We had the honor of being invited to play an on-air performance and do an interview with DJ Rachelle of KPSU’s That Live Show (www.kpsu.org). If you want to hear it, we’ve got it below for you to enjoy!  Thanks KPSU!

Listen to That Live Show HERE

We wanted to take some time to update some of our lovely fans about our progress as we write and record some tasty new tracks! Over the past few weeks we’ve been piecing together a lot of ideas into what will become our second album. We are taking time to refine themes and moods that we want to convey but a lot of other interesting and surprising things are popping into our heads with every recording session.

In a time when the future is uncertain, with warfare, police brutality and the threat of the economy tanking for good, we haven’t allowed those topics to dissuade us from writing, but quite the opposite, we’re using their influence to create a dark undertone to our new songs. The emotions associated with these topics are definitely universal, so it’s interesting to take real feelings of fear and uncertainty and tell a story that seemingly has nothing to do with events in the real world. This, paired with the fun and high-energy electropop that friends and fans have come to expect, reaches for something familiar with past recordings but also something fresh and refined.

Another change we are making during this process is that we are incorporating a lot of talent from friends and sweet local bands. We are but two and it is definitely helpful and encouraging to know so many other musicians who are willing to collaborate and make great music with us. We are trying to have as much fun with this as possible and friends make everything more fun. Expect to see a list of credits and thanks in our album jacket and website when this is complete.

If you are excited to hear our new songs be sure to check out our website or Facebook regularly as we may post updates, previews or other relevant information about this record. We are so lucky to have the kind of support we are getting from a lot of you and we deeply appreciate it. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

-trey

Hey electro-lovers!

We’re in the process of writing new songs, reinventing our live shows, and prepping for a super-fun fall season. In case you didn’t know, we’re located in Portland, Oregon and we’ve been meeting/playing/hanging out with several very cool bands.

So… We have a couple upcoming shows that we definitely want to invite you to because they are going to be something special.

TUESDAY, September 6th at Backspace in Portland with our great friends SO GOOD and SuckerForLights. These two bands are totally talented, frighteningly contagious, and extremely cool people. This Backspace show will be ALL-AGES and we’re planning on some extra fun, too! (*wink *wink *wink…etc.) RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=251504154870813

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Tuesday, September 27th at Kelly’s Olympian in Portland with our totally awesome friends, SuckerForLights and a special guest! Kelly’s Olympian is an awesome bar/venue with a killer system. Get in early, grab a drink and get ready for some fun music! RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=194386487292223

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WEDNESDAY, October 19th at Hawthorne Theater in Portland. This show is with the exceptionally synth-popular electro-dance band Blood on the Dance Floor. We’re opening this show, followed by our good friends, SO GOOD, New Years Day, Angelspit, and finally, Blood on the Dance Floor! This show is ALL-AGES as well, but will probably sell out, so get tickets from US (askyouingray@gmail.com [di$count!) or from the venue early!!! RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=235601209814878

Thank you for your support! If you are interested in having us PLAY some fun shows at your venue/house party/dance party, email us at askyouingray@gmail.com! Thanks, friends!

So… since we love making music, writing songs, having fun, and making videos, we’re starting a totally NEW thing called ‘REQUEST SONGS!’ We’re accepting TOPICS from you, our fans/friends and we’re totally writing a song about it! (and if you’re lucky, we’ll make a VIDEO to go along with that!

All you have to do is write to us with a random topic here on our site, on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/askyouingray), or email us at askyouingray [at] gmail.com and we’ll do it!

This first video, Undersea Office Life, was requested anonymously… but its about an octopus eating a sandwich and his desk job. Totally random.

As independent artists, we want to share our songs with you as SOON as we have them ready to be heard! So… here is one of our latest songs, Sidelines, for you to enjoy! Tell us what you think! If you want to hear Sidelines LIVE, come to one of our upcoming shows!

Ask You In Gray – Sidelines

We’re happy to have new shirts for sale. You can grab one at a show for $15, or head to www.askyouingray.com/products-page.

Make sure you LIKE us on facebook. You’ll hear about our upcoming shows FIRST, and you can check out our page to see cool things we’ve found online. www.facebook.com/askyouingray

We’ve decided to give you a couple free MP3s that we’ve made while playing around with 8-bit game sounds. Read the rest of this entry »

I hit the play button on an embedded music player on their Myspace page and I hear some pickup notes that seem to me a promise that the following music will be an adventure. The crash cymbal rings out and instantly I am overcome with a sense of nostalgia and wonder as I am eagerly listening to the busy drums and the waves of rhythmic synth. This leads me into a straight and simple, yet beautiful female vocalist singing a somber melody while the beats carry on in an intricate language. The drums pull back, as a harmony joins in and there are bells foreshadowing behind it. The song plunges back into the chorus when lead singer Austin Tofte’s vocal part take the lead.

This song, called Silhouettes, never gets old for me. I could listen to it for days.

Nick and I first stumbled onto Swimming With Dolphins back in our early days as a band. We instantly became captivated by the technical rhythms, synth lines and the compelling vocal style. We looked through some of pictures and saw vintage beach themed photos and shots of the band members playing synthesizers. More importantly, what we saw was another two-man band making electronic music just like us. We saw that it was possible and it motivated us to press forward.

When we lived in Chicago, we went to see Swimming With Dolphins when they came through with The Ready Set. We stood in the crowd amongst younger folks and listened as Austin played on his own. He told us that his former band mate Adam Young couldn’t make it that night. We were astonished to hear that his live set was incredibly close to his recordings. We couldn’t believe that he pulled it off by himself. Again we were encouraged and inspired. We approached him after the show and talked to him for a bit about his music. He was modest and incredibly nice. We walked away from that show with a sense of deep respect and appreciation for Austin and his music.

The other day Nick pulled up a new YouTube video of a live Swimming With Dolphins set and a short written interview. Below is the video.

It’s great to see how Austin has progressed with his act. His new songs are killer. I can’t wait to hear his next album. I can already tell I like the direction. He also has a live drummer. Nick and I have noticed that this makes a huge difference with electronic music played live. Sometimes recorded drum tracks lose some beef when they are played in a large room. We’ve seen other electronic bands like Playradioplay! and Ming and Ping use a live kit and the result is a bump that you can feel in your chest.

Swimming With Dolphins is coming to Portland on March 23rd at Backspace. If you are in the area and you like what you’ve heard, be sure to make it out. We will be there for sure. If you are not in Portland, check out their Myspace for tour info.

Austin, we love what you are doing and support you! If you ever want to play a show, give us a shout!

-trey

Also check out Swimming with Dolphin’s website HERE.

Back in the city of our electro-band creation, Fort Collins, Colorado, we’ve been honored by great friends of ours by being included on a local compilation CD. Everyday Joe’s coffee house is a local Fort Collins cafe that also hosts some sweet shows. Without their support and invitations to the stage, we would not be where we are today.

The compilation CD is available for ANY donation, but we encourage you to give as much as you feel its worth, since it does go to good cause.

This collaborative sound byte includes songs from these awesome bands/artists: Candy Claws, Aaron Espe, Jessica Sonner, Ask You In Gray (hey! that’s us!), Aaron Strumpel, The Sunshine House, Lifeboat Etiquette, Luke Flowers, The Blackthorn Project, Danielle Ate The Sandwich, Paper Bird, Dan Craig, You Me & Apollo, and Baily Stauffer & The Katy Janes.

For the download and the WHOLE story about Everyday Joe’s and Love, Everyday Joe’s | Volume 4: We Have A Strong City, Go to THEIR website!

We’re going to be headlining a fun show at the Hawthorne Theater on January 27th, 2011. Grab all of your #PDX friends and come out to dance with us. We’ve got a NEVER PLAYED song that we’ll be debuting LIVE for you, along with some fun dance moves. So… grab your neon digs threads, your dance shoes, and your glow sticks and meet us there!

The show opens up on January 27th at 7PM, ALL-AGES and its only $8 for 5 BANDS!

Ask You In Gray is playing with Tribe of Outcasts, Monody, The Incapacitators, and Flight 19.

RSVP for the show on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=178034305551297

BE. THERE.

nick + trey