It seems I might have unknowingly contributed to the latest internet meme. These pics look quite similar to this pic of me playing Crack-the-hWhip with some metal kids.

-trey

Thanks @mattmoreno for the video!

This song is a cover of our GREAT friend, Richard Ingersoll. He wrote this song quite a while ago and we just LOVED it. We actually played it at our LAST show in Fort Collins with Richard and it was awesome! We miss him and this is just for him!

Meet Me In Montauk COVER (Originally by Richard Ingersoll)

If you LOVE good music, then you’ll love the “Jazz / Lounge / Melodramatic Popular Song” that he makes:

http://www.myspace.com/richardingersoll

Hayley wrote me a story this morning through instant Message. Here’s how it went:

Hayley Wells said:

• “mr. nickman i have a story for you
• This morning, i hit my snooze button approximately 36 times
• and when i finally drragged myself out of bed
• i thought
• what music can i listen to that will get me going on this cold chicago morning
• it has to be good, poppy, and exciting
• and then i thought
• NICKS BANDDDD
• and i listened to ayig all morning
• and it ruled the end”

haha. Thanks Hayley!

Nick

Ask You In Gray

Hi Friends,

I want to take some time to talk about our favorite game to play.

Those of you that have been fans for a while may have received a copy of our very first demo recording. We copied this recording on plain white  discs so that we could customize each and every one. When we first had the idea to customize the discs, we had no idea what to do for a cover. We thought about designs and other random things we could do with a blank white space. Suddenly, it became obvious what we had to do. We had to play the Drawring Game.

The Drawring Game came about after numerous moments of boredem in the early years of AYIG. This game was often played by Nick, Mercy, Courtney, our good friends Ian and Joseph and I. Here’s how you play:

First, one person drawrs a shape. It can be any shape you can think of. Typically the shape is some form of amoeba shape with no real obvious form. . Once a shape has been drawrn, the drawrer passes the paper to the next person. Now it is this persons job to add features to the shape and turn it in to a unique character. Usually they end up becoming silly animals with ridiculous accessories. Nick tends to drawr his characters wearing black Italian-style pointy boots. I often add a belly button to my characters especially if it is a bird of some sort. The sky is the limit so it is necessary to let your imagination run wild. There is no rush, besides the anticipation of everyone playing but sometimes it helps to spend some time rotating the shape, looking at it from different angles, while trying to get some inspiration for your creation. We like to keep the shapes simple to enhance creativity but it isn’t a rule ( I once drew an arrow shape with two points on either side and regrettably Nick turned it into a woman giving birth… wearing Italian boots). This process continues until most of the space on the page is completely filled up. As the space gets filled the shapes and therefore the characters become more and more interesting.

Since the invention of the Drawring Game, we have incorporated on occasion some additional guidelines to make the game more challenging. For instance, Nick and I have played a version of the Drawring Game in which after the shape has been drawrn but before the second person begins to create a character, a third party will randomly select an animal which the shape will become and the creator has to drawr that animal. This results in some interesting outcomes. This is why creating custom rules is a way to make the game more fun for you and your friends.

I hope to have inspired you by sharing this game and we hope that you all will take joy in playing it as we have. If anyone creates an especially ridiculous creature we would love to see it! Maybe in the future we can hold AYIG’s first web contest.

trey

ask you in gray

So we’ve been really getting into this new music site we recently discovered. TheSixtyOne.com. From what we’ve found out, this is an online RPG but instead of fighting monsters or fighting creatures (like Pokemon!) and all that stuff, you listen to some really good music. Most of the music on the site seems to be emerging/indie bands but there is some more popular stuff on there also. We posted a few of our songs up there and over the course of the past week we have gotten a lot of positive feedback!

The way it works is simple. Once you’ve created a profile, you have access to a bunch of genres each with hundreds of songs from original artists (some covers too!)  You are alerted to some quests which consist of listening to a certain number of new songs, marking songs as your favorites, listening to a favorite over and over again etc. The more quests you complete the more experience you gain and the higher your level gets and the more credibility you earn as a music enthusiast! Basically its like if Pandora mated with World of Warcraft.

We’ve found that it’s really good for bands because it’s like the social aspect of Myspace but for people interested in discovering new music (as opposed to posting obnoxious pictures of themselves and spamming their friends with aps) We’ve found new favorites such as Philip Ferrari, King Tut, Go Periscope, FM BELFAST which gets our blood pumpin to dance all night!

Check out this site ASAP if you want to shake your booty while hearing some great new music at the same time! Don’t forget to give us a heart or two!

www.thesixtyone.com

nick + trey

ask you in gray

We want you to hear our music, and we want you to enjoy our synthy beats and electro fun! Here is a list to our online presence…s:

Ask You In Gray at MYSPACE

Ask You In Gray at PUREVOLUME

Ask You In Gray at THESIXTYONE.com

Ask You In Gray on TWITTER

Ask You In Gray on FACEBOOK

HEY! Be our friend on these sites, spread the word of the AYIG electropop, and come dance with us at our shows!

nick + trey
ask you in gray

Some friends of mine, Jeff and Katie Borchert, are close friend with the founders of a non-profit organization in Jinja, Uganda called Bethesda International. Bethesda takes in orphaned children, many whose parents have died from the AIDs epidemic, and gives them food, a place to stay, and an education.

Over the last year, my heart has been drawn more and more to finding out a way to somehow integrate my knowledge and experience of film/video with my desire and interest to help out non-profit organizations, especially those that are making such a huge impact in their surrounding communities.

In mid-January, I have the opportunity to visit Bethesda International in Uganda with my friends Jeff and Katie. My goal is to document the everyday lives of the children and  volunteers that make up this amazing organization, and give them a chance to share their stories through video in hopes to raise funding and awareness so that this organization can help even more children in need.

The total cost is $3,500 which covers travel, food, medical, housing and media expenses for the entirety of the trip, January 14 to February 2. The last few months I have been saving up money to cover as many of these expenses as possible, but feel the need to allow for other financial help. Monetary donations can be given through PayPal (details below).

As well, prayer for this trip would be greatly appreciated. While I am super excited to travel to a new place and experience culture outside of America, I know that there is going to be a lot of opportunity for growth which may also bring some anxiety about the unknown.

We found this video of us playing one of our favorite songs in Centennial, Colorado. Take a peeky peek and enjoy.

Ask You In Gray; Dancing to the Music

nick + trey

ask you in gray

Ask You In Gray is playing at the ELBO ROOM (http://www.elboroomchicago.com) in Chicago, IL on DECEMBER 1st!

If you haven’t seen us play, this will be a fun opportunity to hear some fun music and dance around! Check out our myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/askyouingray for more information on the show!!!

nick + trey
ask you in gray