The Cast Before the Break

An Overdue Update…

It’s no secret things have been relatively quiet around here for a little while. The five of us have been making a lot of adjustments personally and professionally, and things seem to finally be falling into place. The situation we’re in as a band is one that is near impossible to explain, but can most efficiently be summed up with the fact that we are legitimately able to practice as a unit but once a month. For us, it feels like we’ve been working on a new record for ages, albeit rather passively. Personally, I was feeling ‘stuck’ from a creative standpoint for a while. It was like I forgot how to write a Cast song, and not for lack of trying. But as I said above, things are falling into place again. Although our last record “Still,” was just re-released on Deep Elm last year, I want to extend our appreciation to the fans who were with us when that record was first independently released for being so patient with us while waiting for new music. We trust you understand that while we are definitely itching to get you new music, we want it to be the best material that TCBTB has ever written. And it’s shaping up to be.

As of now we have 9 songs complete for a new record. We plan to record 10-11, but whether or not all of them will make a final track listing is to be determined. To describe the growth and the changes that have happened in the past couple years for all of us can only be properly summed up in these songs. Later this year, you will hear some of the heaviest songs we have ever recorded. You will hear some of the most delicate, some of the most upbeat/positive, as well as some of the most intricate songs we have ever written. Recording is slated to begin in June, with hopes of a release in the fall. We would like to give you a taste of what’s to come, and will be debuting 3 new songs for you at our show in CT on 3/24. We will be playing with our good friends in Moving Mountains and Wess Meets West, and look forward to taking a short break from the dungeon that is our practice space.

Lots more updates to come over the next couple months. Thanks for staying classy.

Cheers,

—TJ & TCBTB

Better Late Than Never…The Winners!

We realize it has been a while since the conclusion of our “Story Before the Cast…” contest, but we are happy to finally announce our winners! First…our runner-up prize goes to Alex Countryman! His epic journey conjures up reminders of “Highlander” and “The Sound of Music”…and we mean that in the best way possible. 

And our grand prize winner is…Jasmeet Gill! Jasmeet’s story appealed to our nerdy sci-fi sensibilities, and also referenced a movie starring Will Smith, which will always get bonus points.

Thanks to everyone who submitted a story, we really enjoyed reading them! You can read the winning stories at the ned of this post.

Take care all!
-The Cast

Runner-Up:

Once upon a time, in a land far from here, there was a hill. On top of that hill was a light so bright, it could be seen shimmering, from miles around. Unfortunately, the most curious of people were unable to reach the source. You see, surrounding the hill was a river that was a half mile wide, and beyond that river were cliffs so jagged they seemed impossible for even the most experienced climbers. After the cliffs, at the top of the hill was snow that was so cold, it would freeze any bare skin in seconds. Obviously, the source of the light was near impossible to reach. However, five young boys, from five surrounding towns, all made it their lives journey to reach that hill. These five boys had never even laid eyes upon eachother, but unknown to them, the hill was pulling them all in. On a beautifully sunny morning, each boy stepped out of his house, and gazed upon the light on top of the hill. Today was the day. They all walked for miles just to reach the bottom. Still unaware of each others journey, they all started the swim across the river. The water was pushing strong against them, trying to keep them away, but the force from the hill guided them safely to the other side. Once at the foot of the cliffs, gravity seemed to weaken and they all climbed the jagged cliffs with ease. Each boy, still unaware of the others, were greeted at the top of the cliffs, but wet, muddy dirt. The force from the hill had intensified the light so much, the snow had melted, and the temperature was comfortable. Each boy crested the hill, light shining brightly. The light was so bright, the boys were nearly blinded, but could see there was something ahead. TJ found a guitar, and a microphone waiting. Jordan and Jeremy both found guitars.. Ryan found a drum set, and Lars, a bass guitar. All of them were confused by the situation. None of the boys and touched an instrument in their lives! Before any of them could make sense out of the confusion, the light abruptly went out. All five of the boys instantly became aware of eachother for the first time. They didnt know what was happening, but miraculously their hands started to move, and when they did, amazing music could be heard. The boys had replaced the light with their music, and it was more amazing and beautiful than the light ever was. From the top of that hill, the boys still play their music.The force from the hill keeps them going indefinitely. No one can reach them, the hill being unclimbable to the average person, but hearing them is just as good. 

And the winner:

A series of reincarnated famous figures, TJ Foster(Napoleon),Jordan Stewart(Miyamoto Musashi),Jeremy Carter(Julius Caesar),Ryan Crosby(Gandhi),Lars Ewell(Alexander the Great) came back down to Earth to defeat an upcoming alien crisis in 2012. However, their ship crash landed in 1947(Roswell), and they masqueraded as Men in Black, collecting the memories of humans in order to arm the species for the final battle. Through these memories, they encountered the strength of human emotion, and formed a band to ignite the burning heart of justice within each and every listener.
 
After a grueling battle, humanity is victorious, but the planet is a shattered mess. The heroes disappear, their mission complete. Thus, the world celebrates, the Cast Before the Break.  

Contest Extension

We’ve enjoyed reading all of your submissions so much that we’re itching for more. So we’ve extended the deadline another month! (This will also help us learn how to play all our songs on acoustic guitars….) Details are directly below. Looking forward to reading even more fantastic entries from you folks!

“The Story Before the Cast” Contest

Here are the details on our first ever “Cast” contest!

If there is one thing we have always had trouble with, it is writing about ourselves. Whenever we are asked in interviews to give details behind how we formed or the story behind our band name, we always start with a collective, “Uh…” So, we have decided to enlist your help. We want you to come up with your own backstory for The Cast Before the Break! It can be as interesting and as little based in reality as you want…just make it interesting! Maybe we met when we took that trip to that dinosaur theme park with Jeff Goldblum, or did we start making music to combat an evil force of ninja wombats sent to destroy Earth? The story is completely up to you! There are only a few ground rules to follow:

1) No cussin’ ! We would like to feature the stories on a blog once you start sending them in. They don’t have to be rated G…just don’t get too raunchy!

2) Don’t write us a book. Keep it to a paragraph or two; our collective attention span is pretty shor…. oh look a bird!

We will judge the stories based on creativity, coherence, and overall amusement. One Grand Prize Winner will receive a USB drive filled with tons of TCBTB goodies…including both of our Deep Elm albums, the ultra-rare “We Were Children” album (TJ’s original, acoustic-based album that gave birth to the band), rare videos…not to mention a three-song “stripped-down” Cast performance video JUST FOR YOU! Pick your three favorite TCBTB songs and we will record a mini-concert for you, and include it on the USB drive.

Three runners up will receive a mini-prize pack, which will include an autographed copy of “Still,” a poster, and stickers.

Send your stories to us at tcbtbmusic@gmail.com….include your name and “The Story Before the Cast Contest” in the subject line. We look forward to seeing what you all come up with! The contest will run from now through July 1st. 

Want a new song? It’s easy!

If you’ve been on Facebook at all in the last 24 hours, you’ve probably seen us harassing you to help us win a spot at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival. I don’t need to tell you what a surreal experience it would be for us to be able to perform amongst bands we so greatly admire. So, we decided we’d pay you back in exchange for a couple minutes of your time.

Yes, we have been revisiting some songs we started writing a while back, and I’m finishing up an acoustic version of one of those new, never-before-heard songs as we speak. In order to receive a free copy of this song (aptly titled “Hindsight”) all you need to do is spread the word of our contest on Facebook. In the news feed, on your friends’ walls - the more, the better!

Here’s the link to post: 
The Cast Before the Break for Bonnaroo

All people need to do is click “Download” - it counts as a vote for us AND you get a free copy of our song “Sleep” too. So that’s 2 free songs for a facebook post (and/or a tweet)! Not bad! Feel free to get as creative as you like. Just make sure you tag The Cast Before the Break in your posts so we can get you your free song!

Thank you so much for your support, and we hope this pays off! See you on stage…
<3 TJ, TCBTB

Live

We are proud to announce our first few shows since coming off hiatus. We hope to see some of your lovely faces at them!

May 6th in Oneonta, NY @ a House Show
w/ Galleries + TBA

May 21st in Albany, NY @ Valentine’s (Upstairs)
w/ Lucky Jukebox Brigade + 2 more TBA

At these first 2 shows, we want to play what YOU want to hear. So definitely leave us some feedback on our Facebook page. Serious requests only, please!!
<3

AYSTOY

This month marks the 3 year anniversary of “As Your Shoulders Turn On You” - our first release as a full band (other than TJ’s original solo album, “We Were Children”). Recorded during the Fall and Winter of 2007 - 2008 in dorm rooms and our campus recording studio, AYSTOY garnered a lot of attention and praise that we never expected, but were truly thankful for. One of my proudest memories of those first years as a band was our “release” show for the album, performed in the infamous ROOM 212 classroom on SUNY Oneonta’s campus. We played the album from front to back in a room packed with friends, fellow students, and some folks that we were not close with at the time…but would become lasting friends (including Garrett and John from the amazing band ATHLETICS - seriously, check them out). While the performance was far from perfect or without technical difficulties, it was the first night personally where it all clicked, and left me saying, “Hey, let’s do something with this.” Thank you to everyone who bought ASYTOY, supported the songs off it, and helped us really make something of an album we worked hard on. A band’s success is not determined by the music alone, but by how the people who love it respond and help it blossom. AYSTOY is just as much your album as it is ours. 
Here’s to the future…;)

-Jojo 

P.S. For those curious, our line-up for that 212 show was:
TJ Foster - vocals, guitar / Jeremy Carter - guitar / Jordan Stewart - guitar / John Cannon - bass / Ben Hemingway - drums

Documentary…

Our music was recently used in a documentary for the now defunct band, Bless You Boys. We are very honored, and feel the film perfectly captures the struggles of an unsigned band in a modern economy. Keep an eye out for a proper release of it, and in the meantime, check out the singer’s solo work here: http://www.christopherandrus.com/