I am a music fan

I am a music fan. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t become a musician because
I love music so much. Nowadays I get so wrapped up in production and
all the goodies that go along with the music business that I forget
about the music. My iTunes is filled with such a huge variety of
genres. If it’s good to my ear then it’s just good. I remember back
when I was a kid my dad would play bands like Journey and Supertramp
and my mom was a big fan of The Beatles and The Monkees. I remember
listening to Prince’s Purple Rain and Madonna’s Like A Virgin with my
cousins. When I started finding my own musical influences it came in
the form of what is known as grunge. To this day my fave bands are
Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Nirvana. Later on bands
like Foo Fighters, Filter, Incubus and Dashboard Confessional were
added to the list. I can go a lil country with Keith Urban, a lil pop
with Justin Timberlake and a lil hip hop with JayZ.

The most intriguing performance ever came from a guy named Butch
Walker. I was at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago with Escape From
Earth who opened for Butch. I wasn’t really interested at all. I
actually sat on the couch in the lobby and listened and never even saw
him playing. All I know is that he had captured me with acoustic and
voice that night and the rest is history. I go to all his shows. I
have all his records, his old stuff with Marvelous 3, and a bunch of
the artists that he has written and recorded with. Butch Walker is a
genius. All it took was that one night and I was hooked.

I’m guessing that maybe some of you have had this experience… maybe
even while listening to BECKON Q. I just want you guys to know that I
love music and put all my heart and soul into creating something new
or putting forth my best efforts to enhance songs that already exist.
My hope is that we can put a smile on our fan’s faces, provide a
little bit of an escape, cure whatever might be illing you, and just
have the time of our lives together!!

XOXO
Scotty

City band. City matters...

We’re an “urban” band…well…kind of. Here’s why kinda:

We live in the city, we play shows in the city, we pay city taxes, we share small places, we have to pay to park…EVERYWHERE, we ride the el, we ride buses, we run into a homeless person every time we step onto the street.

We also have the world at our fingertips, ever heard of Starbucks, I can be at one of 7 of them faster than you’ll finish reading this. We also all didn’t grow up in the city, we’re transfers in. That means we’re either crazy, or we have the means to make it work. (the latter is the truth). We care about the city and thrive on it, that much is true, but do you?

2008 was the first year that the world population lived in cities more than rural areas.

Cities matter. They are influential hubs, but they are also destitute and more urban dwellers than not have quite a different view of city than Beckon Q does.

Check out this site: www.theplaceswelive.com

We hope it makes you think and inspires you. Why do you live where you live? Does it matter? Does it matter how other people live?

We think so.

Beckon @ Subterranean April 18

Beckon Q is pretty excited...well, we're excited all the time. But right now we have a lot shaking and happening and there is going to be news to follow about this.

However, right now we have some really great things that you can directly experience.

First, our whole album is now available for you to listen to on our myspace page!!!

www.myspace.com/beckonq

Second, we have a sweet show that we're really excited about at Subterranean in Chicago IL on April 18. Get details on our page or check out the event page
We have some new songs that we will be debuting at this show so don't miss it. Don't let your friends miss it (plus, it's always fun to share in a experience with your favorite people) share this event with everyone you know. We would love a great turnout because the more the merrier, right?

Peace, Love, and All Good Things,
Nate
Beckon Q

Wow, it's been a twile!

Ok, so it's been awhile. Sorry. You know, stuff happens here, stuff happens there, and before you know it it's been 2 weeks and 6 days since our last blog post! OUCH.

What have we been doing? Well, pretty much tweeting our faces off...
Do you follow? If not, you should start:

Nate's twitter
Becky's twitter
Scotty's twitter
Luke's twitter
Chris's twitter: TBD aka MIA, non-existent, in the works, unavailable, up and coming, soon.

That should give you enough to do for now, right? Be sure to say hi and to follow the Beckon Q tweets of course!

new ideas

Do you like new ideas? We like to think we do...

Recently, I did a little presentation for an MBA class I'm taking at DePaul University in Chicago on new ideas. Some other colleagues in the class participated as well...Mike, Stephanie, Erin, Alejandra. The presentation centered around the book: Myths of Innovation, ch. 4 by Scott Berkun.

My wonderful Prof. Dr. L. Gundry suggested I send it on to Scott. I did and here's what Scott had to say about it: http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2009/myths-of-innovation-the-movie/

and here's the vid...

That's my little story.

How do your ideas apply to how you listen to music? If you write music, are you doing it in a NEW way? Interesting...

Luke
Beckon Q

Campaign No Day Job Part 1 Commutes:

Hey folks!
I’m going to break outside the box of band secrets here and share a little something with you. While you may see us kicking it on stage at Schubas, Cubby Bear or The Frequency, we, like lots of unsigned bands have day jobs.

I’d like to invite you into my head for just a little bit. Let’s chat about commutes. I’ve recently accepted the awesomest job in the world, singing and coordinating bands at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington. However, where do I live? East Lakeview, neighborhood of Chicago. So I spend a good 30 minutes each way five days a week driving down Addison in order to pick up the highway that sweeps me away to a land far far away. Farther than IKEA.

On my drive down Addison, I see the same sights and feel familiar pot holes. I see Julius Meinl on the corner of Southport and Addison. And every time this same thought goes through my head, “People say that place is really good. I should go there sometime.” Do you realize that same thought passes through my head 10 times every week?



I pass two Dunkin Donuts: one on the corner of Lincoln Ave and near Elston. I think… “mmmm, hazelnut coffee. Should I stop? No. That defeats all the time I just spent racing down Addison.”



As I gain speed down Addison at Ashland, my eyes quickly check gas prices on both sides, at Citgo and Shell to compare which is better… then I laugh to myself and think, “Ha! I’ll just get gas in Barrington. Soooo much cheaper.”

On the way home, when I see this Wrigley Field



I know, home is awaiting my soon return. And that’s where my guitar and laptop sit, waiting for me.

So now it’s your turn. Whether or not you are a Chicagoan… share with us!
- From where to where do you travel during the week?
- What catches your eye, and what runs through your head?
- Do you recommend I try Julius Meinl?


Peace and love,

Becky of Beckon Q

We got hacked!

What a day...how'd yours start? Coffee maybe? Hopefully a shower or at LEAST you brushed your teeth. Did you have to catch a bus, or a maybe a train. If you're lucky you rode your bike or walked to work. When you got there, was there a TON of email to wade through? Your boss in a good mood or hung over again???

Days start funny.
Sometimes good.
Sometimes bad.

Today Beckon Q's day started bad...our myspace page got hacked. And not just bugged, or phished or something funny or stupid or whatever...but worse: deleted.

OUCH!

You know what though...it's still just one day. One in hopefully thousands to come baby. So no worries, we're going to re-build, we'll even improve! and we'll come back stronger than ever.

You can help though, truly. Friend us. Then tell your friends to friend us. Then tell them to tell their friends to friend us, then...well, you get the idea.

We miss our friends, but we know that we're still friends even if it doesn't say so on silly myspace.

Here's to tomorrow morning...

Luke
Beckon Q