The ARZ Universe: Progressive Rock Band from Portland Oregon - ARZ - News

Working on new material

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

ARZ is currently working on some new material for an upcoming album, and are finalizing the release of their album Turn of the Tide. Stay tuned for more news about the album!

Led Zeppelin Tribute Band Formed

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

How Ramble On Formed
Steve Adams http://www.myspace.com/steveadamsarz had been interested in forming a tribute band for a while, and since his main guitar gods are Steve Howe and Jimmy Page, he wanted to consider doing a Led Zeppelin tribute band. Since he had already been in a Yes tribute band with the singer Rich Ray http://www.myspace.com/176211180 , he knew that he was a talented singer, and would do a great job with a Led Zeppelin tribute. Steve and Merrill Hale http://www.myspace.com/merrillhale the drummer have also worked together in several projects, including ARZ (progressive rock duo) http://www.thearzuniverse.com/ , and All Good People (Yes tribute band) http://www.myspace.com/yesallgoodpeople . Merrill also loves Led Zeppelin, and John Bonham was one of his earliest drum idols. He spent his teenage years playing a lot of Led Zeppelin tunes, and so doing this project was a natural for him, since he had already gotten to know the intricacies of all of the fills and so on. And Chael Emmett the bass player from the Tina S. Marie band http://www.myspace.com/tinaemmett also knows the group, having been involved in supporting each others projects, and socially as well. The group is excited to start this new project, and at their first practice, Merrill’s wife Karen was pleasantly surprised at how polished their sound was already, considering it was only their first rehearsal. Ramble On is excited to start playing shows around ....Portland...., and share their love for Led Zeppelin.

Dante's show review

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Here is a review that Angel from Melophobe did of our show at Donte's on July 1st 09. http://www.melophobe.com/concert-reviews/obscured-by-clouds-echo-helstrom-arz-dantes-portland-or/

Review of ARZ show on Aural Moon

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Pete posted a really nice review of our last show on the Aural Moon forum. Thanks Pete! :)

Here's the thread:

http://auralmoon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4556

And a link to Aural Moon Progressive Rock Radio

http://auralmoon.com

Turn Of The Tide CD cover art

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Being a musician, all that you want to do is create music. At least that is the case for me. But the creation of music alone does not a successful band make. All the other components of trying to make your band successful encompass so much more. The crux of the issue is that for this musician those components lie in the camp of promotion. “Ewwww”, I say! “Can’t we just hire someone to do all this?” As I sweep the cobwebs from our band lockbox checking to see if we have the funds to these people. Damn, it looks like that no.1 single isn’t going to be written today. Time to self promote ...

Some aspects of promotion are better than others though, so it’s not such a heavy sigh. And you get to use the right side of your brain more than your left, which always hurts a lot less. Those “creative” aspects of promotion are designing logos, making graphics, laying out websites, etc. It’s almost fun to do at times when you’re completely bored.

As our new album quickly approaches its completion, it is still without any art work to accompany it. Not even a concept has been discussed. This album has taken a exactly one year to the month from first note written to final mastering, and we still didn’t have a clue what the damn cover was going to look like. Steve and I are starting to write new songs for our next album and Turn of The Tide is still without its defining visuals. “Can’t we just hire someone to…”

Time to get working! I have a bit of Photoshop experience. Spent many years as a draftsman, so that kind of qualifies as being sorta-kinda artistic. So I have at this monumental task without a clue if where to start. Months earlier I did design a logo for the band that a lot of people seemed to like, but like all artists, I feel it could be much better. But since people like it, I use it. And I’m going to start with that. Thinking that this is the first ARZ recording since the inception of the logo, let’s have this album cover introduce the new look ARZ. Sounds good to me. Ok, now I have a starting point. Can we end this now? Unfortunately, no. Generic brand ARZ is not what we’re selling here with a black logo on a white background. I need something else interesting to look at.

My almost professional-like web browsing skills produced a neat little program called Genetica Viewer that generates these really cool textures. Add a bit of texture, a cool font or two and some shading, I end up with something that I kinda-sorta like looking at.

You can preview and view the artwork as it is the new background of our myspace page. I would love to read your opinions posted here.

Yours truly,

Merrill Hale (ARZ drummer and sorta-kinda artist)

Show announced for September 12th

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

Community Music Center

7 pm

3350 SE Francis

Portland OR 97202 USA

ARZ will be playing songs from their upcoming album at the Community Music Center. We would love it if you joined us!

And our opening act is Chris Hubbard, which we are excited about. Here is his bio:

My name is Mont Chris Hubbard; I am a musician from Portland, OR. I play keyboards and sing in a number of different bands around town. I also write and arrange music, for theatre as well as for myself. In 2008, I began a project of piano improvisations. It was quite extensive, and yielded over seven hours of music, including my two new CDs.

http://www.cdbaby.com/all/montchrishubbard

Birth of a Hero and Shadow on the Wall Live at Columbia City Theater

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

ARZ playing Birth of a Hero at Columbia City Theater in Seattle, WA.

And here is Shadow on the Wall

Some upcoming ARZ shows

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Friday, June 26th, 2009 (Seattle)
First of all, ARZ http://www.thearzuniverse.com/ is playing in Seattle tomorrow night with Obscured by Clouds http://www.myspace.com/obscuredbycloudsband and Echo Helstrom http://www.echohelstrom.net/. They will be at Columbia City Theater with the famed Laser-Light Show of Mindbender who designed software & lasers for many planetarium & museums laser Floyd fantasy shows across the N.W. & U.S., including Australian Floyd, Burning Man and OMSI! Hang with them and have a microbrew with extra lasers!

When: June 26, Friday
Doors open at 8:00pm, ARZ playing from 9 — 9:45 pm
Venue:
Columbia City Theater
4916 Rainier Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98118
US
Cost: $10

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 (Portland)
ARZ is again playing with Obscured by Clouds, Love Grenades and Echo Helstrom, this time at Dante’s in Portland. This is a really important show for ARZ, so they would love it if you came out to support them.
When: July 1, Wednesday
Doors open at 8:00pm, ARZ playing from 9 — 9:45 pm
Venue: Dante’s
1 SW 3rd, Portland, Oregon 97204
Cost: $6

Friday, July 10th, 2009 (Portland)
White Eagle
ARZ with Toxic Zombie and the Quintessentials - 9 pm
836 N Russell St
Portland OR 97227
USA
Price: $5
Here is a line-up for the White Eagle show:
1 - Jim Strange -The Dammed and the Proud
2. ARZ
3. TOXIC ZOMBIE
4. THE QUINTESSENTIALS

Friday, July 31st, 2009 (Portland)
The Red Room
ARZ and Tina S. Marie - 9 PM
2530 NE 82nd ave
Portland OR 97220
USA
ARZ will be playing with Tina S. Marie! Check her out at www.myspace.com/tinaemmett

Band Life and other stuff

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Hello friends,

Just wanted to clue you in on what is happening on the ARZ front. Merrill and I have finished recording tracks for the upcoming album that we call “Turn of the Tide,” and are currently mixing and somewhat exhausted from the endeavor. The title tends to accurately surmise the lyrical flow and general context of each song: namely, that transition, confrontation, and change are thematic and consistent throughout the album.

And”¦we have been rehearsing our butts off. We just finished a show on March 21st which went reasonably well compared to past shows. Doing what we are doing, combining technology, our insistence on playing our material live without pre-recorded tracks, creating new roles as players (meaning that being just a drummer and guitarist no longer exist in our idiom) has completely changed how we perform and how comfortable we feel when performing. So, we play our tunes over and over.

This highly concentrated effort becomes tedious after awhile. After an intense practice session I usually break into an improv of some bluesy I-IV-V thing rife with adjunct lyrical commentary; Merrill supports the effort with the obligatory 4/4 boom chuck. Tunes such as “Smell my finger” and “You know what I mean” have blossomed from these spontaneous jams. On reflection on these creations we usually quip “if these tunes were released we’d have instant success” and “to hell with art!” Hmmm”¦perhaps a bootleg in the near future?

We hope to perform more and get consistently better and more comfortable playing these tunes: and the songs are freakin’ hard to play!

I know”¦”stop your whining” you say. Well, I guess we are pretty darn lucky just having the musical freedom to create anything we want without the pressure of trying to appeal to a certain demographic. Ah”¦the pleasures of not being signed to a record label (However, if any of you record label folks are reading this please contact us!).

Both Merrill and I have had our share of trying to “make it” in this industry. Why not simply be honest with yourself musically and if something happens great; if not, you’re still enjoying what you do. What more can we do as artists?

First show with new material

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Please come join us for our first show with new material from our upcoming album. We'd love it if you joined us!

ARZ will be playing last, at 12:30 am.

9 bands , starting the evening at 6p.m.
With Fred Korman & Michael Allen Harrison,
Alexa Wily, Upper Left Trio, Our Special Country Guests (check dantes myspace) ,Tony Starlight,
Tina S.Marie Band, Kenny Lee and the Sundowners, Michael Manning and the Carolina Pump Station &

ARZ...12:30am

what a line up!!!
PLUS SPECIAL GUEST STARS!
More Information: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/46875

A BENEFIT FOR DANTE...

BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET..

TAKE MY HAND.

LIFE IS WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU

WHILE YOU'RE BUSY MAKING OTHER PLANS...

FRIDAY, NOV. 7TH, 2008 6PM-2 AM

BOSSANOVA BALLROOM

(503) 233-7855
722 E Burnside St
Portland, OR

$10.00 suggested donation per person

I Invite you to Join us in helping to raise funds for medical bills for Dante Emmett.

Dante is the son of Chael and Tina Emmett

from the Tina S. Marie Band.

Dante has autism and is 7 years old.

After being mis-diagnosed he was finally admitted to Legacy with a ruptured appendix. He was already in sepsis, they had to wait until September 2ND for the surgery as they dealt with 10 days of hospitalization and weeks of antibioticsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

The Emmett's do not have medical insurance and are now facing $50,000 plus medical bills.

Can you help?

Please join us.

We will also have a raffle and a silent auction.

All donations; cash, items as well as

gift certificates for services accepted.

Cash Donations accepted at

Oregon & Washington WaMu Locations

Under 'Benefit 4 Dante'.

Doors open at 6pm,

entertainment starts at 7pm.

Full stock bar.