July Brad Sucks Update

Way to June, everybody. Hope you Juned it so hard. Mine was good, stressful, ups and downs, but overall solid. Here’s what I got up to Brad Sucks-wise:

  • The full Brad Sucks band played our first live show since 2019, warming up for the August 25th I Don’t Know What I’m Doing 20th anniversary show. We completed every single song and nobody was injured, a complete success.

  • I finished a new song demo tentatively called Cell Phone and put it on the Brad Sucks Patreon. There are like 25+ unreleased songs over there — really gotta finish and release some, just having a tough time committing to final versions as usual.

  • BTW some of those Patreon demos are on a limited release called Loss Leader which I just added to Bandcamp — you can also get it on cassettes I had made up for the A New Low in Hi-Fi crowdfunder until I run out.

Coming up, I’ve got a live stream on YouTube on July 27th, the 20th anniversary show on August 25th in Ottawa (which will also be live-streamed, I think?) Working on: new demos, new singles, new BS album, rarities release, live album, weird side project, videos.

I’m still posting on Instagram ,  Twitter ,  Facebook ,  Mastodon and Bluesky until I can allow myself to stop.

Updating Patreon & mailing list with any real Brad Sucks news if I ever do anything again, which unfortunately seems likely.

Thanks for listening, may your July be merciful,

Brad

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June Update

Hey hey, how’s it going? I’m avoiding packing all my gear up for band practice tonight, it’s grown into a lot of stuff which is unfortunate because I’m very, very lazy. Anyway, here’s all the news from me:

  • Tickets are available for my first full band shows since 2019!

  • As the 20th anniversary of I Don’t Know What I’m Doing is coming up, I asked people (on Instagram and on Facebook) to share where they found out about the album and I was blown away by the replies. It’s often a bit tough to think anything I’ve made is worthwhile at all but that gave me a much-needed boost, so thank you all for that.

  • We did a live stream on May 25th which was also very encouraging, everyone was so nice. Also last stream I was recovering from Covid and basically braindead so this was a nice redemption.

  • I made an AI voice replacement of Grimes singing Making Me Nervous. The future is freaky. On the one hand I don’t want my career to be ruined by machines, but on the other hand creatively it’s pretty irresistible getting to play with other people’s voices. I’m still thinking the human element will be tough to simulate but I’m also an idiot human so what do I know.

  • Even though machines can do it better than my stupid brain and hands, I’ve been trying to improve my piano playing. While thinking about some ideas for Brad Sucks video games on the Brad Sucks Discord, I made a moody piano cover of Making Me Nervous for the Patreon.

  • I’m working on another single release (finishing up the In Trouble demo from the Patreon). I’ve had people ask if I’m doing another album but I think I’m just gonna do singles for a while and see how that goes.

Okay, uh now I’ve run out of news and have to start packing my stuff up, wish me luck. Hope you’re all well, love y’all.

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Upcoming Shows

I’ve got some full-band IRL Brad Sucks shows coming up in the Ottawa area, it’ll be the first time we’ve played since 2019 which doesn’t fill me with terrible anxiety at all. Here are the dates:

Friday, June 16th: Hyde Smokehouse & Bar - formerly The Branch, we used to play this small place in my hometown yearly and thought this’d be a good warm-up gig. It’s out in the middle of nowhere and there are only about fifty seats so YMMV. (Tickets: $15 CAD, call to reserve)

Friday, August 25th: The Rainbow - This show’ll be to celebrate I Don’t Know What I’m Doing’s 20th anniversary. It’s located in the big city of Ottawa so if you’re making a journey from elsewhere, this’d be the most convenient one for you. (Tickets $17.50 CAD)

Hope to see you there! Also: Ben and I still have three scheduled stream shows remaining:

Thursday, May 25th 8pm EST
Thursday, July 27th 8pm EST
Thursday, August 31st 8pm EST

Subscribe to my YouTube channel and turn on notifications and it’ll remind you. I should hopefully be less sick and out of my mind for the stream next week, fingers crossed.

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The Comfort Zone Streaming Now

Hey all! My new song The Comfort Zone is streaming today (and it’s also on Bandcamp). If you could give it a glance, a listen, a like, a share, a playlist add, I’d appreciate it. Here’s the lyric video (premiering 11am EST):

Get all the links here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/bradsucks/the-comfort-zone

I wrote and recorded the original demo and posted it on my Patreon in January 2021 which feels like a lifetime ago now. But that’s a relatively quick turnaround for me. I revisited the track a couple of months ago, re-recording a lot of it and making some tweaks. Ben Mullin added some guitars and Rob Cosh mixed it, making it sound much better than I could on my own.

This song may sound sad but I like to think of it as withdrawing in order to come back stronger. I hope you like the song, thanks for listening ❤️

Brad

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Tell Me Something I Don't Know (2003 demo)

Previously posted on the Patreon, I uploaded an old unreleased demo from 2003 called Tell Me Something I Don’t Know. This was supposed to go on my first album I Don’t Know What I’m Doing but I cut it for whatever reasons and then thought about finishing it up for oh, twenty years. I definitely re-recorded the guitars and vocals a couple of times and then abandoned and lost those as well so it probably wasn’t meant to be.

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February 16th Live Stream

First of several stream shows last night, here’s the replay if you’re interested. Thanks to all who attended and especially those who chipped in some cash. I think it went all right and I’m looking forward to doing more.

I don’t know if anyone wants any technical details but here are some changes I made from the last show stream:

  • Bought a new $40 dollar light which seemed to improve the lighting situation a bit

  • New backgrounds! I paid like $80 for a month of Storyblocks so I have 29 more days to download all the footage I possibly can before I cancel. I think they turned out pretty fun.

  • New keyboard! Retired the Yamaha Reface CP (which only does electric piano sounds) and replaced it with the Mininova I’ve had for ages. I’ve always hated the sounds on it but I bought a preset pack and now it sounds pretty dope and Ben’s having a good time with it. Looking forward to selling the Reface and looking forward to putting new sounds into the set

  • Redid my guitar patches on the Line 6 Stomp XL. I think they sound better

  • Cueing songs from my keyboard instead of the computer keyboard

  • Finally solved a random USB dropout issue that’s been haunting me for like a decade

For next time:

  • Add more songs to the repertoire

  • I’d like to add a looper type thing so we can easily jam or try stuff out

  • Automating the background changes would take a load off my mind

  • Might run a long cable from my studio through the living room to the router instead of relying on wi-fi.

  • Maybe figure out how to stream to other platforms at the same time

  • Add a limiter? Not totally pleased with the audio on the streams but I don’t know if I’ll ever be content there

  • Remember all my lyrics and forget none of them

Also for bonus points I’m starting to rehearse with a drummer and bass player again as we’ve got some full band IRL shows booked, so I’ve gotta figure out how to get integrate them with the duo show I’ve built up the past couple of years.

Next show is March 23rd!

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A Question, Streams, Drag Dragons

I just sent my mailing list out and I feel I should repost it here:

Hey hey, how’s it going? Quick question for you: If I did an I Don’t Know What I’m Doing 20th anniversary concert on the August 25th weekend (either the Friday or Saturday) in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada), do you think you’d be attending? If so, please throw a “yes” down in this poll so I can get an idea of what size of venue to book. No pressure or commitment, just haven’t played a real show since 2019 and I have no idea what to expect. Thank you!

Stream Shows

Stream show dates! These’ll be live on my YouTube channel. Songs will be played, mistakes will be made. First one is next week!

Thursday, February 16th, 2023, 8pm EST
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023, 8pm EST
Thursday, April 20th, 2023, 8pm EST
Thursday, May 25th, 2023, 8pm EST
Thursday, July 27th, 2023, 8pm EST
Thursday, August 31st, 2023, 8pm EST

Drop on by!

A Song in the Film Enter the Drag Dragon

I went to the premiere of Enter the Drag Dragon which was a hilarious campy good time. My song Dropping out of School was in a fun scene, here’s a clip I secretly took in the theatre. Keep an eye out for it at film festivals!

“Brad, What’s New on the Patreon?”

Boy am I glad you asked:

  • The Comfort Zone (Revised 2023) - - People seemed to like this demo so I’m gonna release it on streaming services. I fixed it up a bit and it’s getting mixed right now. Release date probably in March?

  • Tell Me Something I Don’t Know (demo) - An unreleased/abandoned song that was cut from I Don’t Know What I’m Doing back in 2003. Been meaning to finish this one for twenty years but I suspect it might not happen. Thinking I’ll probably throw this up on YouTube soon.

Btw feel free to stop by the Brad Sucks Discord chat, you don’t have to be a member of the Patreon to hang out.

Out and About

That’s it for now, join me on the social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, oh I’m on Mastodon also because I’m a huge nerd.

Brad

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2023

I posted a little 2023 update about my plans for this year over on the Patreon:

Hope your 2023’s off to a good start! I took some holiday time off to chill and sketch out what the year’s gonna look like for Brad Sucks. Here’s the timeline so far: 

The main ones:

  • I Don’t Know What I’m Doing 20th anniversary. Working on planning a big show for August 26th. Main tasks: learning the full IDKWID album, getting the full band back in shape, warm-up shows, booking, lights, video, streaming, promotion. Also want to come up with some fun stuff to celebrate the album. 

  • Officially release Patreon songs. I've gotta finish the recordings, mix and master them, then do video, promotion, etc. 

  • Streaming & more video content. Shooting for stream shows with Ben every 1.5 months or so as we practice the I Don't Know What I'm Doing album.

  • More song demos for the Patreon. Still have a huge backlog of songs to finish over here.

  • Plus tons of small to medium sized things in between.

I'm anxious about having this many deadlines and moving parts -- not to mention nervous about finishing songs and playing live IRL again 😅. I think this'll be the most I've tried to pull off in a year... but mapping stuff out like this has made things manageable for the past few projects so hopefully that'll keep me in check. Wish me luck!

Brad

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2022 Year in Review

2022! Not my favourite year but the competition hasn’t exactly been stiff lately. Thanks for being along for the ride! All your likes and shares and comments mean a ton to me. And of course special thanks to all the Brad Sucks Patrons: your support each month reminds me to keep at it even though why bother doing anything ever am I right.

In 2023 the plan is to finish and release a lot of the Patreon songs I’ve been working on and try to force people to listen to and share them. Next year is also the 20th anniversary of my first album I Don’t Know What I’m Doing so I’m hoping to do some fun stuff for that. Also artificial intelligence will replace songwriters and musicians soon so that’ll be relaxing. 

Gonna try and chill till the new year I think and then get back at it. Here’s a list of some of the stuff I put out or was involved with this year:

PUBLIC

PATREON $3+

PATREON $10+


I think that’s it until next year, thank you again! My links: web, patreon, instagram, tiktok, spotify, twitter, facebook, discord ✌️❤️ — Brad

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Fuck You, Motherfucker (It's Christmas) (2022 Version)

It’s that time of the year again when I post my dumb cover of John Benjamin’s Fuck You, Motherfucker (It’s Christmas) in the hopes it becomes a timeless (and lucrative) holiday classic! This year I’ve re-recorded the drums and guitars and given it a fresher(?) mix which should make all the difference in the world. I’ve also uploaded the stems here in case you want to take a shot at remixing it. Fingers crossed for huge seasonal and financial success! (Also happy holidays.)

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Cursed video

One of the things I feel I need to work on if I want my next releases to do better than A New Low in Hi-Fi did is embrace making video content. I hate that because to say I don’t like being on video or even seeing photos of myself is a massive understatement. But I feel like in this social media climate I absolutely have to suck it up and at least try if I want my songs to get heard.

So over the next while I’m planning to focus on learning to producing short vertical videos. To that end today I made a little video clip for my new song demo Killing It and it's on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. 

Anyway it all makes me cringe and want to jump in a volcano but maybe that’ll get better? Or it'll fail and I can give up. Either would be a relief!

Ideally for the new year I'd like to have a stream of clips from live performances and previous Brad Sucks stuff plus new ones showing off the songs I'm working towards releasing. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I’d love to hear them! Thank youuu ❤️

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Everything's Shipped!

Very happy (and relieved) to say that all of the orders from the Guess Who’s a Mess Indiegogo have been shipped and are on their way!

My huge thanks to everyone who supported this project — I was able to do a high quality remaster of the original album and now I have all four full length Brad Sucks albums available on vinyl. Amazing. I feel so grateful and I can’t thank you enough for your support.

So that wraps up this project and after some clean-up and catch-up over here I’m planning on turning my focus to working on finishing new Brad Sucks songs for release and also trying to get better at regularly producing and putting out video content as that seems to be what modern music promotion requires. 

Songs in progress will still be going up on the Brad Sucks Patreon (there are 20+ unreleased demos over there) and I’ll be making more of an effort on the YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Also there's a (usually monthly) Brad Sucks mailing list you can hop on if you want to stay updated. Wish me luck and thanks so much for coming along the ride with me. Love,

Brad

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Ten Years

Ten years ago today I released my third album Guess Who’s a Mess! It was the hardest of my records to finish and it took many years to get over the disappointment from it for a bunch of dumb reasons.

So I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self that in ten years I’d be mailing hundreds of Guess Who’s a Mess vinyls to people all over the world. Thanks to everyone who supported the crowdfunding campaign to remaster and release it on vinyl — I think it sounds better than it did and I’m happy that most of the regrets I had about its shortcomings have evolved into pride at having finished it back then at all. I doubt that would have happened without all your encouragement and support over these years so I’m very grateful.

Also my huge, huge thanks to Rob Cosh (@thehipcola) for his help mixing and producing it, Justin Perkins (@mystery_room_mke) for the fantastic digital and analog remaster, Estera Lazowska for the rad laser deer cover artwork and Matthew Pfahlert (@the.silent.p) for the graphic design that tied it all together. And of course my thanks to Ben Mullin (@benjaminmulligram), Justin Purvis (@justinlpurvis) and Steve Gaw (@stevengaw2019) for all their contributions and for bringing these songs to life at live shows.

Love you all,

Brad

PS: Come join Ben and I tomorrow (Thursday, November 3rd at 8pm EST) for a tenth anniversary live concert stream on my YouTube channel!

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Guess Who's a Mess vinyl has landed

Vinyl has arrived and looks and sounds great! Thank you all so much for making this a reality -- feels pretty crazy to now have my entire discography available on vinyl. I'll be shipping your orders out soon so please update your mailing addresses on the Indiegogo campaign if they've changed at all, thank you again!! (PS: you can order it here if you haven’t already)

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