bitethehand.org

Aqus Cafe

Posted on April 16th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Operation:Venue, The Crux, Music, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Events.

In the city of Petaluma, there is a little cafe called Aqus. This place, tucked on H Street, away from the hustle of downtown, is an amazing hub of community activity! Every Saturday morning, people gather here to listen to music. Aqus hosts films, art shows, knitting groups, discussions, and political forums! They even produce an online newsletter that is rich with community news and contributions! A local business with real heart- CHEERS TO AQUS!

Drop on by at 189 H Street, or check them out at the web at www.aquscafe.com

And this Saturday, the 19th… THE CRUX will be playing at Aqus Cafe in the morning! Come see the official musicians of Bite the Hand Productions at Aqus!

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What a Day!

Posted on April 7th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Operation:Venue, Bite the Hand Society, The Underground Free Press, Soundings, Food Not Bombs, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Music, Events.

Yesterday we had a great event at Bite the Hand Studios to bring attention to The Underground Free Press! It was great! We had three computers set up for people to explore what TUFP is up to, and we had lots of live music. The Semi-Evolved Simians, Bill Wild, Mark Growden, Batman Versus Predator, The Highlands, Hannah Simone, Hanna Manfredi, and Andrew Maurer and more performed! There was also drumming and jamming in the backyard and Food Not Bombs food for everyone!

This was Bite the Hand’s first official “sounding,” and event that pairs local artists wit local activists. Yesterday we were celebrating and exploring the amazing things that The Underground Free Press is doing to strengthen the music scene in Sonoma County. Together with groups like The Underground Free Press, Operation Venue, Lost Lamp, Buildings Building Themselves, and others, we are really beginning to transform out community into something very powerful. This is a really good thing, folks.

Be sure to check out The Underground Free Press here: www.theundergroundfreepress.com

When will our next Sounding event be? What musical acts will perform? What local activist group will be featured? Keep dropping by our website and keep picking up The Pharmakon tp stay informed…

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Community Music This Sunday!

Posted on April 3rd, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Operation:Venue, The Underground Free Press, Soundings, Tim Dixon's Art, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Events.

This Sunday we will be enjoying a day of music and learning about “The Underground Free Press” and other ways to improve the musical scene in Sonoma County. The poster below shows the line-up. Take a look- it is going to be a GREAT show!

Come on by anytime! Bring a friend or two!

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The Underground Free Press

Posted on April 1st, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: The Underground Free Press, Operation:Venue, Music, Local Businesses and Non-Profits.

Dave and Jay are two people working to make Sonoma County a better place to live. They have created an organization called “The Underground Free Press” that serves as a hub for local artists to meet and publicize their shows. Bite the Hand Productions is in full support of their mission of strengthening our cultural scene, and we want to share what they do with more people.

Their goal is to publish a monthly paper that focuses on local music.  They currently have a very efficient website where you can post and view shows by city. Check it out here: The Underground Free Press Online

The Underground Free Press is working with The Semi-Evolved Simians are putting on an all-day event this Sunday at Bite the Hand Studios (935 Spencer Street in Santa Rosa)! Come and learn more about The Underground Free Press while listening to great local music. Suggested donation of $4. Call 326-5274 for more details.

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Bill

Posted on March 18th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Operation:Venue, Soundings, Music, Events.

Bill is one of the greatest songwriters we have ever heard.  We had the fortunate experience of meeting him at a punk show at Doyle Park last year and we have been happy to invite him to many Bite the Hand  events ever since.  He usually plays around Petaluma, with or without his band, “Three Mile Island.”  His songs are  amazing and provocative and this man was made to perform on stage.  You need to see him to understand.

He also has a great relationship with Bite the Hand Productions. With Three Mile Island, Bill blew people’s minds at our Pharmakon Six Month Spectacular in November. He also was a surprise star at our Quilt Day last month.  Most recently, he opened for The Crux at Toad in the Hole. The repeating shows that The Crux are putting on in Railroad Square are a key part of our “Operation Venue” project, and we are really glad that Bill could help us get more local acts into legitimate venues in Santa Rosa.  It was a great night and we are glad that the public was able to meet Bill.

If you haven’t heard him, then you have to.  Artists like this are very important and our communities would do well to make room for singers like Bill and to listen to what he has to say.  His songs are very powerful things.

Catch Bill at 935 Spencer Street on April 6th! He will be playing at Bite the Hand Productions’ first official “Sounding.” The Semi-Evolved Simians and The Underground Free Press are teaming up to put the show on. The show will be going on during the day, but keep checking out this website for a more exact schedule…

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And Now… The Bite the Hand Society!

Posted on February 9th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Our Webpage, Operation:Venue, Bite the Hand Society, Needs/Haves, Music, Events, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Workshops.

Bite the Hand Productions is founding a society at Sonoma State University! We will be using the society to provide more artistic and activist opportunities for university students and for our local community. Here are three main goals of that we will be working on:

1. To hold activities on campus that involve making food, art, and community. This entails workshops, field trips, discussions, publications, and demonstrations.
2. To serve as an interface between local artist/activists and the university population. This means arranging ways for local groups to get on campus and share what they do with the student body and faculty. It also involves bringing students out to local events.
3. To publish students’ work in The Pharmakon periodical and to distribute The Pharmakon throughout the university.

We are going through the chartering process right now and will be having meetings and events very soon! Keep checking our web site for updates!

Are you a JC or SSU student? We want to have more members among SSU students. We also want to start up a society at the JC. E-mail us at thepharmakon@gmail.com if you are interested!

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Punk

Posted on January 28th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Local Punk Events, Operation:Venue, The Crux, Music, Events.

As of late, Bite the Hand Studios has been ground-zero for a number of punk shows. We’re proud to host these men and women.  They are rowdy and respectful, and most of them are always glad to help out.  Bite the Hand Productions has been keeping a good relationship with our local punk collectives, and here’s why:

The punks have a lot of good things going, and the rest of the world would do well to take notes, or better yet- start attending some punk gatherings. What they have is a very tight community that is centered around music. Their “Do It Yourself” (DIY or DIE) ethic is very strong, and they know how to create their own venues in private houses and in public spaces like Doyle Park. They are not satisfied with what they are getting from the establishment, and they have built a counterculture that is standing pretty well on its own.

Bite the Hand Productions wants to see more openness and networking between other local DIY-centered groups and the punks.  All the permaculture activists, all the independent labels, all the grassroots organizers, and all the brave artists in the county can learn something from the punk community- and can teach the punks something, too.  No group is an island, and Bite the Hand Productions is determined to connect the many amazing communities in Sonoma County.

SO… Come on out to a show this weekend featuring The Crux (from Bite the Hand) and the Fistifuks (from the North Bay Pirate Punx). This historic musical meeting between the punks and Bite the Hand Productions will take place on February 2nd at The Boogie Room. Come on down!

In the meantime, here are some websites for more punk-related information:

• The Pirate Punx are a HUGE network of punks that runs up and down the coast. Here is the web site for the North Bay chapter: North Bay Pirate Punx Myspace
• The Lost Boys are a local punk collective who put on frequent shows: North Bay Lost Boys Myspace
• Wendol is a local pirate punk band: Wendol Myspace
• PMRC is a local punk band. Check out their web site for videos and more: http://www.fuckthepmrc.com/
• Anger as a Gift is another local group: Anger As a Gift Myspace
• The Fistifuks are another local Pirate Punk Band. They are playing with The Crux on Feb 2nd: Fistifuks Myspace

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Making Places in Sonoma County

Posted on January 27th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Operation:Venue, Bikes Buses and Trains, The Crux, Music, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Philosophy.

A place is space that people live in. It is space that is made for interaction, not passing through. It is for memory-making, entertainment, exploration, and chance encounters. You may notice that places are a bit lacking around here. What we mostly have are private spaces and roads between them. Places are not just in-between “here” and “there.” They are the places where our community lives. Real community places are something we need to build. We need to build them together and we need to start immediately.

There is a project of Bite the Hand Productions called “Operation: Venue.” By holding events and meetings, we will be using this project to start making more livable public places in Sonoma County. We want to start getting more of our local artists and activists together to make our shared spaces more interesting and more open to live music. If you are interested in getting together and organizing some place-making events around here, drop us a line!In the meantime, here are two groups you might want to check out for more background:

• The Project for Public Spaces is a group based in New York that has some great information on “placemaking.” Here’s their website: www.pps.org
• Know Your Neighbor is a Sonoma County based group that works to organize neighborhoods and create more livable communities Their website is here: www.conservationaction.org (Come to the Know Your Neighbor event this Thursday at the Rialto Cinemas! The Crux are playing there to play music for this amazing local group! The post is below)

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The Crux and a Movie!

Posted on January 22nd, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Operation:Venue, The Crux, Music, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Events.

The Crux are providing the entertainment for Sonoma County Conservation Action’s upcoming Know Your Neighbor event- A movie night at the Rialto Cinemas!

The movie will be Baraka.  It is an amazing film that takes the viewer all over the world.  Click HERE for information on this great film.

Santa Rosa City Council candidate Michael Allen will be speaking, there will be a free raffle, and a silent auction, and THE CRUX in the lobby, playing songs for you.

It all goes down at 7pm on January 31st.  Tickets are $10.  Call Jenna Brager at (7007) 571-8868 to buy one TODAY!  Bring a date!

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Some Thoughts on The Boogie Room and Gardens

Posted on January 12th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: The Boogie Room and Gardens, Operation:Venue, Needs/Haves, Local Businesses and Non-Profits, Events, Philosophy.

It was about a year ago that The Boogie Room and Gardens was founded. It has been a crazy whirlwind of activity ever since! What a success! Through the Boogie Room and Gardens, our community has accomplished many things:

We have created a venue of our own. The shows that go on the The Boogie Room stretch the definition of what a house show can be. Here we can see the amazing possibilities that come with having our own space.

We have created our own community garden! Lots of people are getting the opportunity to practice agriculture at the garden at Todd Road. Growing our own food is very important and we are only scratching the surface of The Boogie Room and Gardens’ 10 acres.

We have a team of people who are really working together to build a community. We are talking about the core of this project: Kyle and Kyle, Mark, Ryan, Keri, Andre, Nicko, and Bryce. This crew is doing something very special. They are taking the leap and creating a strong community foundation with one another.

This is a serious step and a big bite. Please, support this community project and donate when you go there. Be sure to bring visiting friends and family there to spread the word.  Also, in the springtime they will be needing volunteers, so contact them and help out!

It is a project for everyone in the community.  The Boogie Room and Gardens is in it for the long haul. They are working on getting non-profit status and reaching out to more people. How can we help?

Check out the Boogie Room and Gardens online by clicking here: Boogie Room Myspace

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