February 2012
1 post
January 2012
7 posts
TOUR BLOG: DAYS 25-30
the following blog entries are from the lovely and talented david mcgrath a.k.a. james franco. the opinions expressed below in no way represent the max levine ensemble, and are only those of james franco. thanks so so much to everyone we’ve met on this trip and everyone who’s come to any of the shows!!
Tuesday Jan. 3rd Despite the Florida myth, we rose early to drive all way to the weenie...
WatchThe Max Levine Ensemble “Elephant in the Room” EP is now up for download on bandcamp!
Spoonboy: NEW THE MAX LEVINE ENSEMBLE INTERVIEW →
itsredrover:
In this interview, I talk to David Combs, who plays in the Max Levine Ensemble and as Spoonboy. The Max Levine Ensemble just released a new EP Elephant in the Room, which has some great songs like “The Last of the Assholes” that deal with issues in sexism. In addition, they…
TOUR BLOG: DAYS 17-24
it’s a new year and we’ve got a new roadie. the following blog entries are from the lovely and talented david mcgrath a.k.a. james franco. he’ll be maintaining the blog for the rest of our trip. as usual, the opinions expressed below in no way represent the max levine ensemble, and are only those of james franco. thanks so so much to everyone we’ve met on this trip and...
December 2011
11 posts
TOUR BLOG: DAYS 13-16
more tour bloggin’ from frankenstein!! the views below are those of frankenstein and don’t necessarily represent the band in any way… Day 13- Chicago IL In a perfect world, DIY shows are well attended and have a lineup of bands diverse enough to keep me from falling asleep where I stand. Chicago’s premier pest Matt Walsh set up a show that not only was packed to the gills but...
From the Flagpole: Max Levine Emsemble w/ Titans of Filth, Delay Wednesday, Dec. 28 @ Go Bar There’s been a lot of politically charged music recorded over the years that is leaden enough to sink a flotilla–which by and large misses the point: by injecting thoughtful messages into artful, spirited anthems, the potential for introducing the masses to your point of view is increased...
footage from our show in louisville...
The Max Levine Ensemble (12/13/11) from Connor Martin on Vimeo.
TOUR BLOG: Days 6-12
the next installment of the max levine ensemble tour blog comes from our current roadie, patrick matanle a.k.a. frankenstein. the opinions expressed below are those of frankenstein and do not reflect the band in any way. thanks to everyone who’s helped us out this week, or hung out, or come to the shows! Day 6- Columbus OH Met up with th’ Max at Columbus’ Skylab (not to be...
live footage of us playing in boston by will...
Ghost Song - The Max Levine Ensemble from Will Delphia on Vimeo.
TOUR BLOG: Day 4.5 - A review of Maximum Summer by...
The first time that I met Bepstein was January 16, 2008. The Max Levine Ensemble played a show at an “all ages nightclub” at Southern Oregon University, where I was setting up shows, and later that night Bep played the most beautiful song that I’ve ever heard on my roommate’s resonator guitar in our dorm room. My entire conception of the band at that time was that they were...
new ep! "elephant in the room!" currently...
hey! we have a new ep and its currently streaming at punknews.org!! check it out!!
“The Elephant in the Room” TAPE/7” [2011] - Fuck You is a Seven Letter Word Records
1. Adventures in Petsitting [lyrics] 2. Last of the Assholes [lyrics] 3. Hate Your Body in 12 Easy Steps [lyrics] 4. Fake Smiles in Photographs [lyrics]
TOUR BLOG: days 1-4
Unfortunately for you we’ve decided to revive the TMLE tour blog. Fortunately for us we’ve delegated it as a task for our roadies. The first blog post will be from Nowah Jacobs, our weekend warrior roadie. The opinions contained within do not represent the band, and for the record Nowah maybe watched half of the shows. AND for the record we had a lot of fun at all of our shows!!...
November 2011
3 posts
new interview!
we did this interview with conor mancuso a couple weeks ago… enjoy! So what’s the deal with the whole “Bepstein” and “Spoonboy” thing?
David: Well, I don’t tell the story behind Spoonboy anymore, but we both got our nicknames around the same time in middle school and they just stuck. 1998?
Ben: Yeah. I was involuntarily given the nickname “Bepstein” in 8th grade. It is a...
We're playing with Ted Leo tomorrow!!
Positive Force DC presents a benefit concert for immigrant rights, union organizing, and community-building. All profits to National Day Laborer Organizing Network and We Are Family DC. Date: Saturday, November 12, 2011 Doors: 6pm Music: 7pm Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (Matador Records) Medications (Dischord) The Max Levine Ensemble (No introduction required) Over by: 11pm Where:...
THE FIRST ANNUAL MAX LEVINE ENSEMBLE LAXATIVES...
CONTEST: on our way up and down from the fest, the max levine ensemble watched/listened to three movies in the van. if you can guess accurately these three movies YOU WIN A FREE MAX LEVINE ENSEMBLE T-SHIRT (we choose the size). HINT: all three movies coincidentally have scenes involving laxatives.
October 2011
3 posts
September 2011
3 posts
BIG TIME WINTER TOUR!
hey we’re doing a big old winter tour. yes we are. yes yes. if you’ve got any questions or suggestions, e-mail thespoonboy@riseup.net you can look for updates at the shows page… DECEMBER 1 - ST. MARY’S COLLEGE, MD 2 - COUDERSPORT, PA 3 - BOSTON, MA @ The Democracy Center 4 - BROOKLYN, NY @ Death By Audio 9 - WASHINGTON, DC @ St Steven’s Church 10 - COLUMBUS, OH 11...
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mutual-slump asked: When's the next time you're gonna be in Atlanta? I'd love to come and take pictures..
July 2011
1 post
MORE FREE MUSIC
HEY. just finally got around to uploading our last two releases “MR. GIKOKOVICH 2000-2005: A RETROSPECTIVE” and “THEM STEADILY DEPRESSING LOW DOWN MIND MESSING POST MODERN RECESSION BLUES.” now you can download them for FREE on our discography page or over at our bandcamp site. enjoy!
May 2011
1 post
David Combs (Spoonboy, Max Levine Ensemble) talks... →
Inspired by I Live Sweat’s series on sexism in the punk scene, Punknews invited David Combs (Spoonboy, Max Levine Ensemble) to contribute his thoughts on the subject. Patriarchy has often been a subject in Spoonboy’s lyrical content. The Papas, his new album on Plan-it-X Records was released on May 1. Here’s an excerpt of his essay: And recognizing that our male dominated...
January 2011
3 posts
Listen
I live sweat...: "You know what makes me feel... →
ilivesweat:
(Andy’s note: This may well be the first in a series of guest pieces on the topic of sexism and misogyny within punk and hardcore. Whether this is the start of a series or not, I think this piece stands very well on it’s own. Now read on.)
(photo by Chris Grivet)
’ll start off by saying that I’m a white cis-female in her late 20’s who identifies as queer, feminist, radical and...
CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF THE MAX LEVINE ENSEMBLE
Dear Friends, Having just roughed another season of awkward, uncomfortable, and/or heartwarming family gatherings, we’d like to take the opportunity to invite you to another family reunion of sorts - THE MAX LEVINE ENSEMBLE’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY. If you’re reading this, then we consider you a part of our extended family, and so we will absolutely not have the party without...
November 2010
4 posts
October 24th, 2010: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
No money could have bought us the kind of rock we’d experienced on this tour. We packed up from Brighton for the long haul to Manchester. It was a tear filled night as we bid fairwell to our beloved limeys.
If words could express what these short 10 days in the UK had meant to us, we might assemble them here, but in place of such futilities, we leave you with a fuller...
October 23rd, 2010: BRIGHTON, ENGLAND
We woke up with a strange feeling of desperation. Arguments broke out. Animosity peaked. Tour unity was disrupted. Some of us decided to go to the London Anarchist Bookfair. Others chose to visit some art museum. WATCH OUT NICK!!!
And this is what the bookfair was like!
We put our differences behind us when we got to Brighton, home of all things good. Here’s Bepstein pursuing...
October 22nd, 2010: LONDON, ENGLAND
After a hearty breakfast at the Loving Hut…
We took off for London. Arriving early with nothing to do, we decided to see the sites, starting naturally at the historic Wapping High St.
I can’t tell you what’s going on here, but I can say… “that’s a nice egg!”
We think this was London Bridge. No one seemed to know.
All welled up with emotion...
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October 21st, 2010: NORWHICH, ENGLAND
FINALLY!! The lost blog entries have been uncovered. We had some technical difficultie - the internet got clogged up with dry British wit or some shit. Anyway, when we last left off we were trapped in the dark northern depths of Durham, desperate to escape to somewhere with a dash of class we rode off to Norwhich. (In spite of Nick’s stand up bit on stage asking “who here is the...
October 2010
6 posts
2 tags
October 20th, 2010: DURHAM, ENGLAND
Today, Nathan has convinced us to let him write a guest blog entry on his home town. Pay no mind to his manic ramblings, we don’t:
It was our fifth day with these imperialist dogs and we were back in Durham. As you can see Durham is nice to look at, if you like looking at very beautiful things, which I don’t.
We spent some time mooching around the town, showing Nick and Bep some...
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October 19th, 2010: LEEDS, ENGLAND
We drove off to Leeds, to meet Joe and Emma (of Offshore Radio) for dinner. Since Naomi looks about 3 years old, the restaurant asked her for 12 forms of ID, before they’d let her in…
A gig in Derby had been cancelled, so ONSIND and friends scrapped together a tiny acoustic house show.
THE MAX didn’t actually perform, so no Bepstein sweatlog for today, even though there...
2 tags
October 18th, 2010: LEICESTER, ENGLAND
The next morning, Big Trev made us proper English breakfast, even though we were in Wales…
Not to be confused with imitation American breakfast. Are they cocoa crispies or cocoa puffs?? They’re not pops, they’re not smacks. What’s happening here? After breakfast we took a romp to the beach.
In Leicester (which is counter-intuitively pronounced...
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October 17th, 2010: SWANSEA, WALES
We drove the tour van to Wales…
Where Naomi presented us the official drink of Scotland - IRN BRU:
We got to Trevor’s house just in time for Sunday Dinner, which is actually lunch, and isn’t always served on Sundays, but today it happened that it was a Sunday and we did have Sunday Dinner… for lunch.
Luckily it wasn’t a Wednesday, so we didn’t have to...
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October 16th, 2010: CHELTENHAM, ENGLAND
We woke up at 6:30am and left Dylan’s mansion for the port where we took this ferry:
We didn’t see any dogs.
But we did meet R2D2!!!!
Bepstein has a beard, so the friendly Welch customs agents had to check his bag.
Shortly afterwards we met some rowdy Irishmen who insisted David show off his singing voice. Nick tried singing them some Grand Funk Railroad, but was...
2 tags
October 15th, 2010: DUBLIN, IRELAND
Strangely, the Max Levine Ensemble have found themselves overseas in the midst of a 10 day tour of England, Ireland, and Wales. Who knows what mishaps will ensue? Well, by the power of the internet, you will. Nick brought a broken iphone he found, so we figured we should probably keep a tour blog. Welcome. Nick’s dad (Nick Popovici Sr.), a known giver of health advice, made famous for...