Conshafter

"...spirited power pop hooks and shout-along choruses....an exciting rock record that conjures up some of the same sticky sweet resonance and warped sense of nostalgia as the first Breeders album...3 of 4 stars" - All Music Guide
(www.allmusic.com)


..."the type of music you'd expect from Modest Mouse… without the lisp....groundbreaking and inconceivable at how exactly this band pulled off such an astonishing album.....4.3 out 5" - Adapt Magazine
(www.adaptmagazine.com)


"The majority - and highlight tracks - are a Washington Social Scene-esque blend of power pop, and tight jean New York City rock. The musical equivalent of a dead money player matching a board pair with an ace kicker in a No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em game (determination, indie rocker sensibility, and refreshing lyrical writing talent and a short Pixies-like line in Enjoy the View to boot.)..." 8.1 out of 10 - Just Add Noise
(www.justaddnoise.com)


“Sounds like: Pure, upbeat, Beatles-inspired, indie rock slick, guitar driven, youthful, fashionably dressed, irreverent and attuned to the sensibilities of young post-teen
fans.” - Style Weekly
(www.styleweekly.com)


…”Conshafter aren't so much an ultra-catchy punk band as an ambitious pop group with one foot in classic punk, an influence that keeps them honest in a genre all too prone to pandering.” – Dead Metaphor (formerly Deep Fry Bonanza)
(www.deadmetaphor.com)


"a definite contribution to the pop-rock genre, adding a smartly inventive voice to the mainstream cacophony." - Splendid eZine
(www.splendidezine.com)


"Great indie power pop-cum-indie-rock band...think Splitsville doing New Found Glory, The Pixies and The Cars. Lots of decades there, but there you go." - Not Lame Recording Company
(www.notlame.com)


"...ability to write a hook that will stay with you long past the final notes of the album." - Betta Wreckonize
(www.bettawreckonize.com)


"...Richmond's Conshafter are a more subtle approach to the new new-wave scene....Their potential couldn't be more evident than on the simplistically-built and positively warm "Serotonin". - Skratch Magazine
(www.skratchmagazine.com)


"While hooks as big as planetary orbits lure you into joyful sing alongs, Conshafter modestly amounts layers of compelling guitar tunes that cease from becoming stagnant or inactive, like so many of today's radio regulars." - Digital Noise Network
(www.digital-noise.net)


"Conshafter offer up some quality rock with an inherent pop sensibility... they mix up styles, tempos, and tones well, making for quite an enjoyable listening experience" - Score Rocks Magazine
(www.scorerocks.com) - Critical praise for F.T.U. from the fickle press!

MELISSA RUGGIERI
MUSIC CRITIC Oct 20, 2005


Finding a director in New York isn't exactly uncommon. Finding a director who wants to donate his time to make a video for your band in Richmond, well, that, to steal from MasterCard, is priceless.

A few months ago, the members of local power-pop-rockers Conshafter found themselves in the right place with the right audience. Independent movie director Mike Fernandes caught the band's set at the suggestion of a mutual friend, liked what he heard and afterward asked the quartet if they ever had considered filming a video.

Of course they had, except for that slight issue of money.

"We barely have enough money to put gas in our van, let alone shoot a $50,000 video," singer Chris Konstantinos recalls thinking.

But then Fernandes, who runs Wide Screen Productions in New York, offered his services for free.

Fast-forward to Nov. 5, when Conshafter will commandeer the Byrd from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. to shoot a video for "The Big Setup," a new song slated for its next album, tentatively due next year.

Because the action takes place inside the theater, the band is soliciting extras to "look like an average Saturday night at the Byrd . . . or a rock show. Basically, for people to just be themselves," Konstantinos says.

The song is about the mass commercialization of society, so Conshafter has crafted a script to explore that theme while poking fun at themselves.

"We're going to be at this movie, and while we're sitting and waiting to watch the movie, we have to watch hours of commercials. The irony is that the commercials are all plays on the name of the band, so it's this really in-your-face, annoying advertising about us," Konstantinos says. "Then we watch the movie, and it's us playing in this ridiculous sci-fi movie from the'20s, but it's really just a giant product placement for the band. People start rioting and that morphs into us jumping onstage. . . .

"We realize we're no better than anyone else trying to sell albums. We're marketing to people, too, but we like to think there's a substance to what we have. But the clothes you wear, the music you listen to, it's all part of a corporate machine. Bands and art are no different than toothpaste and sneakers."

The band -- which also includes guitarist Dave Cykert, bassist (and owner of Pebble Creek Studios) Rob Teague and drummer Craig Nelson -- hopes 150-200 people show up for the shoot. An RSVP Web link, www.conshafter.com/VideoRSVP.php, has been established so the guys can have an idea of what size crowd to expect.

Although no acting experience is required for the extras, it might help for the one official role being cast, a female who will act as a ticket-taker at the Byrd and then as the heroine in the sci-fi movie.

Even with Fernandes providing his services for free and the management at the Byrd being "extremely helpful" with rental costs, Konstantinos guesstimates the video will cost the band about $2,000 when the expense of sets, costumes and the free Conshafter sampler CDs each xtra will receive are tallied.

Even though the expenditures will wipe out Conshafter's coffers, the hope, obviously, is that the video will provide the band with a stronger package to shop to record labels next year. Its current self-released album, "Fear the Underdog," has performed well at college radio, and a couple of tracks landed on the MTV series, "Made," but increasing the band's ability to market and tour is the goal for next year.

"It would be impossible to do this video without Mike, but we feel it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Konstantinos says, noting that the Byrd was chosen because, "that's the neighborhood where we live, and it's one of the most quirky, cool things about the city. We really identify strongly with Richmond and thought it would be a neat opportunity to get our fans involved, not in New York, where this stuff happens all the time, but in a place where it never happens"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Write to Melissa Ruggieri at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 300 E. Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23293, call (804) 649-6120 or e-mail or mruggieri@timesdispatch.com

- Richmond Times-Dispatch

Cornshafter?: No, Conshafter. And, if you’re like most people, you’re wondering what it means, right about the time you’re mispronouncing it. Band founders Chris Konstantinos and Dave Cykert named the band after Mike Conschafter, a guy they rowed crew with at the University of Richmond. When Conschafter’s employers at an English-language school in Japan Web-searched his name and found the band’s Web site, some mistranslations and a song called “Porn Star Mustache” convinced them he was involved in a porn ring. Konstantinos says he eventually straightened everything out, and the band quietly dropped the second “c.”


Sounds like: Pure, upbeat, Beatles-inspired, indie-rock slick, guitar-driven, youthful, fashionably dressed, irreverent and attuned to the sensibilities of young post-teen fans. Though he’s sick of it, lead singer Konstantinos says the band often gets compared to Weezer.

Signature lyric: “She thought I was cool. ’Cause I played in this band. Until she saw the ground effects on his minivan. Now I can’t get a straight answer. All she rocks out to is, ‘Rhythm Is a Dancer,’” from “Porn Star Mustache” on “Fear the Underdog,” released in mid-June.

Getting started: Konstantinos says he and his fellow band members are true independents. “We’re really proud of the fact that we do everything DIY,” he says. Bassist Rob Teague owns Pebble Creek studios, where the group manages everything from writing the songs to the recording and production to the CD art design.

Building character: Being an independent is not always the easiest or most direct route. Conshafter began its career in obscurity, touring the distant outposts of the Richmond music scene — West End venues like the now-closed Boulevard Deli and Rick’s Green Room. They were the kinds of places, Konstantinos remembers, where “management would charge you $3 for a coke on the night you are playing,” and the regulars scratched their heads over why a hip rock group was opening for their favorite bluegrass band.

The Shocklee connection: Even independents need to make some connections. Conshafter made a big one when it hooked up with Keith Shocklee, the well-known producer of such ’80s and ’90s hip-hop groups as Public Enemy, Ice Cube and Bell Biv Devoe. His wife, a Sony executive, brought him a copy of the band’s first CD, and he liked it enough to contact the band and express his interest to work with it. One of the few songs that resulted, the atypical “Autopilot,” ended up on the new album.

Up next: Since its Boulevard Deli days, Conshafter has graduated to playing venues like Alley Katz and the Y101 Birthday Bash last spring. Konstantinos says he’s aware that even moderately successful bands tend to live short lives, and so energy is already being devoted to other aspects of the music industry. Pebble Creek is a licensed Richmond business, and there are plans to turn it into a working recording studio and production label. In the meantime, the band is trying to get its name out, especially with radio play in various markets. Co-workers often congratulate him on mornings after a Conshafter song was heard on the airwaves, but Konstantinos says he’s yet to hear one himself. “I’m sure it would be a thrill,” he says. “I guess I need to listen to the radio more.”

- Style Weekly

Conshafter was SPIN.com's "Band of the Day" on December 13, 2006.

"Conshafter employ the Get Up Kids' superior song-titling skills (like last album's "Porn Star Moustache"), the epic hooks of Weezer, a dash of the Pixies acceleration/deceleration dynamic, and just a pinch of Cars-flavored new wave. Sounds like it has the potential for Frankenstein-style disaster, but the elements are stitched together so well, you'd never see the scars and bolts. The standout track, "Murder City," born out of recent violence in the band's hometown of Richmond, manages to be both menacingly ominous yet jet-propelled by bouncy punk fervor." - SPIN.com, 12/13/06 - Spin.com