Marthalicia Art

So we usually use these posts to talk about whatever new thing we're doing or how awesome we are. But this one is about a good friend of the band, Marthalicia Matarrita. Martha and BR went to high school together back in the day; both of them were in the art program. BR used to freestyle and write with Martha's brothers.

Fast forward a few years: Martha is doing big things all over NYC. She is painting live at clubs all over, working with names like Styles P and Talib Kweli. Some of us are checking out a show she'll be a part of tonight at Crash Mansion. BR and Timebomb were lucky enough to work with her on a few shows we put together at Club Europa in Brooklyn. If you can dig painting inspired by the city we live in and all of its pain and beauty, you need to check her out:

http://marthaliciaart.blogspot.com

What's up with the Timebombs?

What up, people? We have been having a productive fall that is stretching into a great winter. The album, Believe in Something Greater (Than Yourself) is getting some recognition all over the net and at our live shows. Speaking of live shows, we just had a great show the night before Thanksgiving in Philadelphia with our new friends, Swift Technique. This was our first in Philly and we definitely appreciate the invite!

Coming up, we are playing a benefit for Legros Cultural Arts on Sunday, December 6 at Gonzalez y Gonzalez. On December 11, we are back at the Bitter End with LAW, an old friend of BR and Jibrail's and we couldn't be more excited. The next night, we're heading back to New Jersey to play at City Lights in Belleville.

Keep an eye out for new developments!

We're up on itunes!

I never know whether or not to capitalize itunes. It's ok, worrying about grammar is not very hip-hop or rock 'n' roll. Anyway, the album is up on itunes as of yesterday! Just in time for our ridiculous Halloween spectacle extravaganza tonight at Kenny's Castaways.

http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=br+and+timebomb

Guess what? This is happening. I wonder sometimes if we brag enough. My favorite rappers brag a lot about how great they are. So here goes, ready: BR and Timebomb is awesome and you need to buy our album twice.

The Album is Here!!

After more hard work, money, obstacles, trials and tribulations than I have time to type about, we finally got this album done and it's a piece of work. I know I'm biased cuz it's my album but I think it's a helluva album and we wouldn't put it out if we didn't. Dont take my word for it though, check out the song player to the right and if you like what you hear, go to: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brandtimebomb to get it. Once again, I must thank everyone who's helped and supported us so loyally. Everyone in the thank you list and everyone that ever came to a show or bought a cd. This is part of what makes us. We appreciate the love, good looking out!

Rest in Peace, Laksmi Nor

Some of our closer fans, as well as friends and family, know that Laksmi Nor passed away on Sunday, September 27. Her two sons, BR and Jibrail, are in the band. Laksmi fell ill in early August while on vacation in Puerto Rico. She had been making great progress in her recovery but died unexpectedly on the 27th.

In addition to being a wonderful mother to four children, she was a singer, middle-school teacher, principal, college professor and administrator. She met her husband, Genghis Nor, when she joined a choir he was directing. They went on to perform and record together for many years. In the 90's, Laksmi went through the Bank Street Institute and received a second Master's Degree while taking care of her family and working full-time. She was also one of the biggest fans and greatest supporters of BR and Timebomb.

Most of our band has known each other since the mid-90's because three of us went to high school together. Shanelle studied trumpet with Genghis Nor, and all of our families have been close for years. Losing Laksmi has been hard for the group, as well as our families and close friends. However, she was a musician and a firm believer in staying active and getting things accomplished. We dedicated our last show to her and will continue in her memory, as well as the memories of all the loved ones who have moved on before us.

Album Update

Our album is now mastered (yeah!). If you bought an advance copy, reach out to us and we'll get you the mastered tracks. They're louder and crispier. (And yes, crispy is a technical audio term.) BR has sent the album to CDBaby, and we expect to have it on itunes in a few days' time. Keep an eye out!

Thank You!

So this is a partial thank you list for everyone who has helped BR and Timebomb in the creation and completion of our first full-length album, "Believe in Something Greater (Than Yourself)." (It's partial because with a busy 6-person band, everyone hasn't given their input yet.) But since the album is out, and we couldn't list everyone in the liner notes, we wanted to be sure to thank people in another public way:
God, through which all things are possible
The Beatty, Briggs, Eaddy, Jenkins, Martinez, Clutterbuck, Holman, Brito, Walker and Nor Families
Amira El, Taylor Ryan, AM Studios
The Higher Circle, Taylor Rivelli, Jack Kellerman
Pastor Mario Ford
Kyle Gross, Jose Martinez, Luke Madden, James King, Manifest and Angelo Rodriguez
Matt Caranante, Jennifer Sotolongo, Matt Mantro,
Bernice Pierre, Ty, Anthony Amaro, Andre Strobert,
Charles Persip, Paul Reinitz, Felecia Cruz
Devlin Miles, Carsena Green, Illard Scott, Chris Romulo
New Amsterdam Musical Association, Christopher Hall
The Bococca Arts Festival
Will Simmons, Jr.
Jose Bonilla and Lillian Zepeda
Tricia Pickering, Kent Mark
Genghis Nor
Justin Vega and The Vega Family
The City of New York and its People

More thanks will be forthcoming. Also, it turns out we couldn't fit "Hit 'em in the Head" on the album. For some reason, standard Cd's can only fit 74 minutes of hotness and we had closer to 80. But "Hit 'em" was one of our first singles and it's still available all over the web. Stay tuned for the Internet release of the rest of the new album!

One More Day Before Everything Changes

Ok, that might be a bit ostentatious. But a lot is changing in our lives. And fast. BR's birthday is tomorrow, and we're doing a huge show to celebrate at Bowery Poetry Club with some of our favorite artists: Illard Scott, Devlin Miles, B.O. da Trio, Stephanie White and the NJ Philth Harmonic, and DJ G-Biz.

And,(cross your fingers), the album will be released tomorrow night at the show! Everything has been tracked, and we just have a little last-minute mixing to do today. The album is our first full-length and it's called "Believe in Something Greater (Than Yourself)." Tracks include some of your personal favorites and some songs you might not have heard us perform in awhile:
Not a Joke
Fuegissimo
Tools
1171
It's On You
I Saw Dat Girl
Stay on my Biz
Hit 'em In The Head
Makin' It
With You Again
Outta the House
Say Goodbye
Super BR
More Power
Step Inna Place
Life for a Dollar

We couldn't be more proud of this work. Come celebrate with us tomorrow!

a quick update

Hey, the band's been very busy this month, although not as much in the musical category as in the life category. BR and his wife Kathy had their first son on July 28. The family is happy and healthy. And Stacy is getting married in 8 days to the love of his life, Amira.

In music news, we're playing on August 29 at an exciting premiere event for a new organization called Beckoning for Change. You can learn more about them here:

http://www.beckoningforchange.com

And we're back in the studio in a couple days to finish mixing the album. Stay tuned for our birthday show for BR on September 4th and a possible secret show at the end of September!

What's New with BR and Timebomb?

We've got a HUMONGOUS show going on this Sunday, July 26 at the Bell House in Brooklyn! We're closing out the first annual BoCoCa Arts Festival. More info on that here:

http://www.bococaartsfestival.com

We're still working on the album. Nothing ever goes exactly how you want it to with these things, but we're getting it done. We're still planning on releasing by the middle of August.

We're already planning for the fall and next year. September 4th will bring a birthday blowout for BR to coincide with the album release. We're working on a secret show in Brooklyn around the end of September. And big plans for next summer are under way!
peace out, home skillets.

After the Festival

So, the International Music Festival happened over the weekend. The weather held up for us. All of the artists involved did a fantastic job. Our sponsors really came through for us. And I can speak for myself, and maybe the rest of the band, when I say it was exhausting. But we'll do it again next year. We're already thinking of ways to make the event bigger and better. We had a couple people videotaping and photographing the show, including renowned music video director Mark Carrenceja. We'll be sure to post the results of their work as soon as we can.
take it easy, Brail

It's Been a Long Time

It's been awhile since we've posted here, so here's an update. BR and Timebomb is working feverishly on getting things ready for our Forest Park International Music Festival, which will be held in 10 days! You can read more about that here:

http://forestparkjuly11.blogspot.com

We had some last-minute line-up changes, but it's all for the best. Brochures are done, so keep an eye out for them.

At the same time, we're putting the finishing touches on the album. A little more mixing, a little mastering, and BR's masterful album artwork to finish it off. Hope you're as excited as we are.

Of course, it wouldn't be life without numerous things going on at the same time. Some of us have major life-changing stuff going on right now, too, but you can read about that on folks' personal blogs.
Viva La Timebomb!
-brail

Pics from the Chanty Benefit Tournament

Timebomb TV episode 1 part 1

Musicians Run These Courts Nowadays

So Team Timebomb won 1 game and lost 2 at the Chanty Benefit Basketball Tournament on Saturday. Thanks to Ohene Cornelius (of TheAtro Cities), Ali Bishop and Chris Hall (of Sound Frontier), and Fifth the Messenger for joining the team, as well as Coach Shanelle Jenkins and BR with the assist. BR didn't want to play, but he stepped in when needed. (I didn't play because I'm good and terrible.) Ohene was the one and only player in the entire tournament to dunk not once, but three times! Chris Hall's new nickname is "Mutombo." And BR got in his muay thai stance to defend the team. A lot of the other teams sold us short before the games: a bunch of musicians, a little older. But not after. Pictures and videos to follow...
-Brail

We're Playing Basketball!

That's right, folks. Not only are we a live hip-hop band, concert production company, promotional group and street team, some of us can also ball! Felecia Cruz is organizing a benefit basketball tournament on May 30 to raise money for Chanty, a young girl she met in Cambodia who struggles daily to survive. And the Timebombs will be part of the tournament. Shanelle Jenkins, our resident Trumpetgenius, is team captain. Also on the team are members of Sound Frontier and TheAtro Cities. The tournament is at Marcy Playground in Brooklyn on May 30 and it starts at 12pm. You can learn more about it here:

http://www.myspace.com/fcruz

Someone in the band who's better than me at graphics will post the flier for the event later. -Brail

Word up

I just wanna add to what my brother said below. It seems like the older I get, the, more proverbs, affirmations and cliches make sense. You know the ones like: "You can do anything you put your mind to", and "If you believe it, you can achieve it.", "Its not how many times you fall, it's how many times you get back up." We'll here's another one. It's become more clear to me that there are many definitions for and types of success and failure. Sometimes, you think you won or lost because of your own perception and expectations, or someone elses. It's all relative.

I debated back and forth a bit with BR on whether or not to post about our last show at Battery Park. I wasn't terribly happy with the results and blamed myself. But he looked at things in a different way. I also worried about how things would go tomorrow at Bowery Poetry Club and what I could do to affect that outcome. But I read something this morning that put things in perspective for me. It basically said that we focus so much on the present that we don't consider our past or future. We worry so much about how things are going, whether they're good or bad, that we don't think about the big picture. That really made me think.

Both personally and professionally, the members of BR and Timebomb have had some major setbacks and great successes. On Sunday, we risked some bad weather and played a great show outdoors anyway with the Youngbloods Jazz Quintet. The weather may have kept everyone we expected from showing up, but we also reached out to many new fans from all over the world. We were heard by lots of people who only came to the park to get on the boats to the Statue of Liberty. Every show is a learning experience. And that one was also a success.
Looking forward to the next one...
Brail

Bowery Poetry Club

--- On Mon, 5/11/09, Stacy Beatty Jr wrote:




Just a reminder:


BR & TIMEBOMB are bringing their Brooklyn Showcase to MANHATTAN at the Famous BOWERY POETRY CLUB!!! We got another new line-up of Hot Artists with a variety of music ( see below )







Plus great drinks for great prices, and some food selections. When you get there tell them you are there to see BR & TIMEBOMB. And please forward this to your friends and family. All 21 and over are welcome.

TAKE F train to 2nd ave, walk up East Houston to Bowery and make a right, the club is on the left side

TAKE 6 train to Bleecker St. walk 3 blocks to Bowery and turn right, the club is on the right side.

Let me know if you can make it.



Have a blessed day

Stacy



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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BR and TIMEBOMB DOIN' IT UP!

Hey whats up peeps! BR & TIMEBOMB here. Just want to give y'all a upfate, on our progress, (Yeah its been a long time since we did this but that's how busy we have been)

First off we want to thank all the contacts we've made in the past few months: Bill Popp, Kenny's Castaways, Rew and Bee, Principal Ms. Oday from P.S.42 in Chinatown, Sister's In Motion, Ganessa James of Onliest, Illard Scott, Zach Fried, Paul, The Parks Dept, Disney's Street Games, Luna Soul, O'hene, Felecia Cruz, Club Europa, Sound Frontier, Christopher Hall, The New Amsterdam Musical Association, Steph White and the Philtharmonic, Kevin from P.S. 42, and many others as well as our fans both old and new. Thank you for making these shows in the past 3 months both exciting and helpful. We have been performing together for 6 years now, with the purpose of bringing people together through live instrumentation, original music and meaningful lyrics and we've seen alot of that this year. We've also built new relationships and strengthened old ones. And we are also happy that our first album is due this summer, "Believe in Something Greater, than Yourself", and we couldn't have done it without the fans and the hard work of the TIMEBOMB Support System (Ms. Briggs, Amira El, Ms. Nor, Laila Nor, Kathy Nor.)

And it ain't over, on July 11 2009 we are putting on the first International Music Festival in Forest Park, Queens. Just sharing through music the many cultures that make up our community. ( Korea, Philippines, Mexico, Japan, Senegal etc... ) Five Artists, from five different Genres of Music from Gospel, to Reggae to Hip-hop. And we are offering to help the businesses in the community get more advertising. We are looking for sponsors (whether big business, small business, organization or individual) to advertise during the show. It's going to be huge. so if you are interested in sponsoring the event please contact us here via email, and we will share our sponsorship package with you.

So from all of us to all of you, we thank you and we hope to accomplish more in the coming months. See you at the next Show.

BR & TIMEBOMB

A Busy Weekend

This weekend was a crazy one for BR and Timebomb. On Saturday morning, Kyle, Jibrail and BR met up at 4am to take care of some promotional opportunities. (I'll leave it at that.) By 9am, we were back in Chinatown to set up and sound check for the P.S. 42 Family Day. This is an annual event the school puts on for the students to have fun and interact with their parents. Shanelle was able to get us on the bill, along with the Youngbloods Jazz Quartet and Sound Frontier, because she used to work with one of the teachers.
The Family Day event was a huge success. We encountered a little rain during the YJQ set, but people toughed it out and our equipment was under a tent. Sound Frontier went on next, and had a few sound problems but definitely did their thing. After the PS 42 Golden Singers performed a few songs, Timebomb closed out the set. (This gave BR enough time to get to the gig from his day job.) At times, I wasn't sure if the crowd was feeling us because they weren't as raucous as we're used to. But after the show, Shanelle told us the teachers and principals were thrilled and want us back. We're definitely looking forward to doing this event again.

On Sunday, we were back outside in Washington Square Park. The weather forecasts had been calling for rain off and on all day, but we toughed it out. Amira had the great idea of buying a couple tents like the ones they had at PS 42, so I picked up a couple at Modell's before the show. The band that asked to open the show for us canceled Sunday morning because they were worried about playing in the rain, even after we offered to let them use our equipment. It ended up raining lightly almost all day, but we still had a nice-sized crowd for most of our show. BR made sure to thank people for sticking around because he was truly grateful.

You know, L Magazine came out a week ago with their "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear" issue, and I read through it. I can think of at least 8 amazing bands that weren't in there that should be: Lafayette, Ganessa James, Sound Frontier, Youngbloods Jazz Quartet, L'una Soul, Illard Scott, JoBlack Sekou and Bolomba Stylee, BR and TIMEBOMB. I could keep going, but you get the point. And I don't just name these bands because they're friends of ours. I name them because they make quality music for the people.

Interview on Rewbee's World

BR, Stacy and Jibrail were interviewed on RewBee's weekly online radio show yesterday. We met RewBee at a benefit we did in March for the American Heart Association. Thanks for having us, guys!

Union Square Show

In the midst of all the action and chaos lately, I neglected to talk about the show at Union Square last week. We were supposed to go on at 3. Me, Jibrail, Chris Hall and Stacy we're there pretty early setting up. They spoke to Parks Dept staff about getting electricity from the poles. They told us the power was on. We performed there the last two summers and had always got power from the lamp posts. Everybody got there around 2:30, 2:45. A crowd had gathered already when we realized we had no power. The Parks staff couldnt be found. Jibrail called and emailed them repeatedly. We had 3 choices: cancel the show with the crowd already there, wait who knows how long for the Parks people to help us (on a Sunday at that), or get power ourselves. Not to waste time, we went down 14th to Radio Shack and Guitar Center to see if we could rent a generator. Neither had one. Jibrail and Chris took a cab to Home Depot on 23rd. I stayed at the Park and just held it down in general. They came back with a generator but they had to buy it. They dont rent. Chris worked with a couple other guys to get it started. I poured gas at one point but mainly I mingled w people to keep em around. My wife's cousin was visiting w his girlfriend. He's an engineer so he knows how to operate generators. He got in there and helped out to get it started quickly. Then we started the show. Aside from some minor sound problems that got corrected, the show went real smooth. Some b-boys showed up and started bustin it down. That helped attract more people. We made more than enough money to cover the generator and pay everybody so in the end it was all good. Also I found out later that we had to get a generator for a show we have coming up in June and now we have it. In hindsight even though it was a little frustrating, everything worked out well in the end. We did end up starting about a hour and a half- 2 hrs late but it's Union Square, there's always people there. After we broke down all the equipment and loaded the cars, some of us went to a Hibachi steak house and did it up a little to celebrate. It came to mind that we're fortunate to be surrounded by all the right people that help us out with a variety of skills and knowledge that we may not have. Good lookin out everybody, last week we did 4 shows in a week. I cant speak for the rest of the band but thats a record for me. Im tired as hell but I like it.

We got on the news

We got on the news for a second last week at the Disney Streetgames at Thomas Jefferson Park. Channel 7 ABC Eyewitness News covered it. Now we just do that again, over and over and we're good. In all seriousness, thank you to all our supporters. If your reading this, you probly are one. We appreciate everything and all I can promise is we're not letting it be in vain. The ends will justify the means. - BR

great meetings, expectations, scots, etc.

BR and I had a great meeting this afternoon with our friend Paul re: the International Music Festival we're putting on in July. Paul has tons of ideas that will helps us put on a better show, and he's more than willing to help. I consider us lucky to be involved with people who see the value in what we're doing, and we've been fortunate in this way since the beginning. Paul is gonna follow up with a couple folks, and BR and our team are gonna follow up with some folks and it's on like Megatron this July 11. Look out for another great annual extravaganza from BR and Timebomb! I really like saying "extravaganza."
-Jibrail

Photos from the weekend

Thanks to our friends and family for coming out this weekend (and taking pictures) and to Parks and Recreation for putting us on this show.

whatever I like

First off, I certainly hope I won't be the only one from Timebomb to post on here. BR does, too, but he's crazy busy right now. And one of my favorite drummers, Questlove, does quite a bit of blogging. Which brings me to my point. BR and I were always concerned about blogging for a few reasons. The funniest blogs are the ones where people talk trash, like Lily Allen or Kanye West. But we are not as famous as them, and probably couldn't handle the backlash as well as them. (I think Lily Allen had to chill out for awhile due to her mouth getting her in trouble.) I was even concerned about saying in my last post that Vampire Weekend wasn't very original. Other than talking smack about people, why would anyone care about what we have to say? You might be going to youtube right now to watch babies fall off of kitchen counters or cats singing the National Anthem or something.

But Stacy (our bass player) has been an example for me of how people do care about what you have to say. He is great at giving folks "the personal touch," staying in touch with fans and responding to their questions and concerns, even when he doesn't agree.

I will change the subject for a second, to get back to the title of the post. I feel bad that I can't go out and see all of my friends who put on shows. But I do my best. Sometimes I'm busy, sometimes I'm broke and sometimes I just can't get it together. But I've been able to see some great music and comedy lately, like the Sound Frontier show. I also saw our friend Christina Lee back up a singer from the Netherlands last Saturday. A couple other guys we know were also in the band (Phil Smith, Miguel, etc.). We all like to go support other bands when we can, as long as they're not wack! (I kid, because I love.)
Peace out, Jibrail

innovation

I went to check out an old friend's band, Urban Weasel, on Tuesday since we'd canceled Timebomb rehearsal. It was good to see them, and I realized my friend, the singer and lyricist, really had a David Byrne thing going on. His lyrics were a little out there and he really made the best use of his voice. This got me talking to another person in the crowd after the show. We agreed on the David Byrne comparison, and got talking about the lack of innovative groups like the Talking Heads these days. Talking Heads took some influences from African music and combined them with their own weirdness and punk to make something new. Then you get a band like Vampire Weekend currently (who isn't bad) but doesn't seem to have that same originality. The only band, at least in rock music, these days who really seems to be original while still making their influences known is TV on the Radio. They're definitely a band I look up to when I think about how BR and Timebomb can continue in this business and not repeat ourselves.
-Jibrail

Sound Frontier at Europa

Jibrail from Timebomb here. I went out to Europa to see our friends in Sound Frontier last night. They definitely did their thing. They were part of this Rock n Roll Comedy Circus. Good music, good comedy, cheap beer. 3 of my favorite things. CJ was on drums for the first time with them and he amazed me as usual. It was good to see them rock out for an appreciative crowd. (It was also good to have time to put up posters for our next show there!)

Kenny's Castaways

Here's some shots from our last show. We did good and the owner and staff are cool so we'll be doing more stuff there. Our next gig there is June 27.

Here's the footage of the homey Illard Scott goin for his last night at EOW. Thats me holdin it down Steve Nash style. Shout out to CROM, Sleep and Christina Lee.

We're Working

We been doin shows at Club Europa in Greenpoint for awhile now. We're steadily getting more shows in Manhattan though. We're not gonna stop doin shows in Bk but it's good for our people from Manhattan that dont wanna travel too far. We performed at Bowery Poetry Club and Kenny's Castaways recently and we'll be there more in the near future. We're also gonna keep bringing other hot artists with us to these shows so people will get an entire event with a variety of great music. We also got our album coming soon this summer if not fall . Probly summer. Thanks to everybody that comes out to the shows, buys cds or downloads or helps/supports in any way, shape or form. We def appreciate the love that yall show us.

Illard Scott at EOW

My man Illard Scott did it up at Pyramid (EOW) tonight. He performed "The Cure" and I backed him up on it. He did real good as always, the crowd was feeling him and he got respect. From the stage, I could tell the crowd was diggin his words, I heard people respond when he said certain lines. He's been rhymin there for the last 5 weeks so he earned this showcase. I like doin the hype man thing by the way. It's cool sometimes to not be the center of attention and play a supporting role. I listened to his song a few times last night to refresh my memory and it went good. I tried to do a good job of hypin him up and saying enough lines with him but not spit too much and be distracting. I saw a few other good artists too, where I really was into the music. I heard some music and saw some performances and deliveries that inspired me a bit and I like that. I been workin on a song for the last couple nights and I wrote the last vs on the way home. I was sayin to my brother, I'm not the kinda person that get's mad or threatened by other people that are good. I like to see that. 1- cuz I just like music, 2 - cuz it inspires/motivates me whether in a creative, collaborative way, or competitive or both. 3- cuz I dont wanna always be the best. Lemme explain that. I mean I dont wanna stay in a comfort zone where I'm not challenged. Of course I wanna be the best like everybody that is driven wants to be the best and strives and all that. Thats not what I mean. I mean, I've been the best before and I know there's no best. There's just best where u happen to be. Best singer in your church, best rapper on your block, best ball player in your school. When your the best too long, you get sloppy. So when your the big fish in the small pond, you dont improve cuz you dont need too, or as a friend of mine said, "You cant learn if you know everything". I used to go to EOW alot when I first started TIMEBOMB. I had left Higher Circle and I wanted to get better not only lyrically but my performance too, so I started goin there and to other open mics to get my skills up. We built myself, this band and our fanbase up almost from scratch and nowadays I perform so much that before tonight I would have said I dont have time or need to go to open mics. But now I could see myself makin it out there on occasion cuz it would be worth it. It's on Sunday nights but they start early and they keep good time. I admire what they're doin. It's 3 main guys that host it and rhyme also. They're all sharp and they keep the show on point and energetic so you forget it's sunday and you think it's fri night. It's good that they give artists a way to perform and develop.