The Heartfelt Apologies

The music wheels are turning...

2006-10-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hello y'alls! Melissa postin!
Friday I met up with new guitarist Steve. He's a cool guy originally from rural New Brunswick. We got along really well and I' m meeting up with him again soon to teach him some of our songs!
Also, I put an add out on craigslist for any band that needs a singer (so I can perform in the meantime while Steve and I hash things out).
Its a slow start up, but hopefully things pick up soon. And no one ever guaranteed success here. This was just a fun idea that COULD lead to success.
I know that all of you out there believe in me, but this is a very tough line of "work" and I am currently finding myself fairly overwhelmed.
Thanks to everyone for their continued support, and I will keep you posted.
Melissa OUT!

Far from home...

2006-10-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hello all!
Melissa here from The Heartfelt Apologies!
I'm in Montreal as we speak, sitting on my bed and trying to get my head straight about this whole trip/change of life.
I went out today to take a look at the neighbourhood, such a change from home.
So much brick! Its everywhere!
I was greeted this morning by overcast skies (to remind me of home), but it is terribly muggy and gross.
The Montreal Pop music fest is happening soon and I'm going to go and check out bands and scenes.
But that's not for a few days yet. Going to be all alone for Thanksgiving. I feel kind of sad about that, but alas.
I'll keep this short and sweet,
Toodles,
Mels

I Guess I'll Sing a Solo. (So Low That You Can't Hear Me...)

2006-09-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Andrew Here kids.

Well, it's actually happening. Melissa is heading to Montreal, Quebec on October 2nd. Her flight leaves at 9am and I will be going out to the airport to see her on her way.

I feel really weird about all of this. I'm sure I feel nothing along the lines of the emotions that my sister must be feeling right now. After all, she's the one moving, not me. Still, I feel weird. I know that we obviously won't be performing together for a while. I'll still be writing music and sending her the mp3's through the good ol' I-net, but it won't be the same as collaborating in the same room. Sometimes we just hit these awesome peaks of spontaneity and the next thing you know we've got a song written. One day we hit a record four songs! But now that'll all change.

Montreal and the eastern cities seem to be great hot-beds of musical change in Canada. I can understand my sister's wanting to go there and test the waters (so to speak). She'll be reforming The Heartfelt Apologies there without me. This means finding a new guitarist and possibly a bassist and drummer. And if any of them can sing back-up then all the better.

Does this mean I'm no longer an active member of the band? ...HA! I'm still here! No, this band has always been about the musical insanity created by my sister and myself. I'll be heading to Montreal to play gigs whenever she gets things established.

As for moving there permanently, well... I absolutely love Burnaby. I have many friends here and I really enjoy my job. My wife likes her job too, and is currently in University for Interior Design. Picking up and moving to a heavily cemented area with freezing cold winters where 50 percent of the population doesn't speak english really has zero appeal with me. But, if it's for the band then my wife and I have decided we'll bite the bullet. ANYTHING FOR THE BAND!

I think the thing that bothers me the most about having my sister leave is that she's family. Having my Mom and Dad and my sister was a great thing for me growing up. We are a very loving family and always very supportive of each other in our ventures. But now an element of that close-knit togetherness is moving half-way across the freaking country.

I think my wife described it best when she said (Not a direct quote but pretty close): "Your sister is a massive part of your life. There are things that you can talk and laugh about that only you two have experienced. You know each other's sense of humour and sense of everything so well 'cause you grew up together. There's that thing you get from being around siblings that you just can't get from being around friends, parents, etc..."

This is true. There are times when we've been in my brother-in-laws car heading to a gig, and the four of us will be in there (my sister, my brother-in-law, my wife and myself) and Melissa or I will say something and the other of us will laugh, but neither my wife nor my brother-in-law will see the humour. This has happened a few times and I think that's what I'll miss the most. We understand each other on that odd level. This is also why I think we work so well together as a band. We do it on that odd level. I believe this is what results in our great songs and bursts of creativity. This is something that I will miss.

Well, I've rambled on long enough. I wish my sister the best of luck and I know all of you reading this will be sure to come out to our:

"Going Away" gig happening on September 29th at 8pm. We'll be performing for 2+ hours at THE ANNEX on #307 West Cordova Street in Gastown. Great pizza and drinks and great entertainment provided by us.

Thanks,

Andrew

Hectic Summer

2006-08-09T00:46:00.000-07:00

The Heartfelt Apologies have not forgotten you or the Blogging community! We have been super busy with all things music! Attached is a picture from their recent visit to Radio CJSF! More updates , info, and downloads to come very soon! ~:)

Melissa's 3.5 seconds of fame!

2006-06-21T12:25:00.001-07:00

Melissa here postin'
Who knew I'd be on T.V?
After the massive let-down that was my Canadian Idol experience (see below post(s) for details) I was totally surprised I made it on T.V. Even if I did look like a jack-ass (as usual).
I can't believe how many people recognized me from the show. I also can't believe how many people watch the show!
I watched the show last night to see if someone I knew from Vancouver would make it to the top 22. She didn't . YOU WERE ROBBED CHELSEA! (sobs)
Someone I competed with at the PNE talent search(s) back in the day made it to the top 22. Her name is Sarah Loverock, but she had a different last name when I knew her (I guess she got married?) Good luck Sarah!
Anyway, back to Heartfelt Apologies' News!
First off, our song is featured on "My Head Hurts" a blog about indie Canadian music! There is an awesome review of me (Melissa). Click here to read it!
We have been performin' WAY more frequently. We had some cool gigs last month and some more coming up for July and August.
There are some pictures here from a gig we did at the beginning of the month. Check-a check it out!
If you hadn't noticed from previous posts we were (at one time) looking for a drummer and bassist and maybe guitarist for our band. We have since decided that due to unreliability and apartment constraints, that we need to do this as just a duo. And it seems to be working. Andrew and I have a special dynamic together.
We are also in the works to try and do some sort of small western Canada tour early September. If you or someone you know lives in BC or Alberta and wants us to come to your/their town then let us know!!
Anyway, we are all looking forward to a busy and fun summer.
We'll keep you posted!
Melissa OUT!

What? New Video? Get outta here...

2006-05-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

You're right. Money does matter.
Especially when you try and make your own music video. We truly hope you enjoy our first ever music video!! It's really really painful! *Guaranteed*
Recorded in 20 mins in late April, the video stars non other than The Heartfelt Apologies #1 (and only) fan Wayne Stewart.
We hope you like the overuse of crappy effects and sweeps. My personal fave is the star sweep near the end.
WHOA! WATCH OUT!!!
Check it out @ www.theheartfeltapologies.com/the_viewing_chamber.htm

Here it comes!

2006-04-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

Oh that's right kids!
It's only a matter of time before we have video up on our official website and our myspace page!
We will be shooting the "World's crappiest indie band music video" this Monday.
Perhaps the best part will be that Andrew and I are only in it for about 10 seconds.
We're doing our first video to our more upbeat song "Follow".
I am also happy to say that the video has nothing to do with the song or it's lyrics!!
And you have my personal five star guarantee that not only will the video make no sense, but the picture will be shaky and grainy!
The video may even be available on DVD!! It makes a great Christmas gift for the kids!

OH HOW EXCITED THEY'LL BE!!!

All the World's A Blog.

2006-04-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody! Andrew here from the Heartfelt Apologies!
We have been performing a lot lately; at Cafe Montmartre, The Copper Tank, The Orange Room, and Myles Of Beans.

As a matter of fact, we recently just played a two-hour set at Myles Of Beans. It was a ton of fun with fans and friends. We performed a bunch of originals and some favourite cover tunes. This was our set list (all cover tunes are followed by the name of the original performer*) :

1. Standin' In Line.
2. (The Ballad Of) John Brown.
3. Hang On Sloopy/The Game Of Love. (*The McCoys/The Mindbenders)
4. You've Got Her In Your Pocket. (*The White Stripes)
5. Seasons.
6. Shamrock Shore/Yellow Gals. (*Traditional)
7. The Little Things.
8. Havana.
9. Rain.
10. Hallelujah. (*Leonard Cohen)
11. New York Mining Disaster 1914. (*The Bee Gees)
12. Father.
13. The Town.
14. Hobo Man.
15. Kill Buddy.
16. All Balls.
17. Happy Together. (*The Turtles)
18. On My Way.
19. The Deeper I Fall.
20. Nine Times Blue. (*The Monkees)
21. Walking With A Ghost. (*Tegan and Sara)
22. The Other Side.
23. Angel Of The Morning. (*Merilee Rush)
24. Mr. Indifferent.
25. Follow (Me Down).
26. The Long Road.
27. Stamos 'N' Me/Unibomber Shack.
28. It's In Every One Of Us. (*The Muppets)

Pretty impressive, eh? Bet you wish you could see live video of that concert, huh? Yeah, well so do we. Unfortunately the person we "hired" has not gotten back to us about the film. My only hope is that he might read this in order to see how cheesed off I am. It's been OVER A MONTH! I mean, COME ON! Oh well, I shouldn't get too upset. He's probably in "a bad head space" or something. Rant a doodle doo!

I'd like to say that the footage will be up on our website soon for your viewing, but I'd be lying and I refuse to lie to our loyal fans.

The studio versions of most of these songs can be found on the Bandroom Debris page of our website, while the rest can be heard in streaming audio on our Music Page.

On a happier note, we performed twice at Cafe Montmartre last night, once at the beginning of the night and again at the very end. We performed seven songs which included the debut of a brand-new song titled "Gotta Hold On You", the home recorded version of which can be found at the bottom of the News Page of our website.

More comics will soon be on the site as well. Be sure to check out the bizarre adventures of Mr. Woodbug!

Some progress is currently being made with our music in terms of performing and publishing. We are doing our best to get more play and (if all goes well) maybe even a live radio performance. We'll keep you posted here on all things musical!

Thanks for Listening!

Aint nobody bloggin' around

2006-03-28T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hello again.
It's been a while since anyone posted here. We have had the highest number of website visits this month to www.theheartfeltapologies.com, shattering all previous records...And the month is not yet over!
We are doing well still on myspace.com and amazon.com (still #2 and #4 on the folk/rock and soft/rock charts), we are also featured on betarecords.com.
We have a new review of our music up on the web. You can read a review of Bandroom Debris (our second album) here. Check out the blog we're featured on in its entirety here.
We are performing in new venues and trying to get the word out about the music.
Hope you guys can help!
Toodles,
Melissa.

Canadian Idol? Melissa's Canadian Idol Journey!

2006-03-01T12:18:00.001-08:00

Did you hear? Yes, another season of Canadian Idol is coming soon!
Does anybody even still watch this show? Apparently not, according to the many many contestants I talked to during my 2.5 day journey. What are the judges names? One girl asked before heading in for a tier 3 audition (one in front of the TV judges). I myself made it to these TV judges. These "celebrity" judges are none other than Zack Werner, Sass Jordan, Jake Gold and Farley Flex (who seemed by far the nicest). I sang my songs and they stared at the desk and told me "No". No critique, no "You could improve on this", just a "No". It was truly bizarre. As I walked away from this experience, I asked myself ' What was my motivation for auditioning in the first place?'. 'Do I even watch this show?' . 'Do I even care?'
I know I'm a talented singer, not the best, but talented. I do know, however, that I am a gifted songwriter.
It was 2 long days waiting for my auditions.The first 2 auditions took place at The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts (previously the Ford Centre). There were a ton of anxious people, some with big ego's. I don't fare well in situations like that and quickly became annoyed. Of course, I didn't let that show and was my usual bubbly self for the day.I was well received by the first 2 groups of judges who called me a wonderful performer with great vocal range. I did not get such nice comments on Tuesday Feb 28th at my TV audition in front of the TV judges (as stated above), in fact, I got none..
During the lunch break that day (Feb 28th), I took a stroll around downtown Vancouver (the auditions were being held at Hotel Vancouver). I thought a lot about whether or not I actually wanted to be on the show. Did I? In retrospect maybe yes, but I can't know for sure. I came to a lot of realizations during my time auditioning.
A.) I am too old for this.
B.) I am not meant to get famous this way.
C.) Who watches this show? Really... Seriously.
I know I'm going to do something productive with my music, whatever it may be. Until then, I don't think my rejection is a big loss. I kind of expected it. But come on T.V. judges. You couldn't even give me a critique? I waited all damn day!
I did however, meet a lot of wonderful people and talented singers. I wish them the best of luck (blow a spleen) in their musical endeavors!
See you on the show. I'm sure someone will be watching (not me)!

Anyway, the band did a big gig on Feb 22nd at 'Myles of Beans'. It went really well. We sold some CD's and made some dough.
We had only a few minor glitches in the whole performance. We performed for 2 hours and did almost 30 songs, many of which were originals.
A friend of ours taped the performance and hopefully we can get a look at it soon.
We have a few new songs kickin' around on the website. Feel free to stop by and have a listen.
Smell you later kids,
Melissa

Vacation all I ever wanted! Vacation had to get away!

2006-01-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

Hello, Melissa here.
So Andrew is leaving for a week or so on his Honeymoon (or so the Government would have us believe).
We performed last Tuesday (Jan 24) at The VDAY event on UBC campus. It was crowded and loud, but we rocked? the place and had a lot of fun doing it.
We will be performing again as soon as Andrew gets back from da honeymoon (he's Mexico bound!)
We have a gig coming up in February at Myles of Beans in Burnaby. We'll be doing a 2 hour set starting at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, February 22.
Come by and check out our show and have one of the delicious, mouth-watering brownies...Oh man! I want one right now!!!
Anyway, we have a few new songs on our Bandroom Debris page. This includes the new upbeat "Follow" and the mellow, reflective "Long Road". We hope you enjoy them both.
See you later kids.

WIGGIDY BLOG! WIGGIDY!

2006-01-16T21:35:00.000-08:00

Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo! It's all giggidy-fly and diggidy-fresh up in hyeah! Sorry, just always wanted to type that...

Andrew here friends. As you have read in the previous post, my sister and I will be playing at a benefit to end violence against women (you can find the links on the main page of our website).
The event takes place January 24th at 8pm at Koerner's Pub located across the street from the Museum of Anthropology onUBC campus. Be there to show your support for this cause and hear some great music!

Well, we're only a few weeks into the new year and already we've had two performances, the most recent of which took place last night at the always cool Cafe Montmartre where the amazing Master of Ceremonies T.Paul hosts THUNDERING WORD HEARD each and every Sunday night. Well, not every Sunday. In fact the event went on hiatus for a few weeks so the proprietors of Montmartre could take a well-needed vacation. So it was the first show of the new year for THUNDERING WORD HEARD and also marked its FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Congratulations and much applause must go to T.Paul for being such an amazing and gracious host, and to DJ Cassidy for being such a swingin' sound engineer.
We played a couple of old faves ("The Deeper I Fall" and "On My Way"), added a new cover tune (Tegan and Sara's "Walking With a Ghost" most recently covered by The White Stripes), and ended with a verse from "Unabomber Shack" which always gets the most cheers.
There were a lot of our favourite performers there as well, including Al Mader (who performed the always awesome "Dead Man's Pants"), Jarrod Tyler, Magpie Ulysses, and of course T.Paul ("PASSION!") If you haven't been out to THUNDERING WORD HEARD yet then what are you waiting for?!?

Okay, now on to the comics! As you will see when reading our comics page, we have a new series ready to take off. It's called "Mr.Woodbug". The series was created by myself and a friend of mine while we were in high school. In fact, all of these strips were written and illustrated during spare time in our art class. We both produced our own series featuring the same three main characters (Mr.Woodbug, Grampa Woodbug and Paul), but my version also featured my own characters, Roach and Rogue Snake. Since this is my version of the strip, you will be seeing these characters here.
I should also mention the extensive amount of editing that had to be done to make these comics "politically correct". I was fifteen years old when these were made, and at fifteen you want nothing more than to make your friends laugh. While it certainly worked for them, a more mainstream audience would most likely find some of the material to be offensive. As a result, dialogue has been changed, certain panels have been re-illustrated, while others have been removed completely. In all honesty, there are fifty-seven pages of material, twenty-seven of which can't even be used and not just because of the content; some have quite simply deteriorated due to negligent upkeep on my part. All in all, this has been a fun new project for me. I hope you enjoy the strip! A new page will be added every week!

Okay, I've blathered on for long enough. My next post will most likely be about my upcoming trip to Mexico! So until then this is Andrew from The Heartfelt Apologies signing off with these words of advice:

"Don't spill scalding coffee on your crotch!"

Take my picture!

2006-01-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

Hello all!
Melissa here from The Heartfelt Apologies.
There's some new songs in rotation on our bandroom debris page.
Also, there's always new stuff to check out and explore on our myspace and amazon pages.
We will be performing Tuesday, Jan 24 at 8:00 pm at *Sing till it ends* the VDAY opener at Koerners pub on UBC Campus. The event is a fun way to bring awareness to this cause (ending violence against women). If you're in the area, please come by and show your support and donate to this worthy cause.
See you kids later!
Melissa

Best of the Season and a Happy New Year!

2005-12-30T12:17:00.000-08:00

Melissa here from the Heartfelt Apologies!
We performed last night at the Butchershop gallery on 26th and Main. It was a (potentially final) "Hidden Agenda" performance.
I was happy when I came in to see one of my favourite local acts performing. Brenda Brink is always such a "hoot?" and I love to sing along to her songs.
I also had the pleasure of witnessing a very animated performance by da Bjork-Man, who screamed his way through stories of his horrid childhood and unrequited love.
We were also treated with some stand-up comedy, one girls story of her Christmas in India, and some pretty fancy new age music.
We performed acoustically for the first time. We performed some of the usual fare and I think my voice was pretty good. Andrew was spot-on with his guitar and harmony vocals.
Right now are music is for sale and some songs can be downloaded on Amazon.com.
We're excited for the New Year and hope to get some more exposure for our music.

We pride ourselves in being laid-back, goofy, and never taking ourselves too seriously.
We perform primarily serious songs, but enjoy recording joke songs... And that's what they are people, JOKES!
So whether you like us for the more serious material, or for the jokes, we love that people are listening and enjoying.
Happy New Year to you and yours and all the best for 2006.
~Melissa

Bilbo BLOGgins of the Shire.

2005-12-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

Hey there kiddie-ma-roos. Andrew here.
Lots happenin'. We've been playing weekly at Cafe Montmartre 's Thundering Word Heard and we have four or five new songs in the works (check out "Havana", recently put up on our website).
Unfortunately, we've been avoiding a lot of our other goals:

-We still need a bassist! Anyone interested should contact Melissa or myself and let us know what's up.
-While we have no problem finding venues to play at, we could still use more gigs. Got a wedding, Barmitzvah or house party comin' up? Drop us a line!
-While The Heartfelt Apologies will never sell out creatively, we are still willing to sell out to the indie and major labels (It would be nice to make some money while we're doing this) so more press packages will be making their way out (any record execs reading this? We're talking to you here).
-On the music side of things, Melissa and I are still in the works recording our upcoming release "M'Bits" which may even be a DVD/CD combination: A CD of The Heartfelt Apologies music plus a DVD featuring live performances plus behind-the-scenes stuff (and maybe even the short independent film "Finding Hope", featuring music by The Heartfelt Apologies and starring yours truly). After time we will know what the final contents will be. Hopefully this is a project that we can have ready for the new year.

2006 is fast approaching. Need That special gift? Do you or someone you love also love music? Give ours a try! Our releases "Legend Be Told..." and "Bandroom Debris" are now available through our own website as well as Amazon.com, CDBaby, and a host of others. Just check out our website for all the places our albums are available for purchase.

Also COMING SOON TO WWW.THEHEARTFELTAPOLOGIES.COM:
-"Your Personal Stalker", a song I wrote and recorded at age 17, and
-"Mr.WoodBug", not a song but an entire comic series created by me, soon to make its debut on our comics page.

Thanks for listening everybody. I'll be postin' again soon,

Andrew

Can't buy me Blog!

2005-11-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hey there all you crazy kids! Melissa here from the widely disputed Heartfelt Apologies! It has been a long year of planning and working. Our website has now been up officially for one year and one month! Its been a crazy ride, especially since I took over as webmaster in April. We have been performing at venues around Vancouver, have our CD's for sale at several record stores in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island. And now we have our music available on CDbaby! Soon we'll be practicing with drums and hopefully can get some gigs! I'll be away a bit this month, I'm going to Orlando with my husband Robert (I'm tagging along on his business trip). It should be great fun! Look for new songs coming to our website bandroom debris page soon! And try and make your own spinach dip from our recipe page! We'll keep you posted as to what's going on in the world of The Heartfelt Apologies! Over and out!

Frustration Station

2005-10-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

Melissa here from The Heartfelt Apologies.
Today has been frustrating on the whole internet side of things. I couldn't get anything to work, my downloads wouldn't download, everything was a big mess.
Attempt after attempt didn't garner any results.
Anger was the word of the day. I know the computer can't hear me, but it sure felt good screaming at it when I was getting frustrated. The f-word works well in conjunction with other curse words to form a lovely yet blasphemous phrase.
I'm installing a flash program so I can fool around and maybe get some stuff done on the website...Hopefully.
Wayne and I are having good times living together. It's really nice having him here, he's a good listener and a great pal, my bestest to be exact.
I'm writing some new material and it will be up soon. Mostly more joke songs, but maybe a more serious one will be thrown in the mix.
Anyway, besides that things having been chugging along at a medium pace.
We haven't been performing as much lately but hopefully we will get some better gigs soon.
Well enough for tonight bloggerino, smell youse later.
~Melissa
P.S. I'm going to make a shout out to my homey and hubby Robert. He is not only our financial backing as a band, but our chauffeur and producer as well. Robert is the unsung hero of The Heartfelt Apologies and deserves credit where credit is due. We love you Robert (especially me) and thank you.

On our way?

2005-10-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Melissa here from The Heartfelt Apologies!
Lots has happened since I last wrote here, here are some of the highlights.
Last Saturday, Andrew and his wife Jen officially moved out of our 3 bedroom apartment. Wayne has been living here for a while and is now moved into Andrew and Jen's old room.
Hopefully everyone will be happier with this new living situation as tensions were getting high before Andrew moved out.
My mum came to help Andrew move, it was stressful for her I'd imagine, hearing all the griping and complaining from both sides of the story.
Wayne, Robert, Myself and my mum (thanks for driving us around!) picked up Joey's (our new drummer) drums on Sunday. Hopefully after the busy Holiday weekend we can get to practicing!
So yeah, I'm headed to Vancouver Island to visit with the in-laws, should be fun. We're traveling with Roberts sisters and a baby (who apparently hates cars and screams and cries in them) it should be great fun.
Well atleast I've held my niece now. Last Saturday I faced my fear and finally held Caitlin...It was scary, but not as bad as I though I'd be.
As for the band, we have a new song up on our Bandroom Debris page called The Little Things. Its a corny song I wrote about love and being together and cherishing the little thing (yuck...I know) Its totally out of character for me. Play this one for your parents ( if you're under 30), they'll probably appreciate it more. We also have a new joke commercial on the site for all you jokesters. We are also now on myspace.com now, so go and check us out!
We'll be performing at different venues in Vancouver coming up in the next week. I'll keep you all posted on when and where.
That's about it for now though, so see you later!
~Melissa

The ballad of fried brains

2005-09-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog, once again its Melissa from The Heartfelt Apologies.
We played Cafe Montmatre and The Purple Crab, not to mention Cafe deux Soleils this last week to some great response. We hope to play again this Sunday at Montmartre (Andrew's schedule permitting).
We're still hoping beyond hopes that we can get a reliable bassist and drummer for the band. If you or anyone you know lives in or around greater Vancouver, and is interested in playing drums or bass for us and has his/her/your own gear...Drop us a line !
Things have been pretty hectic this month at home. Andrew and Jen are in the process of moving out (Oct 1st is moving day) and Wayne is still in limbo in the guest room.
The house (foyer mostly) is already in a complete state of disarray and it will probably only get worse as boxes pile up.
I must commend my mother on being predictable. The woman who vowed never to help us move again is bringing her truck over from the island to help Andrew and Jen move! I figure they're old enough to take care of it themselves!
I'm pretty sure my mum didn't get help from her parents when she was 27, but hey...She offered, her loss. I already told everybody that I've done enough moving and I am not helping with the lugging of other peoples crap. Yes I will help to a degree cause I'm not cold-hearted, but I'm not going to break my back. I've moved 11 times in less than 5 years and I think I've done my share of moving already.
It should be fun though, getting all the trucks around each other as Andrew moves out, Wayne moves in, and the people downstairs move in.
Yes, we are getting new neighbours downstairs, our much beloved old neighbour Annie has to move away due to the Telus strike (stupid telus).
But we've met our new neighbours and they seem to be class acts, and for once I'm saying that without being facetious!
ON top of all the other chaos, our friend (who recently moved herself) is having troubles with her kitty (its not getting along/is being brutalized by roommates cats) and wants us to possibly take it on and give it a new home.
Robert (my husband) and I are not sure what to do on this one.
Looks like the next few weeks will be fun. I know everything will go back to normal a few days after Wayne officially settles in.
We have already painted the living room, and Wayne, Robert and I are looking forward to decorating the rest of the house!
Anyway, enough chitter chatter.
Smell you later blog,
Melissa

It's BLOG! It's BLOG! It's Big! It's Heavy! It's Wood!...

2005-09-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

Andrew again with cool news:
I GOT A NEW GUITAR! Yep, I have a working electric/semi-acoustic already, plus another electric (in need of repair) and an electric bass (also in need of some minor tweaking), but I figured "Hey! Why not?"
It's red and it's awesome. I got it on sale, too. $169 instead of $229. And it came with a practice amp.
I'll bet you're wondering: "Is it a Fender?" "A Gibson?" "A Les Paul?" Uh... no, it's none of these. Anyone who knows me well knows I don't go for the big names.
It's a California! "Huh?" "What?" That's right! Straight off the shelves of our local London Drugs!
The selling point for any guitar for me has to be any or all of these things:
a) Made in Mexico or China
b) Decent pick-ups
c) Solid Fretboard
d) It works!
Yeah, I'm one cheap cat when it comes to guitars, which I someday hope to own a lot of (hey, I'm up to five counting my bass and my three-quarter acoustic).
I now have a 100% working guitar to use at The Heartfelt Apologies shows.
This is a good thing, since I got both nervous and overly embarassed at our last performance when my usual Black Sovereign crapped out on me.
Thank goodness my sister is a fantastic accapella performer or we'd of had no material. She performed the first song as a solo. I attempted to harmonize with her on the other two songs, the first one being a cover of Merilee Rush's "Angel Of The Morning". Thanks to an audience member with an amplifier, he made my guitar sound half-decent and we used it for "Angel Of The Morning". The final song we again did as an accapella, a cover of Jim Henson's Muppets "It's In Every One Of Us". My sister, as always, was dead-on. My harmonies were somewhat feeble. I guess I should have practiced. But we survived the night and sold some CD's and all was good.
We'll be playing a few different venues in Vancouver this week. I'll do my best to post them up ahead of time. Come out and see us and our fellow performers and support local talent!

Peace out Holmes! See ya'll on the wiggity! Wiggity!

Nuke Kids On The Blog...

2005-09-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

Andrew here!

Lots of stuff to tell. On August 20th I got married! Me! Can ya believe that?!? HA! TAKE THAT YOU NON-BELIEVER YOU!!!

Yes, I married my long-time sweetheart Jennifer Thompson (now Jennifer Barton) in a ceremony that took place in Nanaimo at Pipers Lagoon. The weather was with us and the proceedings were sweet. We did 95% of the wedding planning ourselves so we were glad that everything worked out as great as it did. We followed everything up with a reception at the German Cultural Centre with family, friends, food, and music. All in all, a great day and one that I'll always treasure. Jen feels the same.

But enough of my doings, I'm here to talk aboot "dos bahnd". The band in question being The Heartfelt Apologies. Just what have they been up to lately? Well, here's a quick run-down:

We are still performing! That's right, every week we still perform. On Sundays you can catch us quite regularly at Cafe Montmartre's Thundering Word Heard, where we perform alongside many other incredibly talented spoken word performers and musicians.

I spent nearly an hour on-line today trying to find an open mic for Friday in the Vancouver area and had no luck. If anyone has any ideas on where I could find some venues then please, drop us a line.

Anyhoo, I've got to cut this short. Jen and I are going apartment hunting. I promise another update in the next few days.

Basketbloggin' in the court

2005-08-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

So here comes September, just over our shoulders. I can feel it, like a dead child's hand...Creeping up to drag you with it into its cold winter coffin. But till October hits and the weather truly gets bad, I will bask in the bittersweet reds and golds of springs slow decay. God, enough of that crap. So we wrote a song aboot balls, but not what you think. Its about basketballs and golf balls and deep fried chicken balls and the like. You must hear it to believe it, its God awful/awesome! I wrote it as homage to the worst, and therefore the best of 1980's pop. We are still looking for a drummer, so if you or a friend is interested and has his/her own equipment..Drop us a line! More pointless and delicious material will be poppin' up soon all over the website so check in often and even more often for the latest and greatest of the Heartfelt Apologies! ~Melinda OUT!

Wayne...wait for me!

2005-08-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

So it finally happened, Wayne moved in.
Andrew and Jen just got married and will be moving out in the next month.
I can be a real pissy beeotch, so watch out Wayne.
Good luck.
~Melissa

August and Everything After...

2005-08-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

Take this blog and dunk it in your coffee. Mm-mmm! Tastes pretty revolting eh, what?

Andrew here. Things have been stressful around here lately (in some cases to the extreme) involving matters of weddings, birthdays, wedding guests and visitors, and pets.

Robert and Melissa's little cat Hooper has been taken in to the veterinarian. He has had diarrhea and some listlessness for quite awhile. While none of us know for sure what the vet's prognosis is (they have to run their tests before they can get back to us) all signs point to Hooper having worms. The most likely reason for him having them is due to myself and Jen's new cat Scooter. We figure he may have brought the virus with him from the SPCA facility that he was staying in. Scooter has recently started displaying the same symptoms. They did take longer to appear in him, or maybe we just didn't notice it as much because of his desire to remain rambunctious throughout his sickness. Whatever the reason, we're taking him in today at 4:30 to get him checked out.

Having this new cat in the house has caused another problem that has resulted in me giving him the nickname "little bastard". Scooter is as cute as anything but he won't leave Hooper and Teddy alone. He plays ROUGH! I can state for a fact that as a result of his anti-social behaviour I have gotten mad at him more times than I have been nice to him. We are attempting to discipline him (attacking him with the spray bottle and yelling "NO!" seems to be starting to work), and I am hoping that he'll be a quick learner.

Since Scooter had a previous owner, whom we know nothing about, we've taken into account the fact that he may have been brought up in a rough household and therefore learned to play rough. Who knows, he may have been brought up in a house with a half-dozen raging rottweilers. That may explain his behaviour. We'll never know. Regardless of all of this, he needs discipline. I have been doing my best to stop him from taking things too far; what we thought in the past was just cats roughhousing playfully was actually quite the opposite. Hooper, and to a lesser extent, Teddy, have both received bites and claw filled swats to the face and body from the hands/paws of Scooter. We figured it was due to Scooter not being neutered (a territorial thing) but we did get him neutered and the problems persisted.

But all will be taken care of. A vet appointment and more discipline are the order of the day.

I turned 27 yesterday and recieved some great gifts. But enough about that...

My sister turned 23 on the 3rd of this month. She is now legal everywhere (except the legendary Beef Island).

Plans for my upcoming wedding (8 days away!) are FINALLY in place (at least I hope so...) but we have yet to recieve confirmations from some family members. So to any family members reading this PLEASE confirm with us whether or not you'll be attending by calling the phone # or e-mailing to the adress listed on the invitation. Hearing that you'll be attending through other family members leaves us with a bit of a problem: e-mailing maps to the wedding location, which will be getting done today. Those of you who confirmed WITH US through e-mail will have the map sent to their e-mail adress. Those who confirmed TO US by phone will be rush delivered a map through Canada Post. So please, if you still plan to come (or not come) let us know as there is only a week left before the big day!

Soon Jen and I will be living on our own. Not due to us getting married, just because we have some things in our lives that we need to figure out and arrange in a way that would best be done with just the two of us. Recently we spoke of our future together and some of the plans that we have in store. One of those things is starting a family. Now Jen and I are not the two most responsible people in the world, and our ideal date for having a baby is still a ways off, but we need to figure out how to budget and pay bills on our own (we're not the best with money) as right now everything is split four ways. On our own we'll have new responsibilities, bigger bills to pay, and more work to do, but it'll all be a part of our personal growing up. One of the questions we posed to each other is: "We're living alone. The groceries, rent, and bills are split between the two of us and need to be paid. Now throw the time and financial responsibilty of a new baby into the mix. Now how is this going to work?" We would need to learn how this would effect things.

At first, Robert and Melissa thought our decision to move out might of had something to do with them (WHAT!?! Of course not! You guys have been great and we love you both!). But Jen and I both know that we have some personal "growing up" to do. One of the things I believe to be true is that you have to be an adult to raise a kid. I still have yet to accept the fact that I am an "adult". I've had to deal with adult responsibilities, but not on any great level. The new responsibilties Jen and I will have through living as a couple will no doubt change our views on a few things and aspects of our lives and work schedules will need to be changed accordingly. Especially since our top priority after the wedding and everything will be to keep The Heartfelt Apologies going strong with new music and performances!

And now for a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!: Starting today we will be auditioning new members! We're posting/postering for a new bass player and drummer tonight! So if you want to join us in our rampage or know of anyone who might be interested, PLEASE CONTACT US!!! You've heard the music, now JOIN THE BAND!!!

The year of the cat

2005-08-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yo Yo Yo and wigitty woggity!
Tis Melissa again, from the crazy/lazy Heartfelt Apologies!
This is s picture of my kitty Hooper. I'm kind of on edge right now and pretty worried because my little Hoopsie is sick. He's been having troubles for over two weeks now, he started to get ill pretty soon after Andrew and Jen's new kitty (Scooter) moved in.
I took Hooper to the vet again yesterday and we did blood work and x-rays and gave him some anti-biotics and de-worming medication, so hopefully that helps.
Also, Scooter has been having troubles too, so he's going in to the vet today. Hopefully its nothing serious and both kitties will be fine.

On a musical note, Andrew and I are working on a crude/rude joke song to add to our "Bandroom Debris" page. It will probably be up within a few weeks.
Things might/will be slow on the website for the next little while as Andrew and I will be away.
Andrew is getting married Aug 20th and I'm going to then be in Campbell River for the 25-27th of Aug helping my pal Wayne pack up to move here.
I'm looking forward to Wayne moving in, although I kind of wish that Robert and I were doing the same thing as Andrew and Jen and moving out/having a place of our own. Just the two of us. Don't get me wrong, living with Andrew and Jen was cool, and Wayne will be a subsequent barrel of laffs, but living alone is cool too...One day.
Andrew turned the big 2-7 yesterday. He had to work so we had cake with him last evening. Robert and I gave him some moolah to buy himself something far more creative than we could think up. Jen got him the first season of the muppet show on DVD and Cindy (Jen's mum) got him a carved box thingy with a dragon on it.
I'm headed to Vancouver Island tomorrow for a few days, it will be nice to get away. I'm staying with my parents in Comox on Sunday and Monday, they'll be at work for part of my visit, but I don't mind. I really need some alone time before the wedding and before Wayne moves in and there's 5 people living here for a month.
I'm a neat freak, so I will most likely go nuts as the moving boxes and little bundles of crap to be packed away pile up from both Andrew and Jen and Wayne (FUN!).
The bathroom will be muggy and foggy from continuous use and the kitchen will be a mash of dirty dishes and food crumbs and general mess...I'm looking forward to all of this.
But enough bitching (you know you love it)
I'm getting back into writing choral material. Robert got a copy of a program called cakewalk that can help me turn my ideas into sheet music. Maybe I can make some money and even have a choir or two perform my songs! In this life we are given certain opportunities and I believe they I have a gift to write truly great songs, so I am going to explore every avenue of this because I'm not getting any younger and I don't want to have to settle.
Well, that's enough for now. I hope my kitty gets better soon.
And I hope everyone who reads this is in good health and good spirits (although the occasional bitch fest is always welcome/necessary)
Smell you
~Melissa

The circle game

2005-08-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
Lots has happened since I last posted in this blog.
The above picture is one taken on the old coaster at Playland at the PNE. We took Andrew there last Saturday for an early bachelor party. Andrew is the one clinging for dear life!

Melissa here from The Heartfelt Apologies with some boring news about my life.
We performed again last night at Cafe Montmartre. We did really well, except the guitar crapped out in Unibomber shack and we had to end the song early. We sold a CD and got an invitation to perform at another place this Friday.
Our performing will probably slow down a bit over the next 3 weeks or so. Andrew and Jen are getting married on August 20th and Jen's mother is coming from Saudi Arabia and is visiting here.
Speaking of wedding's , Andrew is so busy right now with work and stuff, that we had his bachelor party early. Andrew doesn't drink and has no interest in strippers so we took him to Playland. We had tons of fun and I even went on a few rides ( and nearly lost bladder control).

Last Wednesday (Aug 3rd) was my 23rd Birthday. My husband and friends took me out to a wonderful Thai/Malaysian restaurant called the banana leaf. The food was awesome! I was really happy when I received the first and second season of Degrassi Junior High on DVD.

I'm also going to be helping my friend Dave find an apartment here in Vancouver. He's living in Lethbridge right now and needs some help finding a nice place (at a good price!).
I'm heading to Vancouver Island this weekend for Jen's bridal shower and then to Comox to visit my parents for a few days. I figured I can make em' dinner for when they get home from work and stuff.
It seems that Andrew and Jen have finally had enough of living with us and are moving out before they kill me (just kidding). They are planning on moving out for the beginning of October so they can have their own space and build up some financial credit (right now all the bills here are in Robert's name).
I'm going to miss em', and their kitties. But we're getting a new roomie and I think things should work out. Wayne is moving in, I figure he's easier to boss around and it could really be fun/horrible!
I just finished the press kits for our music. Hopefully we'll have all our information/music in the capable hands of the Canada Post within mere days.
Anyway, that's about it for now guys, we'll chat again soon!

2005-07-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

This things I believe...

2005-07-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

A-hip! Hop! A-hippy to the hippy to the hip-hop wiggedy BLOG!

Andrew here kids! So here's the deal all you close personal friends of The Heartfelt Apologies:

After almost a month of no LIVE performances, due to many different things happening in each of our personal lives, WE WILL BE PERFORMING AGAIN!!!

CHECK US OUT THIS SUNDAY (July the 24th) at Cafe Montmartre's Thundering Word Heard!

So here's the poop for y'all to scoop:

First thing's first (and this is pretty major) I'M GETTING MARRIED!!! Yes, you read that right. On August the 20th I will be getting married to Jennifer Thompson (the love of my life) ^_^. It's bound to be a great ceremony. We've done all of the planning ourselves so far, and everything has been nicely falling into place for us. I'm glad 'cause I love Jen so much and I want this day to be special and memorable for her.

On August 11th I will be turning the big two-seven. Yeah... Scary... Three years from thirty with the mentality of a fifteen-year-old. If anyone out there wants to send me a present, I love anything that has to do with the Muppets (and on that note, my mentality has dropped to that of a nine-year-old). But who doesn't love the Muppets?

My sister (Melissa, for the very few of you out there that haven't already figured that out) will be celebrating her birthday eight days before me on August 3rd. She'll be turning 23. If you wnat to throw something her way, try sending her some Degrassi Junior High stuff. She's nuts for it like I am for the Muppets.

Our friends Raelene and Gillianne are also celebrating birthdays in August. It's really a big month for parties.

In a little while I'll be getting my own personal page in one small corner of our website.
I'll use the space to talk about music that I like by other bands (Sloan, Green Day) as well as Muppet stuff including (hopefully) a Muppet tapes trading page. I'm just starting to build up my collection of rare Muppet T.V. Show perfomances and guest shots. I'm hoping to be able to offer collector's something that they want and hopefully build up my collection in return.

Time for me to get the blog outta here though. It's getting late (loooong day, not helped by a screaming two-year-old on the ferry from Nanaimo to Vancouver) and we're taking our new kitty in to the vet early tomorrow to get his balls chopped off.

I'll have a new post up by Sunday night. Until then, this is Andrew telling you to visit Geek Central for fun stuff and cool comics starring our friends.

Now run to the toilet before you blog in your shorts.

Later,

Andrew

The beat goes on...

2005-07-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog and Bloggin pals!
Tis Melissa here from The Heartfelt Apologies! Lots of stuff has happened in the last month so here's the run-down.
We performed our headlining act at Cafe Montmartre (read entry "Screaming Thunder" for more information on that), we released our home recording of "bandroom debris" (read entry bandroom debris for more info), we went on a 4 day drive-o-rama to Lethbridge Alberta to visit my friend Dave, Robert's sisters baby was born, and Robert and I celebrated our 3rd Wedding Anniversary!
Its been insane and fun!
Possibly the best new news for the band is that we now have the mechanical licenses to distribute "Hang on Sloopy" in Canada!!
Soon our debut album will be for sale and we will be back on amazon.com and cdbaby!!
Also, we are now being featured on paganpoet.com's radio! Also, check out our friends website geek-central.org for fun and original comics all about geeks and their geek-osity?
I'm trying to get my best friend Wayne to move here to Vancouver, he lives in Campbell River still. I hope he decides to move, even if its just for a year. I think the experience will really help him grow as an individual, and as a deadly fungus.
Wayne is coming to visit me in early August for my B-day (Aug 3rd). I hope I can coax him to move here before that!!
I'm also excited that my pal Dave is coming back from Lethbridge, I miss his aloof cruelness and ridiculous love for "Hint of Lime" Tostitos.
It was a cool trip up to Lethbridge to see Dave. We had been waffling on whether or not we'd actually go because Robert's car needed a new CV joint. He didn't get it fixed in time so we kind of decided not to go. Then on the morning of July 1st Robert said to hell with it and we went anyway.
We ate pepperoni and chocolate and slurpees and listened to crappy music on the drive. I had a mental breakdown/small heart-attack when we went over the summit of the Salmo-Creston pass on the #3 highway. You're up in the rockies and you're close to deadly cliffs...It's not fun, don't look down. We also stopped on the hill in Creston to get gas...We were at eye level with fireworks! You could smell the gunpowder in the air! I was in greater hysteria at this point because I HATE loud noises. It was a beautiful disaster. The rest of the night was a lot better though. Highlights include: Andrews jerky driving well above the speed limit, almost hitting mountain goats and a HUGE elk, and sleeping in our car.
We got up at 5:00 am July 2nd and continued to Lethbridge, the drive was beautiful and the air was cool and fresh.
We had lots of fun with Dave. We went to Waterton park and hung out. Dave also forced us to go through the LAMEST indoor mini-golf experience of all time! Lets just say, Dave isn't the most inventive/exciting guy...and Lethbridge is pretty lame. We did however, go to a graveyard that was pretty cool.
The drive back to Vancouver was fun. Highlights of this include: almost peeing in a schoolyard for lack of better facilities, the CV joint rattling disturbingly, Jen's horrific nosebleed that needed medical attention in Lake Louise, Andrew's jerky driving that almost sent us into the Shuswap Lake while Jen and Robert slept peacefully.
All in all a hilarious and fun road-trip! WHOOO YEAH!! ROADTRIP!!!! BOO YAKKA!!!!
Enough of that!...
Andrew and Jen got a new kitty the other day. His name is Scooter, but I call him Ruttager (and that's not going to change). He's about 2 years and still hasn't been fixed. He's as cute and friendly as hell, but DOES NOT respond to vocal commands like "NO!" and "DOWN!".
Also, he's really high-strung and aggressive (maybe on account of the balls) and he's really pissing off our other kitties. Poor Teddy couldn't even get to his food today!
Well, he's getting neutered tomorrow, so hopefully that takes the "bully" out of him!
Anyway, this blog entry is way too long and boring. I feel sorry for anyone who reads it all!
Smell you later blog!
~Melissa

A niece for all seasons!

2005-07-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago, little Caitlin came into the world. She is the first daughter (and child for that matter) of my sister in law Janice and her husband Jon. Although I have not held Caitlin myself (she's looks so fragile, and I'm so clumsy) she looks very happy in the arms of her parents, aunt, uncle and new granny! We are all excited to see Caitlin grow and I know I eagerly await her first word! I extend much health and happiness to Caitlin and her Mum and Dad...Love you guys! ~Melissa

Another Season in my Life

2005-07-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

So here it is, July!!! I can't believe how the time has flown. It feels like we've accomplished so much, but at the same time...so little.
We gained and lost a guitarist, and a potential drummer and bassist. Gigs have been good, and gigs have been not so good.
Moral has been giddily high, and painfully low.
I'm 23 years old in less than a month. I feel so old. I know that in the grand scheme of things 23 is young, but I feel like...where the hell have the last 5-7 years gone.
I'm going to be celebrating 3 years of marriage this month! 3 YEARS!!! That's a long time, and yet, it feels like yesterday.
I am so happy I got married though, I love my husband more than anything. He has been the #1 supporter/supporting machine of my music.
So here's to 3 happy years, and millions more.
Here's to my future and yours, may it be fun and full of beef!
~Melissa

BANDROOM DEBRIS RELEASE!!!

2005-06-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

STUPENDOUS!!! INTRIGUING!!!

The New Indie album from

THE HEARTFELT APOLOGIES!!!

Bandroom Debris is the name of this new release that the duo recorded in their own home!
Taking the "one take" mentality to an extreme, the album features 18 first-run tracks of music and mayhem.
Drawing from many musical influences , the songs include some pop,funk, folk, celtic traditional,punk and new-age.
The ad-lib skits and fake advertisements are a throw and back almost homage to some of The Heartfelt Apologies favourite entertainers/comics (The Muppets, George Carlin, Weird Al). The album is available on their website for the low low price of $4.50, and is also available at their gigs for only $3.00. For a taste of some of the music and other junk on the album visit the Bandroom Debris page on the website!
Come back often for new downloads and tons o' fun!

Screaming Thunder

2005-06-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

The Heartfelt Apologies here! Andrew and Melissa postin'

So. . .

We did our "headlining" gig at Cafe Montmartre's THUNDERING WORD HEARD. Guess we can say we performed pretty well. We sang a set of 8 songs and got a pretty postitive (vocal) response. There was also some of our fave poets, a killer guitarist and a singer/guitarist with some catchy tunes and a sweet voice.
We were a little miffed with the host (not the usual and sensational T.Paul St Marie, to whom we now bow before) who started off the show by screaming into the mic for 15 seconds. 5 people left right then, and didn't come back (feel the love). It went downhill from there. Including the host dumping out the hat money (a portion of which, goes to us the feature performers) in front of the other performers...classy.
Come back T.Paul, come back and never leave.
Our special thanks to Neil aka DJ Casssidy for mixing us up on the soundboard and making Melissa's keyboard (with its crazy levels) sound pretty sweet.
On the whole we were kind of unimpressed with the turnout of our friends. 3 people showed up out of our friends (SUPPORTIVE!!).
The vibe was wrong...Call it crazy, but we do get vibes. The vibe was just weird. It felt like something bad was going to happen...funny...
Anyway, that's about it for now.
We will be performing again soon , so if you're in the Vancouver area, keep your ears and eyes peeled for the amazing, the stupendous, THE HEARTFELT APOLOGIES!!!
Over and out!

Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away...

2005-06-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hey there everybody!

Andrew here. We've just come off a performance at the Backstage Lounge on Granville Island. Some great performers there, and a very responsive crowd. Great ginger ale there too (apparently made by trolls living underground... long story) and all in all a good venue with a large stage.

John made his stage debut with us there tonight and showed us all that he has the skills to rock out. It's great to have him on stage with us. Thanks John!

My only minor gripe about the performance is that our guitars were BLARING through the playback monitors (or maybe I just noticed it more from where I was standing), and I was a little upset with myself because my voice cracked at a couple of points during "Hang On Sloopy". Sometimes those high harmonies are a bit hard to reach.

Gotta sign off now though. Work to be done: rehearsing, recording, and working on our upcoming 'Zine. That's right, we have a 'Zine. And buying Melissa a new black blazer. And maybe the Wizard will give me a brain: "The square root of an isosceles triangle is a... a... aw, crap I got nothin'... TOODLES!"

June 3,2005

2005-06-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Tis I Melissa! From the Heartfelt Apologies!
Some cool stuff has gone down since I last tippity tapped in the blog. We played at an open mic at Cafe Montmartre in Vancouver and got some good response,we even sold 4 CD's! We also while performing there, got the heads up about another open mic for the following Tuesday. So we performed at another open mic last Tuesday at Zesty's on Commercial. It was a queer friendly open mic with some killer poets. We were the only musicians, which was cool.. We tried out a new cover song and we went over well.
Both crowds seemed to love Unabomber Shack. I can see us playing that one a lot in the future.
We did have one ugly performance a couple weeks ago. The crowd was not responsive, but the other open mics have made up for any previous shame/disappointment.
I have been going creatively out of control lately, writing all sorts of crazy music and totally going out of my realm. I've been writing a lot of instrumental music...Not quite symphonic, not quite techno, not quite John Tesh (dear Lord)...The music is cool and different, I'll probably have it up for downloadin' sooner or later.
Andrew and I have been writing some new material and looking into some cool cover-tunes. We have performed a couple, but should get a couple more kick-ass ones.
We are also performing an open mic on Granville Island this Monday with our new guitarist John. Its his initiation into the band as a performing unit...I hope he can handle the HEAT!! WHOOOO! Anyway, enough craziness.
Other band business has been chugging along and our official albums will be for sale soon! We will also be on CD baby and back on Amazon within a few months. SO WATCH OUT!!! THERE"S A BIG UGLY BUG ON YOUR NECK!!!! hee hee...Just joking.
Smell you later Blog and co
The Mysterious Madrigal Mame

May 15,2005

2005-05-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Ho and whaddaya know?
Its Melissa here from The Heartfelt Apologies! I have been webmaster now of out main site for almost 2 days! Already I've managed to update/trash the site! We have new stuff up on our news,interact,,music,and recipes pages! You can also send us email now through our contact page! I'm so excited! I'm really enjoying this webmastering and I am so going to learn flash so I can TRULY trash the site with animated atrocities!
Here's looking at you,kid.
Melissa

May 14,2005

2005-05-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Yo Yo Yo, and subsequently WIGGITY! Melissa here from the rarely spoken of and often feared Heartfelt Apologies. Yesterday our now former web master handed over the golden pole of webmastership to me. So you know what that means... more updates and a crappier website! Yes, its only a matter of time before the website can/will be bombarded with tons o' crap! In addition to the interact, news and contact pages, there will be all sorts of pointless garbage and fun stuff. New recipes will be added soon. Also a guestbook, links to this blog and others will be there to peruse. Possibly the coolest new add on will be our "Band room Debris" page which will showcase bad first run recordings of new material! Stupid comics and pointless ramblings will also be featured on the site. So stay tuned and check out the site often cause you never know what can/will show up!
Toodles!
Melissa

May 13, 2005

2005-05-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hello you Bloggin' Bunch and welcome to more "TALES OF BLOG!"

Andrew here kids. Just thought I'd write a post on here to let everyone know what's going on in the world of The Heartfelt Apologies.

First news first, Robert (our manager) is doing his best to acquire the proper rights for us to release our cover version of "Hang on Sloopy", a song originally performed by the McCoys. All seems to be going well in that venture.

We have a new rythym guitarist named John. He's never played with a band before but you'd never know it by how comfortably he seems to fit the groove. He's really into jammin' and, like myself, has a great knowledge of music.

We also met with our prospective new drummer yesterday. His name is Emmerson and he is from the Phillipines. This is his fifth month in Canada and he is still settling in. He very much wants to join our band. Here's hoping everything works out and we can help him fulfill his wish.

Life is still busy for me outside of the band; two jobs to work, a wedding to plan, and many and varied commitments and debts to be paid off leaves me with not too much time for relaxing at the moment, but that will all soon change.

Having Jen and myself living in the same building as my sister and her husband has had its share of major ups and downs, but we seem to have hit that area of living together where everyone is getting along. Not 100 percent, but definetly a great improvement over where we've been. This has certainly helped in the music/creativity department.

Rehearsals and new recordings have also been happening more frequently. Robert has used his great computer skills and prepared/installed for us everything what is required for us to record new tracks digitally onto the computer. Because of this, we are able to record and perfect our new ideas much more quickly. A lot of these new compositions will be naking their debut on our website in a section we are tentatively titling "Cuts from the Band Room Floor".

Speaking of which, our website is getting a major re-working. Our original webmaster, Brendan Fuss, is handling a few of the new details, but the major amount of the work is going to be done by Melissa, since I really haven't any knowledge of how to put a website together. All in all, everything should be cool and there will be new bits and peices up and running within the next few weeks.

And now, FINALLY, here is where you can buy our album:

In Vancouver, B.C. : At Red Cat Records and Zulu Records.
In Nanaimo, B.C. : At Fascinating Rythym.

Also listen to us on Malaspina radio 101.7 CHLY where we will (hopefully) be doing a live interview/performance soon.

And visit our website if you've got the time.

Cheers and Blog, Andrew.

May 9, 2005

2005-05-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

Yo yo yo Blog! Wiggity wiggity!! Melissa here from The Heartfelt Apologies. Last night we (the band and our manager/my husband) had a meeting to discuss future plans and goals for the band. We have been gigging more atleast and even got some pictures from one gig for all to see.We are soon going to be managing our website (www.theheartfeltapologies.com) ourselves. Also, we are looking into getting the rights to record certain cover tunes. We are meeting with Roberts old University pal on Wednesday night. The guy plays guitar and hopefully will want to join "da band". We have a potential drummer coming to audition on Thursday. On a completely unrelated note, I saw some of the pictures from Janice's (my sister in law) wedding. I sang, and there were a couple pictures of me singing, and one of me at the reception. One is okay, but the other two are awful! And the most awful one they put a curly-cue border around. Its barf-rageous. I felt so uncomfortable in that dress, and my hair was greasy...I looked out of place and felt totally backwards. I am going to do everything in my power from now on to avoid wearing uncomfortable clothes (ie dresses) at all costs.
Enough ranting. I contacted a couple of online zines about getting our music reviewed. I hope we get some feedback soon. I hope we also get feedback from the press kits we'll be sending out by the end of the month. We also have our sound card working, and we can start recording rough tracks and having them on-line for people to listen to.
Anyway, enough of dat
Smell you later blog,
Melissa

May 3, 2005

2005-05-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

Wow has it been a while! Andrew and Jen have moved here and we've been living together now over 2 months. The Heartfelt Apologies have been performing (thats me and my bro), and we've even recruited another guitarist who is practising with us now (hopefully gigging soon!) Andrew and I have played several open mics and it has been great. You can see some gig pictures from the purple crab by clicking here. My husband and I recently attended his sisters wedding and I sand Ave Maria at the ceremony. Jen is out of town right now visiting her sister and making plans for her own wedding which is going to be in late August. Things are chugging along and seem to be doing well. So long blog...for now.
~ Melissa

Feb 15th 2005

2005-02-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

Yo yo yo, wiggity wiggity. Its me, Melissa from The Heartfelt Apologies. Its been a week/weekend. Andrew and his fiacee T.J. came to Vancouver to see the new place and look for some furniture. We painted and had fun and went out for bubble tea. Small tensions were put to rest and we are all coming to find that moving in together is going to be a big change, but if we all compromise and give a little, it can be a lot of fun too.
I got a cold of some kind on Friday and lost my voice on Saturday and Sunday. Its back now, but its not yet 100%. Monday was Valentines day, but also Jen's(T.J's) Birthday. I made her a cake that fell apart, but I managed to fix it before they got here on Friday. Today is my Dad's birthday, I gave him a call and we talked a bit. I haven't really got anything for my parents birthdays this year, but I'll make up for it later (wink wink).
I wrote a new song today, all I need to do is put the finishing touches/figure out the lyrics.
Anyway, that's about all I have to write about today.
Smell you later Blog,
Melissa

Sunday, Feb 6, 2005

2005-02-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

Hello
This is Melissa from The Heartfelt Apologies. Today my husband and I painted our new place in anticipation of Andrew's arrival! By March we should be hitting the town and performing. Its been a long month. Finding a new place that can accommodate myself, my husband, Andrew, his fiancee, and three cats has been anything but easy. We found a place we like and the landlords are dandy. The doors and closets are brown, so we're painting them a purdy white! With a little work, and a lot of swearing, I think we can do this. Andrew and his fiancee (T.J.) are planning on coming over to Vancouver soon to look for jobs. The end of Jan and beginning of Feb haven't been very good to them (especially T.J.). A busy move, a crowded house,a dying kitty, an unwanted illness and a death in the family have truly stressed them out. Robert (my hubby) and I are trying our best to make the house nice for their arrival.
On a happier note, Robert and I have tickets to see U2!!! If they don't play my favourite song (Pride in the name of love) I am totally going to demand my money back! I love that song!
Speaking of songs, Andrew and I have recently written what I think is one of our best songs. It is a song that uses the changing seasons as a metaphor for life ( I know its been done). Andrew sings in the chorus with me, I kind of sing a descant. The song needs tweaking, but is totally going to rock ( and by rock, I mean folk).
We now have our CD's for sale at Zulu Records in Vancouver, and Fascinating rhythm in Nanaimo. Hopefully we'll sell a few...
Well that's it for today, talk to you soon Blog.
Melissa