, luke (notary), and myself holding it down sundays in Brooklyn. with only a few gigs under our belt, we have begun to lock-in on all these previously amorphous tunes. give them shape and breath. and bid them live.

and with that said. we’ve had the opportunity to sit down and record some rough drafts of what might constitute the live show. were you to come out to Saje or Brooklyn Exposure on a Sunday afternoon or night, you might get the full brunt of it. as it stands, this is but a taste. still… it is music.

(shhh. originals and current covers.)

watch your mouth

blackbird

autumn nocturne

just friends

the personnel and instrumentation on all these is:
kyle jaster – bass
luke notary – cajon, cymbals, cowbell,other stuff?
akie bermiss – keys and vocals

enjoy!

family. there is a McCoy Tyner album called Extentions which has some rather awesome cover art and whenever i think about family or dynasties… i see that image. Well, the Mimetiks are beginning to extend into a musical family. with each passing week new faces, new contributions become part of the larger picture. Zach is one such cat. already his contributions are unmistakeable. and they make the tunes what they are. transforming alchemy into something beyond its original intentions. turning autumn nocturne into the jawn instead the sketch of jawn. and suddenly, in my mind, brand new ideas start to crop up. new concepts, new reasons, newness.

there are other cats jumping in now. Percussionist Luke Notary was with us last sunday night at Brooklyn Exposure. Bringing his own blend of propulsion and melody into the fold. creating his own sort of unexpectedness to bear. Hoping to get a lot more stage time with luke as the year rolls on.

and there’s Greg Glassman — jazz trumpet gunner. He’s dropped in at Saje on the odd tuesday night or sunday afternoon. playing over and under the stuff. making expression from his horn, from his presence. and sprinkling in some experience. some challenge.

we’ve just met a great pianist, singer, composer in his own right. arthur lewis. one evening at Brooklyn Exposure and some excellent words exchanged. and then just listen.

there is also a McCoy Tyner album called Expansions. and a live record called Enlightenment. i leave it to you heads to find those. dig on them. and dig on the artwork too. its all part of the statement. that’s how they used to do it back in the day, you know. so we’re takin’ it back…. waaaay back.

***

this week: Zach Dunham is with theMimetiks at Saje brunch Sunday from Noon to 4. And Brooklyn Exposure from 7 – 9:30.

yo all, in this week’s adventure your intrepid players spent an inordinate amount of time chilling before the sunday night gig at Brooklyn Exposure. Since, we discovered, you can sometimes work across the street from where you live, we decided to live across the street from our work. Many thanks to the people who came out (Christine, Liz, The Casey) to check out this inaugural concert.

Because of a sort of scheduling mashup there was absolutely no publicity other than that which we ourselves did. This strikes us as fine for a first time. We know that every great thing must begin with an offering and we are every ready to be that. For those of you who’ve never been to Brooklyn Exposure — it is a dope little spot. Bar and Restaurant. With a lower level bar and eating area and an upstairs dining area. Even if you can’t make it out for our sunday night concerts, I suggest you stop by and help this establishment become an ESTABLISHMENT.

But it looks like we’ll be there every sunday with a different cast of characters to supplement the duo on a number of occasions. Next week its the inimitable Zachary “downlow” Dunham on the kits. To jog your memories, here’s a little taste of what Zach can do on the drums.

cornered.

this and much more. dig him. and come out on sunday. as we shall come out to you.

words and madness,

akie

news

hey all!  its been sometime since our last posts.  the reason for this is not inactivity, but rather that things are really starting to get going.  Hopefully, I can fill you in without skipping over too many crucial elements.

more news about brooklyn gigs for theMimetiks.  After a couple of shows over at Saje Cafe, we were offered sundays at another joint for a more full-up ensemble at a place called Brooklyn Exposure.  So starting on the 4th of March, we’ll be in there cooking up something delightful every sunday evening from 6pm.  As soon as I hear more about that I’ll post the details here.  Later this week hopefully.

we’re working on teeshirts again.  this time going with something much simpler and more direct.  I think you’ll dig it when we get it finished.  Kyle (the graphics genius) is working on the design even as I type here.  so look forward to that.

in the meantime, i must have seemed bored because Kyle just hooked me up with yet another place to blog up the night.  in the interest of keeping this page fairly focused and contained (and succinct and sane and endurable) I will keep my most uncontrollable ramblings concerning this burgeoning musical scene to that new blog.  if you have the chance, scope it out here.

lastly, dig our new icon (to the right of the page).  after a cigar each, some hookah, good food, and perhaps a touch too much to drink, I showed Kyle the photo booth feature on my new computer.  madness and obscenity ensued.  in a moment of concentrated inspiration, we edited it down to like seven frames, threw it onto Illustrator, made an animation, and published it here.  Ill-advised?  Perhaps.  But it was bucket-loads of fun.

til the next joint,

akie

ps.  and, for those of you keeping tabs, never fear: we are still working on “music for apartments” there are still four or five tracks to go before we can call it quits on that project.  so whatever you do, stay tuned!

a bit of melancholy, for those of you who are willing to listen.

emma’s theme (9)

Q (& A)

Oh it has been a long time. We trust that the new year has been good to you all. January was full of non-mimetiks work for kyle and myself, and we are happy to be returning to the fold. With new tunes already popping out of our chops.

the big news, however, is that we’ve finally nailed down what should become a regular tuesday night gig up in Crown Heights (i’ve heard they’re call in it Prospect Heights, these days. but, let’s be honest, its not THAT close to the park). come check us out, this tuesday (Feb. 6) if you can. We’re playing at a resaurant/coffee shop caled Saje. Its a terribly hip joint. the coffee is good – i’ve never eaten there, but i’m sure its quality – and we’ll be there in the intimate duo setting. We’ll even dedicate one to you… which we’ll likely have to make up on the spot. but – so what’s new?!

more to follow. stay crunchy,

akie

###

THE MIMETIKS @ Saje

Tuesday, February 6th

7:30 – 9:30 pm

KYLE’S DIRECTIONS TO SAJE

take the B, Q to Prospect Park or 2,3,4,5 or C to Franlin Ave stop.

transfer to the S Shuttle to Park Place.

Once you get out take the left hand side door out to Park Place.

Take a left and walk to Franklin Avenue.

Saje is on the corner to your left.

hey to all. its been a definite minute since the last posting. like anybody else we’ve been up to the holiday rigamarole. thankgiving and december’s slew of holidays, feasts, reunions, and shopping. but before we went sailing into the new year we thought it was time finally to take some of the bigger song concepts and give them the format they require: a trio.

so last saturday we found a semi-usable upright piano, brought the recording rig and asked our good friend zak dunham to bring his drums and his sound to the session. i play with zak fairly frequently in a jazz trio so we knew it would be a fairly painless transition. we went through a number of new songs, did some work with what the mimetiks have already tapped into and even managed to do a nearly full take of the long-discussed, long-discarded song-cycle that was probably the last hurrah with the last band, theFoundation.

so, from that session, we are posting a very new tune. a tune that was talked about with theFoundation, and barely quoted at the end of our last recorded show. (as if a portent for the future). there’s a spectacular nucleus we ripped from an extremely distinct jazz standard. perhaps the jazz heads will recognize and identify.

cornered

as always, these are rough mixes. this trio stuff is especially rough. we had three micstands..

akie

music. there’s little else to say. i could tell the story of my laying on the couch on my back to sing three separate takes of vocals for puddle no. 2 or slovenly way i tried to play guitar on the very first, scratch take of second story window. more about the number of bass tracks we went through, or how many times we hit a fucking wall and wrote these songs off as crap. instead: music. rough music.

mind the mixes. they’re… a doozy.

(from a) second story window

a song about complex storm patterns. what else?

- akie

five days on the road is no picnic. i’m not sure how we did it before. but somehow even with only two people we mananged to take up nearly every ounce of space in my car. maybe it was the half-giant bottle of makers, or the box of cigars or my extra pair of sixe 15 sneakers. don’t know.

but the crowning moment of the trip was last friday’s gig at Colby college in the quiet night of things. while we have a bunch of original material from the other band our goal was to have a nice new concert by the time we got to colby. through a series of long car conversations and on-the-way writing sessions we managed to to write something like three new songs by friday afternoon at 4pm — when we landed in maine.

the road to maine was… decidedly treacherous. there were many traps and snares along the way. fortunately nothing that booze and smoke can cure and a night on a somewhat petrified hotel bed with the heater going full-tilt boogie. the gig itself was a success. i’m not sure how much of a success but no one left angry, dissatisfied, or hell-bent on suicide so…

apparently you can still smoke in hotel rooms in Maine (and godblessthemforit) and that — we did. shapel, his friend (now our friend) andrew, kyle, and i. though the clock would read 8 when the good shipMimetik would make ready to sail once again. all was tied down by 4am and the darkness passed over us.

it rained as we left colby. it rain in New Hampshire as we ate out deli sandwhich lunches. it stopped for a time in Amherst where i left kyle with his sister. it rained on the way out of Mass and all the way down I-87 from Albany to Catskill. then it stopped and the clouds grew darker, but higher and let in a corona of white sunlight… and the windpicked up.. .and it was very bizarre to say the least. so naturally i played a five hour (or was it SIX?!!) gig with pamela pentony at the scribner hollow lodge in Hunter, NY. ate about a pound of some delicious venison and went to sleep before i realized it was daylight savings… i assure you.

the shipMimetik put up her sails in brooklyn on sunday afternoon. kyle came in on a life raft some hours later… and the rest is hardly history. and barely worth mentioning.

thank you colby. for the oohs, the ahhs, the applause, and flattering our tender egos with your request for an encore. we shan’t forget you.

akie