Greetings friends of TLK,

After several promises of new songs we are finally delivering! Actually there are a couple more near completion as well! We are proud to present you Paranoia, the first of several tunes to be part of our yet-untitled second album (any suggestions from the fans? We aim to please!).

This song proved to be a sonic chameleon of sorts… It started life in a previous version of TLK, with a much more laid back and less intense approach. When Rand sat behind the skins, this was our first chance to work together in shaping a tune. As you can see/hear, the result is groove-filled and chock-full of guitar parts, courtesy of the production/engineering/writing efforts of the band as a whole. The song is obviously about those uneasy feelings we all get once in a while, and we hope to have captured that tension in the music as well.

We are very excited about the new songs, and this first release was proof that a back-to-basics production was not only possible on a budget, but that we enjoy the final product and the process that much more! All of the instruments, drums, guitars, and bass are mic’d; not a drop of digital modeling on this record. That’s right friends, we are going old school! Les Pauls and Firebirds into loud Marshalls, low end from the bass and thunder from drums, all achieved the way things should and used to be! We would like to thank Dom Mancini and the guys at Celestial Effects for being a cornerstone of our sound! Their Aquarius, Virgo, and Scorpio are allover Paranoia, better tone-tools do not exist out there, both in sound and build quality, and they have absolutely, hands down the best customer service!

We hope you enjoy Paranoia, yet don’t suffer from it! Keep rocking!

Greetings friends of TLK,

It is with great enthusiasm that we have been made a featured artist on the website for Celestial Effects (www.celestialeffects.com)!  I have been in close communication with Dom at Celestial Effects and will be using two (so far ) of their stomp boxes, the Aquarius Fuzz and the Scorpio Super Boost.  These will be featured heavily in the upcoming tunes we are laying down, and of course, roaring live through my JCM 800.  We are thankful for the great communication and kind words the good folks at Celestial Effects shared with us and we wish them great success!  Keep stompin' and rockin'!

Gio from TLK

Greetings friends of TLK, Seems like the blogs always start with “it has been a long time since…” which is no fault of technology, but simply the avalanche of daily situations which push the things we actually enjoy doing to the next day, and then the next day and then the next day… Well, as I sit here, inspiration hits and time to reconnect with the world at large. Since the last time TLK updated our blog a lot of things have changed. The most significant of these changes is certainly the departure of founding member and master drummer Sato Wood. Life is a constantly changing, always dynamic, and regularly shifting (hello redundancy!) thing, and due to reasons far too many and far too boring for the world at large, this change happened. Sato is a dear friend, absolutely great guy, and his presence, skill, and baby blues will be missed. Jason, Shoosh, and I wish “Satolicious” all the best and that he and his family are filled with love, joy, good health, and success! Although the previous paragraph described a seemingly gloomy situation, that is not the case at all. We are very excited to have Rand E Lempert join the drum chair with TLK. Jason and Rand go way back in their music history and we are well on the way to cutting drums for our second record. Rand has incredible groove, a thunderous right foot kick drum, and looks great in pink! He also enjoys quiet walks in the afternoon, is a Leo, and has a penchant for the finer things in life, like Miller High Life! I hope that inspiration keeps coming my way to update the blogs with more frequency. I likely will start blabbering about guitars, amps, and stuff… Much love, keep rocking! Gio from TLK

 Greetings friends of TLK,

It has been a long while since our last communication, and life is sort of to blame for this. Busy work schedules, heartbreaks, long distance love, life-changing events, and the fact that we have played a lot of shows recently are all culprits in the orchestra of silence that has been our communication. Certainly all of these things will make for great songwriting! I would like to take this time however to bring everyone to speed on what is happening with us.

First and foremost you will all notice that Loren, our fierce “Mack Truck of Bass” has departed TLK. No no no, there is nothing wrong with him and Loren is one of our best friends; his depart was amicable and our last show together was a great farewell. The guys from Days Before headlined and it was a happy night! Loren has switched duties for the time being from being a badass bass player to being a badass new daddy to a little girl! Jason, Sato, and myself are very happy for him and his wife and send all of the best vibes to the Dietzel family! We certainly will miss him on stage, but hope occasionally he will make the time to have a couple of beers; after all, daddy needs his “happy juice”!

Well, maybe being a scientist and a guitar player should take a back seat in my life, because being a psychic certainly has worked well in one front! Or maybe I need some more data points… Anyhow, it is with great enthusiasm that we welcome the one, the only, Shoosh back into the band. We played our first show reunited with our original bass player last Saturday and it was great seeing that caramel face across the stage! It really was a magical night of music; a songbird from Venezuela opened the show, and I have to tell you, you guys have got to check out Melissa Savic! She is both super talented and gorgeous like the day is long. An acoustic set by “Witness to Fall” set the stage for the following act. We also had a chance to meet an up and coming band from Vancouver called “Stella”. Great guys who put on a high-powered set of hardcore RAWK. They are on a national tour of the US, and if they happen upon your town, check them out for sure!

In other news, we are actively starting to write and record new material so stay tuned friends!

Keep rocking,

Gio from TLK

Time is a ruthless constant in our existence. If fears nothing, and in its linearity cares little for what it is that humans strive to achieve; when time makes a decision, we see the fragility of the human condition. The Liquid Kitchen is an experience in synchronicity far too great to be ignored; a true exercise in the perfect alignment of time. The meeting of the four members, Jason, Sato, Shoosh, and myself (Gio) is nothing short of a made-for-TV “had to happen” moment that not even pubescent magi like Zack Morris himself could conjure up. We have made great music together and built a collaborative effort that is the envy of most bands. We have rocked stages from Houston to Ft. Worth and Austin. It has been a great journey, with many laughs, many drunken nights, much stress, and nothing short of joy! It is however a journey that has arrived at that ultimate cliché in life; the fork on the road where decisions have to be made. It is with a heavy heart and a glad spirit that we see our dear friend and virtuoso bass player Neeraz “Shoosh” Rajbhandari departing the band. Indeed it is a bittersweet moment, since we know that this progression in his life is something very special for him and his wife Anu. Shoosh will be a perennial member of TLK, always welcome in our lives and on stage. We wish that our paths continually cross and that he and his wife are incredibly successful in their endeavors! We love you Shoosh.

As time tends to be a bastard-whore of a mother, it can also be a gentle hand. The synchronicity within TLK does not stop and just so happens that one Loren Dietzel has become available and ready to start rocking with TLK. Loren is an old friend of both Jason and Sato’s and even played in the now defunct Red #7 with them. Loren departed Savage Evolution, as did all of the other members of that fine band (much to our rocking chagrin) but like the wild coyote of the desert who eats the heart of the young, and like the Jesus who has giant eagle wings and sings lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd, he has the itch to play rock and roll again and TLK will scratch it! We welcome Loren into our family of rock and roll and look forward to working with him. Who knows, if you guys are lucky you will get two see two of the finest bass players in America sharing the stage! And now that Loren is in the band, it is time for me to go look for a Jack Daniel’s sponsorship, although any cheap booze will do.

All the best and keep rocking,

Gio from TLK

Greetings all, TLK had the amazing opportunity to play Austin last night.  It was a tiring day for the "musical warriors" of TLK.  Day jobs, loading gear, driving to the gig, playing, hanging out, drinking, and driving back all in one day's work.  It was a toal of 12 hours in a marathon for the sakes of rock!  We played at a very nice venue located on 5th St called Gruv;  It was an exclusive Houston party at SxSW to reperesent all of the good musical stuff that happens here.  We must give a special thanks to Grace Rodriguez for being the master mind behind the event and for Matthew Wettergreen for his support.  We actually had a great crowd response, sold some CD's, sold some T-shirts, and made contacts in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Newy York.  What a great opportunity it was.  Needless to say I am tired today, but still here at work trying to save lives!  Until next time friends, keep rocking! 

-Gio from TLK

 Greetings friends of TLK, Jason and myself had the opportunity to meet with Matthew Wettergreen, PhD (matthewwettergreen.com) from a very exciting think-tank and action group located here in Houston called "Caroline Collective" (www.carolinecollective.cc) that is aimed to: "... positively impact the cultural landscape of Houston by fostering community, collaboration and creativity across all artistic and technological disciplines."  The meeting was an enlightening experience, as Dr. Wettergreen opened our minds about what it takes to be a successful band.  Personally I am excited to know that there are individuals who are not only focused on discussing the advancement of Houston in arts and technology, (so it's claim to being the 4th largest city in the country is not solely based on the population urban sprawl) but also being successful at implenting their ideas!  As time allows I am going to consider volunteering...  Keep rocking!

-gio from TLK

 Greetings friends of TLK, one exciting news we would like to share is that TLK has been playing in Moscow Russia.  We were contacted by the Radio Ultra station (ultramista@mail.ru), a rock station with over 200,000 listeners daily!  Join the TLK wave and keep rocking!

gio from TLK

Greetings friends of TLK, we are happy to announce that our website, theliquidkitchen.net is ready for you!  We are using the best of internet synchronizing capabilities to merge our myspace, facebook, and website pages for your convenience.  Now you can find TLK allover the internet whether you have a myspace account or not.  On all of our sites you will find, news, upcoming shows, blogs, videos, pictures, and music available for purchase.  Visit often and join our mailing list.  All the best!

Gio from TLK

Greetings all, TLK proudly announces the release of “Serial Killer,” one of our newest tunes. Undoubtedly “Serial Killer” is our most eclectic mix of sounds thus far recorded. The genesis of the song is a typical situation for TLK. The original concept for the tune was brought to the “Kitchen table” by Jason and was inspired by the “satanic muse” of Metal Sanaz herself! Jason originally had a much more, for lack of better words, jazzy approach to the tune which would change drastically in the verses. After considerable toiling over drum parts, the groove was established by Sato’s versatile variations of rhythmic feels. There was some frustration to capture the right vibe, but as always Sato delivers creative and solid drums. Shoosh as always laid down the “big-bottom” in a very short time (damn that kid is talented!), including the jazzy interludes that appear right before the guitar solo. The bulk of time was spent in the rest of the process. Guitar parts, including fills, solos, and sonic character was to say the least… painstaking! A few nights at Jason’s home studio after long hours of day job toils, and as always about 100 tracks of experimentation, yielded the Link Wray-like verse guitar tracks. Add a bit of delay and some tremolo, and DAMN that sounds nice! The song builds to a rocking chorus with harmonized vocals and distorted rock goodness… Just to bring you back down. Fear not listeners; get through the second mellow part and lush clean guitar sounds, and “Serial Killer” rocks until the end. The end breakdown is an experiment in dynamic tension and a bit of finger-picking. Eclectic? YES! Rocking? YES! Thanks to the images and stories from Metal Sanaz herself (who by the way has no idea who we are… YET), “Serial Killer” is not about disturbed white males form 23-30 who chase women based on hair color or astrological sign, it is instead a signal to those that danger and vulnerability can stem from both male and female! Weaker sex my ass!