Blog: The Syndicate Blog

The  Laugh Button partnered with Comedy Central Record s in a contest giving one lucky comedy fan a chance to win a stand up CD/DVD prize pack. The pack includes albums and DVD's from major Comedy Central comedians such as Nick Thune , Joe Rogan , Aziz Ansari , and Reggie Watts .   The contest goes until May 27th and is posted on The Laugh Button's website.

What are you doing right now? Oh yeah? Well quit it, because whatever it is, it’s definitely not as good as seeing Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings live. You could be frolicking through the woods with a unicorn and Natalie Portman (or the male equivalent thereof) while eating ice cream sundaes sprinkled with Ecstasy and it is still not as jaw-droppingly awesome as seeing this woman and her incredibly talented Dap Kings soul power their way through a set. Do yourself a favor and hop on the next plane to whatever tourdate tickles your fancy, [...]

Locksley will head out on the road this spring in support of their new release, Be In Love (Feature Records). Locksley will begin their trek when they play Sunfest on April 28, 2010 in West Palm Beach, FL. The spring 2010 tour with Butch Walker kicks off on May 4, 2010 in Omaha, NE. Locksley features brothers Jesse and Jordan Laz (rhythm guitar and bass respectively), Kai Kennedy (lead guitar) and Sam Bair (drums). Be In Love finds the band exploring their American musical roots [...]

REGGIE WATTS is set to release his first full length record "Why $#!+ So Crazy?" as CD/DVD this Spring on Comedy Central Records. LOOSEWORLD and Waverly Films co-produced the album’s debut music video, “F_CK SH_T STACK" a Hip-Hop pastiche album single created and performed by Reggie. Right now, you can also catch Reggie’s mind-blowing live set while he’s on tour with Conan O’Brien . Click here to view the embedded video. As an internationally renowned vocalist/beatboxer/musician/co median/improviser, founding [...]

Last night was the second of two shows the Aussie trio Philadelphia Grand Jury played in NYC. They were in town for about 36 hours, but it was just long to play two shows, meet some people and play two thoroughly impressive sets for those that came out to see them perform tracks from their album Hope Is For Hopers . There was much jumping (and even a cover of Jay-Z's "99 Problems") here are some pictures. [...]

One of our favorite Scottish Rockers, Twin Atlantic will be playing The Bamboozle this weekend. They were also just selected by SPIN as one of the "25 Must-Hear Artists At Bamboozle." Here's what they had to say about the band. Why they matter: Meet the Scottish version of Angels & Airwaves . With pop-punk bloodlines to Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World , but with sweeping guitars and a thick Scot brogue courtesy of frontman Sam McTrusty , [...]

Clutch will release their new DVD Live At The 9:30 on May 11th. The DVD is a recording of a live performance that was recorded in late 2009 and features a front to back live performance of their self-titled album. Click here to view the embedded video. The DVD is currently up for pre-order . Order before street date and get a large vinyl sticker autographed by the band as a bonus.

Halifax indie rockers Wintersleep are very excited to announce the release of their new album, New Inheritors . Set for a June 1st self-release, this collection of rousing, inspirational rock songs was recorded in Montreal and mixed in Glasgow with Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub.) The end result may be some of most expansive, dynamic, dark and courageous rock music you'll hear this year. To get fans excited, the band is offering title track, "New Inheritors", for free download at www.wintersleep.com . Beginning June 4th in Philadelphia, PA, the band will join Matt Pond PA [...]

The Australian band Philadelphia Grand Jury will make 3 very special appearances here in the US before headed to the UK in support of their latest single, "The Good News" which was just put out on the Too Pure singles club in the UK. This unsigned band is stopping off in LA for a show during Musexpo and then two showcases here in NYC. Would you like to come hang out with The Syndicate and catch a great night of music? Hit us up and we'll make all your party [...]

New Tales To Tell, A Tribute To Love And Rockets was just named "Editor's Pick" at Amazon.com for the month of April. This means if you have yet to pick up the quintessential tribute to the band, you can download it digitally for the low price of $5. This compilation was lovingly produced by SiriusXM Radio DJ, Christopher The Minister , a longtime fan and former A&R rep for the band. Christopher gathered fellow fans of the band that ranged from Tool / Pucifer's Maynard James Keenan , [...]

Tomorrow is Record Store Day and that means cool releases by some of your favorite artists. We did the hard work for you and compiled a list of what Syndicate artists will be doing to celebrate indie retail. LIVE PERFORMANCES You can catch these Syndicate artists performing live at your favorite indie retailer. Twin Atlantic Saturday, April 17th at 3PM The Sound Garden 310 West Jefferson St. Syracuse, NY JuiceheaD Sunday, [...]

Well, not really a battle, more a collaboration. At the end of 2009, American Express recruited Dave Matthews and John Legend to participate in their Music +Food + Wine Pairing events . These events showcased the finest musicians, chefs, and winemakers. This the two most recent Pairings happened on the East Coast in New York City, with the other on the West Coast in the Napa Valley. The New York Pairing brought together musician John Legend, James Beard winning chef Tom Colicchio (also of Top Chef [...]

The picture above was snapped at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando. It features a framed piece of the wall from legendary New York club CBGB 's, which unfortunately closed its doors in October of 2006. While these SYN stickers are out of print, you can occassionally still find them throughout NYC and even across the country. If you happen to see one floating around, please snap a pic and send it over!

As if Record Store Day couldn’t get any bigger, it does! Misfits Records has announced two new tracks from the Chicago power-punk trio JuiceheaD will be available as a Limited Edition 7-inch colored vinyl for Record Store Day! The two brand new tracks come from JuiceheaD's forthcoming studio album, How to Sail A Sinking Ship . The vinyl's first pressing will be a Record Store Day exclusive! There will be a pressing of 500, Limited Edition pieces worldwide that will feature an amazing color mix of gold and oil [...]

In addition to our Comedy Central Live showcase at SXSW, The Syndicate teamed up with the fine folks at Purevolume and Taco Bell's Feed The Beat to help supply some bands for their week-long performances at the house and to help feed the Austin masses. Here are some photos from the week.

Comedy Central and The Syndicate enjoyed a raucous night of drinks, prizes, and comedy exclusives to kick off the first night of the music portion of SXSW. The night included big name stand-up from the likes of Maria Bamford , Todd Barry , Doug Benson , Hannibal Buress , Pete Holmes , Natasha Leggero and Nick Thune . Before the show kicked off, we offered a sneak peek at the new animated series Ugly Americans , and 3D madness from the soon to be released The Drawn Together The [...]

Tuesday brought the close to the interactive part of SXSW. It’s bittersweet as we had a good time with the computer people. Tomorrow we will see more members of The Syndicate as well as our party with Casa De Awesome at The Purevolume House and the showcase with Comedy Central . Tuesday began bright and early with a 9:30am panel that asked "Is Too Much Math Killing Marketing." The panel looked at the left (analytical) and right (creative) sides of the brain can co-exist and if one is more important than the [...]

Monday started out with a mad dash to Austin Convention Center to see the “Making Content Relevant to Me, Here and Now” panel. We were hoping the discussion would be focused on what kind of content bloggers and website would like provided. Unfortunately it was more geared towards relevant search and how the user could be served more appropriate content. Next up was Gary Vaynerchuk’s keynote. Gary V comes across almost like a motivational speaker for a the digital age. Caring and customer service were themes carried on throughout the presentation. With the [...]

The votes have been tallied, the producers, mentors, celebrity judges, and most of all, the public have spoken. The winner of the No Label Needed contest and series presented by Scion is Minnesota's Iron Thrones . We're incredibly excited for this opportunity to become more self-sufficient as far as marketing and recording ourselves, and to get our music in front of tons of new potential fans," Adam Clemans commented. Iron Thrones consists of Clemans, guitarist/producer Steve Henningsgard , drummer Peter Clark , and bassist Curtis Parker . Their sound is informed by [...]

PI Day...yup we're officially speaking our native tongue of "Geek" now that we're amongst our own. Sunday started off with a walk over to the Austin Convention Center to enjoy the Adobe brunch. Such a great idea ended up with poor execution as food and coffee ran out about 5 minutes after the official open. After waiting around for what seemed like hours (actual time, just a few mins) without any signs of more bacon or breakfast tacos, we headed back to the the Hilton to grab a quick bite and begin the day of [...]