Kate and I are playing an acoustic show this Tuesday with Ola Podrida. We’re pretty excited. In addition to the fact that they’re great, David Wingo, the frontman, is a phenomenal film score composer. He has done most of David Gordon Green’s films and maybe my favorite film from 2011, Take Shelter. Also Jeff Nichols’ newest joint, Mud.

Here’s a live performance of one of their new killer jamz.

So, come out on out on Tuesday, May 21. It’s eight bucks. Doors at 7:30. Show at 9. It will be good times.

Cheers,

m

Oh and many thanks to DCist, Brightest Young Things, Listen Local First, DC Music Download, and Pickup Productions for including the show in their weekly picks!

Thanks to Geekdad for featuring the Dear Mr. Watterson film score! And….

“Adventurous and cheeky during their ten year run, Calvin and Hobbes are the epitome of childhood exuberance and creativity. We Were Pirates embraces these sentiments and deliver a wonderful accompaniment to this classic comic strip tribute.” – Fuzzy Headphonez

“I absolutely love this score. It is a vivid tapestry of piano riffs, jazzy percussion, and delightful melodies that remind me of the first time I heard Vince Guaraldi’s score for Charlie Brown.” – Deli Magazine

“The soundtrack builds an intricate simplicity that matches the strip’s artwork and writing.” – Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie

“Much like Calvin and Hobbes, the ['Dear Mr. Watterson'] soundtrack does an excellent job at capturing both a feeling of happy-go-lucky innocence while also adding a slight introspective undertone to the mix.” – …Said the Pale Fox

Also thanks to Hometown Sounds! And thanks to JayeL Audio for the shout out about The Real World: Portland playing ‘Little Consolation.’

Hi friends,

Good news! The soundtrack for the film I’ve been working on  came out today. The movie is called “Dear Mr. Watterson” and it is a documentary about the cultural impact of the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes”, and its creator, Bill Watterson.

You can pick up a copy of the original film score on iTunes, Amazon mp3, or Bandcamp.

I’ve been working on the music on and off since Summer of 2012 and I’m really proud of how everything turned out. The soundtrack includes 14 original, instrumental songs from the film and I threw in 3 bonus tracks: an alternate version of one of the songs and a vocal and instrumental version of “Don’t Forget”. Which is an old We Were Pirates song from “Cutting Ties” that also plays in the movie.

The film itself has its festival premiere tonight at Cleveland Film Festival and is already getting great reviews. I got a chance to see it at the L.A. premiere a few weeks ago. I realize I’m not exactly unbiased, but, I loved it. I think they did an amazing job capturing what makes Calvin & Hobbes continue to have such an impact. As a big fan of the strip, it was a real honor to have been able to contribute the music for the film. I’ll keep you posted on festival showings and when the DVDs becomes available to the public. In the meantime, enjoy the soundtrack!

Cheers!

-Mike Boggs

If you’re late to the game, and missed the free download, you can still snag it on iTunes or Amazon MP3….or stream it on Bandcamp or Soundcloud. Cheers!

I wanted to give you a quick update. As I mentioned a few months back, I’ve been working on writing and recording an original score for a documentary about Calvin & Hobbes called Dear Mr Watterson. I started writing demos for the project back in July and finally finished the score last week. Getting to watch the film evolve from early rough cuts into a fully-produced feature has been a pretty amazing experience. As a massive Calvin & Hobbes fan, it’s been incredible to fully nerd out on the interviews and the content, while being able to contribute something as well.

The score I wrote ended up being 14 original songs. All 14 are instrumental. The teaser trailer below has one of the new songs from the score called “Sunday Paper”.

Dear Mr. Watterson Teaser Trailer from Dear Mr. Watterson on Vimeo.

The film will also feature instrumental versions of a couple of older WWP songs. Plus, one of the demo versions of the songs I wrote will be in there as well as the final version. I finished up the final mix from my end last week. TJ Lipple helped tremendously, by stepping in at the last minute and co-mixing and mastering some of the songs.

From there, the director Joel Schroeder, and the sound editor Josh Eckberg, took the score and the rest of the audio to a mixing stage at Warner Brothers and finished up the final audio mix this weekend.

Mixing Dear Mr Watterson at Warner Brothers. Photo from DMW’s Twitter page (@dearmrwatterson)

Mixing. Photo from DMW’s Facebook Page.

The film will be starting the film festival circuit in the next few months. It’s already been accepted into two festivals later this Spring, and has been submitted to a bunch more. I’ll try to keep you posted as I hear where and when it will be showing. You can also follow DMW on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates.

As for the soundtrack, look for it to be out sometime this Spring. I’ll definitely keep you updated.

Cheers,

m

m

Also….Happy Holidays…..that is all.

Hi friends, we’re playing a set for STPP Fest in DC at midnight tonight: 10/5 at Mood Lounge on 9th Street. Indiefeed and InTheCapital listed us as one of 10 bands to check out…..so check us out! It’s a free show and there are plenty of other solid bands playing. The Mean Ideas have a set about a block away at Old Dominion Brewhouse at 9:40. See you tonight!

Just wanted to drop a line and let you know that I’m scoring a documentary about Calvin and Hobbes called Dear Mr. Watterson. I’m incredibly excited to be on board with this project. Calvin and Hobbes is one my favorite things and I’ve loved the strip since I was a kid. In fact, it kind of helped shape my world view at a young age. So, naturally, I couldn’t be happier to be making music for the film.

If you haven’t heard about the project, this Wired article does a good job of summing it up. Joel and the others in the crew I’ve worked with so far have been great and their passion for the subject matter is obvious. It’s a great project and I’m really excited to be involved. They’re hoping for a release date sometime towards the end of the year, so I’ll keep you posted and you can also follow Dear Mr. Watterson on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

mike

PS – Joel and the crew are taking submissions until September 14th for c & h fan art, photos, letters, etc… to possibly be included in the film. You can read more about how to submit here.