the billkillers

blasts from recent pasts

2007-04-28T16:30:00.000+08:00

>> well, it's official - the 'net nannies' in beijing have blocked access to nary every foreign video-sharing site, including both revver and dailyMotion, two sites where i upload most of our live videos. youTube is still available behind 'the great fire-wall' (another sino-google deal?), but i find the quality of their conversion to 'flash' abysmal (especially from our already low-fidelity clips). thus for the benefit of our fans and prospective sponsors in china, i'll be gradually re-posting some of our highlights through VIRB°, which is still viewable in this fair land*.

here's an oldie but goodie, from a gig at clubNY - qingdao's premiere live music venue..
FIRE by 'jimi hendrix'

courtesy of kitty qu

* i won't be delving into political issues on this site, but i do maintain a del.icio.us account with links to various blogs and articles regarding culture, military intelligence, and human rights in china. check it out.
(note: many of the sites listed are inaccessible within china)

live on the MaX-land

2007-04-23T18:00:00.000+08:00

>> THIS IS AN UPDATE TO A PREVIOUS POST..

more pix from MaX
by 'rayXhead'


from 'qingdao media'

news and updates...

2007-04-11T20:00:00.000+08:00

>> updated 30 may, 2007

>> check out the flash player now heading every page. it may or may not be functioning in your browser (windoze users beware), and if it ain't, it might simply be a question of upgrading the version of your browser's flash plug-in. please let us know if you have any issues. otherwise, you can now easily download some of our original tunes by 'right-clicking' the black ipod nano. this will give you a zipped 13mb file of the three mp3's you (may or may not) see above. they were recorded straight (no chaser) from the soundboard at sunshine plaza during last week's concerts - mistakes - no extra charge (as was the reverb on the vocals). enjoy!

>> another tour in shenzhen appears imminent, either in may or june, so stay tuned! and if you're in qingdao this may-day holiday, drop by the sunshine department store (starbucks - stage right) from the 1st to the 4th for an open-air set of rock 'n roll. the fun begins at 4PM.

the billKillers are on VIRB°!!

DON'T FORGET TO SEND US YOUR REQUESTS !!
please drop us a line, ring us on skype, or add us to your VIRB° page.

YOU CAN ALSO RECEIVE OUR BLOG UPDATES BY RSS OR BY EMAIL :

THANKS!

(not a spam thing, only genuine 'billKillers' news!)

NEXT CONCERT - FRIDAY JUNE 1st AT LENNON bar

CATCH US AT LENNON EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AT 9:30PM.

the billKillers calendar (courtesy of google)
CLICK ON ANY EVENT TO SUBSCRIBE* OR, VIEW OUR SCHEDULE IN ANOTHER (BIGGER) WINDOW HERE.
(times are china standard)

* REQUIRES A 'GOOGLE' ACCOUNT. IF YOU'D LIKE AN INVITE, DROP US A LINE.

more from MaX

2007-04-10T16:43:00.000+08:00

>> here's another couple of video snippets courtesy of preston roy (alex's bro') from MaX 07..

once again, apologies for the sound quality, but check out this drummer dude! coincidentally, this one turned out to be the best angle to pick up the guitar sound.
THRU THE SKIN by 'the billKillers'

courtesy of preston roy

YET ANOTHER ANGLE..
THRU THE SKIN (end) by 'the billKillers'

courtesy of preston roy

HEADing in a new direction

2007-04-09T00:45:00.000+08:00

..slowly getting round to updating the site since moving over to the 'new blogger'. i'm afraid the 'tag cloud' functionality in the sidebar will eventually be lost due to blogger's new labeling system. the new header you see above this can also be found on our VIRB° site - guess you might say it's a sorta branding of the 2. while i'm at it, here's a screenshot of the VIRB° redesign. i had to learn some basic CSS to do it, but i'm quite pleased with this so far..

later,
mm

videoVirb update

2007-04-08T22:19:00.000+08:00

i'm currently cross-posting entries on our VIRB° site as well as here at blogspot. one doesn't actually replace the other, but any traffic on the mainland will most certainly be headed virb-way, since the blockage of blogger accounts in china is becoming frustratingly frequent. there's also an mp3 player built into VIRB°, which makes it easier for prospective fans or agents to have a quick listen to our (live) sound without the wait of a video load. i hope to embed a version of the player on this site in the very near future, so stay tuned ; )

speaking of video, our 'dailymotion' entries (which include most of the videos on this site!) seem to have disappeared, at least within the boundaries of the 'great fire-wall'. are any of yuz outside of china able to view some recent video posts? i'm wondering if it's a by-product of the our infamous beijing 'net-nannies', or just another web2.0 up the creek sans-paddle (or was it that teensy weensy copyright infringement thingy??). do tell.

ok, so i'm diggin' VIRB° more and more, especially since this latest block on blogspot in the good 'ol PRC, combined with the apparent 'dailyMotion' vaporisation, and thought i'd upload some video for a try. here's the first result from the MaX 07 concert: (you can also check it out on our VIRB° page)

ALREADY GONE by 'the billKillers'

courtesy of preston roy

more to come.. waddya tink? decent enough? uh, notwithstanding a disclaimer and apology for the sound quality (and it ain't the camera's fault in this case), but hey, it was the same for us onstage, except way louder!

talk amongst yerselves,

mm

f*ck mySpace..

2007-04-03T19:12:00.000+08:00

..and all of its unsightly layouts, obnoxious ads, and exasperating steps to process an update (add 5 or 6 in china thanks to the "Great FireWall"). apologies for the outburst, but you see, i caved in last week and signed up to mySpace before someone noticed our conspicuous absence from the godfather of the social music web. i mean, everyone's on this thing - cui jian, john mccain, tom waits - hec, even hugo chavez! (ok, maybe his is a phoney, but how can you be sure?). as if having blogspot regularly shutdown by the 'net nannies' in beijing (i prefer to call them babies actually) wasn't bad enough, trying to edit a profile or upload a jpeg on mySpace has become an exercise in futility.

anyways, all this to say i've discovered something way better - it's called VIRB° and this thing rocks! the layout is clean, completely customisable, has a great mp3 player (give our new tunes a listen), and even the ads are relegated to the footer and manage to blend in. last but hardly least, and more importantly for us guys chillin' in the PRC, VIRB° is not (yet) blocked by the central comrades. click the screenshot, and stay tuned for updates.

oh yeah, you can check out my attempt to beautify our mySpace page here, but don't say i didn't warn you.

mm

MaX 07

2007-03-07T21:26:00.000+08:00

We'll be premiering a set of original tunes at the concert event of MaX 07 on friday, march 30 in qingdao. 'MaX' is an exciting, unprecedented convergence event of art and music in one special creative 'space'.
check out the tentative program here.

marc and alex will also be exhibiting some of their photographs all weekend.

taxing solo

2007-02-14T23:40:00.000+08:00

excerpt from TAXMAN by the beatles
live at lennon bar, 09 february, 2007

elvis left the building..

2007-02-14T15:28:00.001+08:00

LENNON BAR BLUES by elvis and jeremy
live at lennon bar, 09 february, 2007

check this out..

2007-02-07T23:21:00.001+08:00

WANNA KNOW WAZZUP IN THE 'DAO FOR MUSIC? DROP INTO THE mySPACE 'redSTAR MUSIC FORUM'. THERE'S PIX FROM RECENT EVENTS AS WELL AS TUNES FROM THE CREW OF 'UNPLUGGEDS'.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, CATCH THE NEXT UNPLUGGED AT THE KING'S HEAD PUB ON FEB 22nd FROM 19:30 TIL LATE.

redSTAR music forum

why wait for the weekend?

2007-01-15T21:07:00.000+08:00

WE'RE SERVING UP A LAID BACK EVENING OF SURF AND JAZZ WITH A SPLASH OF ROCK 'N ROLL EVERY THURSDAY AT AMANI bar.
START DIGGIN' IT FROM 9:30PM ON.

WHAT'S THAT? WAIT FOR T.G.I.F. - YOU MUST? THE IMMINENT, IMPENDING, MUCH ANTICIPATED, DREADED BY SOME, REVERED BY OTHERS, RETURN OF THE B-KILLERS TO LENNON bar, ER.., RETURNS!!

CATCH US AT LENNON bar EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AT 10PM, STARTING JAN 19TH.

DON'T FORGET TO SEND US YOUR REQUESTS
please drop us a line, ring us on skype, or leave a message.

thanks!

where will they show up next?

2007-01-10T11:55:00.001+08:00

stay tuned...
WE'LL BE ROCKIN' STEADY AGAIN IN QINGDAO!

in the meantime, SEND US YOUR REQUESTS - please drop us a line, ring us on skype, or leave a message

visit us at myredSTAR.com for more news and events

YOU CAN ALSO RECEIVE OUR BLOG UPDATES BY RSS OR BY EMAIL :

THANKS!
(not a spam thing, only genuine 'billKillers' news!)

stay away from me..

2006-09-19T20:47:00.000+08:00

AMERICAN WOMAN by the guess who
live at sunshine department store, 16 september, 2006

ok, stick around..

2006-09-19T20:44:00.000+08:00

STAY WITH ME by the faces
live at sunshine department store, 16 september, 2006

a lotta woman

2006-09-19T15:20:00.000+08:00

WHOLE LOTTA ROSIE by ac/dc
live at la luna, 15 september, 2006

>> click here for more...

... THE SUNSHINE STORE VERSION (16 september)

winged rerun

2006-09-19T15:11:00.001+08:00

LITTLE WING by jimi hendrix
live at la luna, 15 september, 2006

satisfied

2006-09-19T14:40:00.000+08:00

CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION by the rolling stones
live at la luna, 15 september, 2006

painted black

2006-09-19T10:00:00.000+08:00

PAINT IT BLACK by the rolling stones
live at sunshine department store, 16 september, 2006

summer blues

2006-09-18T17:18:00.000+08:00

SUMMERTIME BLUES by eddie cochran (more like the who, live at leeds..)
live at sunshine department store, 16 september, 2006

the band

2006-09-03T11:18:00.000+08:00

the new incarnation.
left to right: alex "eskimo boy" roy (drums), "sir" jeremy van sluytman (bass, lead vocals),
marc "jorge" montebello (guitar, backup vocals).

us and cui

2006-08-17T00:30:00.000+08:00

a night to remember...

the legend - father of chinese rock 'n roll, and god to many, cui jian ('ts-way gee-an'), came out to see the lads do their thang at la luna on saturday. what a treat to kick it between sets with the man single-handily responsible for the proliferation of mullets and marshall amps throughout the middle-kingdom. the trio was in sharp form, inspired some would say, and mr. cui loved it.
check out his website for more history on this leading light of sino-rock, along with updates on his touring schedule.

cui with the boys..

>> more pix here...

and the girls (may, ron, and kitty)..

and with 'godson', lidu..

middle-men

2006-08-17T00:20:00.000+08:00

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU by stealers wheel
live at la luna, 12 august, 2006

wither we play

2006-08-14T13:13:00.000+08:00

AIN'T NO SUNSHINE by bill withers
live at la luna, 12 august, 2006

crackermen

2006-06-13T12:38:00.000+08:00

CRACKERMAN by stone temple pilots
live at clubNY, 10 june, 2006

on FIRE

2006-06-12T10:38:00.000+08:00

FIRE by jimi hendrix
live at clubNY, 10 june, 2006

nawlin's sinkin'

2006-02-25T14:37:00.000+08:00

NEW ORLEANS IS SINKING by the tragically hip
the new line-up; thomas heine on bass and sir jeremy, now on drums. what's up with that guy?
live at lennon bar, february 12, 2006

more cheatin'

2006-02-24T13:15:00.000+08:00

YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY by the beatles
with guest star, ian 'ron' burns on vocals
live at la luna, february 14, 2006

surf's back up!

2006-02-24T13:10:00.000+08:00

RUMBLE (by link wray) / PIPELINE (by the chantays) MEDLEY
the new line-up; thomas heine on bass and sir jeremy, now on drums.
live at lennon bar, february 12, 2006

the cheatles revisited

2006-02-24T13:05:00.000+08:00

GET BACK by the beatles
with guest star, ian 'ron' burns on vocals
live at la luna, february 14, 2006

hendrix homage

2006-02-24T13:03:00.000+08:00

LITTLE WING bt jimi hendrix
the new line-up; thomas heine on bass and sir jeremy, now on drums.
live at lennon bar, february 12, 2006

creamin'

2006-02-24T12:52:00.000+08:00

CROSSROADS by cream
the new line-up; thomas heine on bass and sir jeremy, now on drums.
live at lennon bar, february 12, 2006

s.t.p.

2006-02-15T02:00:00.000+08:00

INTERSTATE LOVE SONG by stone temple pilots
the new line-up; thomas heine on bass and sir jeremy, now on drums.
love the volume swell on this one. so much power from one little knob...
live at lennon bar, february 12, 2006

gunnin' it

2006-02-08T19:47:00.000+08:00

PETER GUNN (guitar solo)
live at la luna, october 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

backstage pass

2006-02-06T22:33:00.000+08:00

porsche 'cayman' launch
live at the shangri-la, qingdao, december 16, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

buffalo springfield

2005-12-16T00:00:00.000+08:00

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH by stephen stills
porsche 'cayman' launch
live at the shangri-la, qingdao, december 16, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

more kinks!

2005-12-04T00:04:00.000+08:00

YOU REALLY GOT ME by the kinks
live at avion bar, december 03, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

this was one cool stage

2005-12-03T12:01:00.001+08:00

avion bar, december 03, 2005

the trembler

2005-12-03T12:01:00.000+08:00

THE TREMBLER by duane eddy
live at avion bar, december 03, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

is good comrade, no?

2005-12-02T00:02:00.000+08:00

the dancers were a definite 'DA'! (see previous entry)
live at la luna’s ‘russian party’, december 02, 2005

never can tell

2005-12-02T00:00:00.000+08:00

YOU NEVER CAN TELL by chuck berry
live at la luna's 'russian party', december 02, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

the name's bond...

2005-11-26T00:08:00.000+08:00

JAMES BOND THEME by henry mancini
live at the 'winter warm-up' charity, corner jazz bar, november 26, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

alex...

2005-11-26T00:07:00.000+08:00

moments before the accident..

rock 'n roll part 2

2005-11-26T00:06:00.000+08:00

ROCK AND ROLL by led zeppelin
live at the corner jazz bar, november 26, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

all day and all of the night

2005-11-26T00:05:00.000+08:00

ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT by the kinks
live at the 'winter warm-up' charity, corner jazz bar, november 26, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

après-concert

2005-11-26T00:03:00.000+08:00

night of the 'winter warm-up' charity, november 26, 2005
snapped at la luna. sharon was a guest vocalist on 'son of a preacher man'.

secret asian men

2005-11-26T00:02:00.000+08:00

SECRET AGENT MAN by johnny rivers
live at the 'winter warm-up' charity, corner jazz bar, november 26, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

jazzin'

2005-11-26T00:01:00.000+08:00

live at the 'winter warm-up' charity, corner jazz bar, november 26, 2005

kids in the hall revisited

2005-11-26T00:00:00.000+08:00

HAVING AN AVERAGE WEEKEND by shadowy men from a shadowy planet
live at the 'winter warm-up' charity, corner jazz bar, november 26, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

hey, we don't play for just any car..

2005-11-13T00:01:00.000+08:00

qingdao porsche dealership, sunshine dept store, november 13, 2005

rock 'n roll porsche

2005-11-13T00:00:00.000+08:00

ROCK AND ROLL by led zeppelin
qingdao porsche dealer, sunshine dept store, november 13, 2005
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

which way dee go?

2005-10-12T00:00:00.000+08:00

la luna, qingdao, china, october 12, 2005

a quieter moment...

2005-10-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

3/4's of the 'killers at the 'redSTAR unplugged'
le bang french restaurant and bar, sometime in october 2005

in the beginning...

2005-09-15T00:00:00.000+08:00

WALK DON'T RUN by the ventures
first rehearsal, clubNY, september 2005 (thank you xinna!)
(please click the pause button while this baby loads)

video roll (dailyMotion)

2005-09-02T00:02:00.000+08:00

LAST 5 VIDEOS AT DAILY MOTION:

LINK TO ALL OF THE BILLKILLERS VIDEOS AT dailyMotion

video roll (revver)

2005-09-02T00:01:00.000+08:00

LINK TO BILLKILLERS VIDEOS AT REVVER

video roll (youTube)

2005-09-02T00:00:00.000+08:00

gear list

2005-09-01T12:04:00.000+08:00

>> updated august 14, 2006

alex 'eskimo boy' roy, gets his kicks from a cool set of pearl EXR's, courtesy of la luna. nice to be back with real drums...

marc 'jorge' montebello, slashes surf 'n rock with a cort G-290 (2005 model). this axe has a lovely burled maple top, EMG pickups, and a whammy bar that actually stays in tune!

the cort is blasted through a laney TF-200-II amplifier. all distortion sounds come from this baby's two separate gain stages, equipped with select mesa-boogie tubes, which drive the solid-state power amp section.
he's running a boss DD-3 digital delay in the effects loop (sad to say, the reverb sucks on the laney, though it is presssed into service when in 'surf mode'). from the guitar, the signal runs into a dunlop cry-baby wah, into a modified boss TR-2 tremolo (with a clipped out capacitor for a smoother sound) before hitting the input section of the amp. he's also been known to use a compressor for soloing (on loan from peter burnside).

'sir' jeremy van sluytman, gets subsonic on a well-worn blue fender squier p-bass, circa unknown; volume and tone knobs last seen on a lunch tray in the QIS school cafeteria..
the p-bass's signal runs into a peavey bass amp (used as a monitor) before slamming into the house PA.

set lists

2005-09-01T12:03:00.000+08:00

workin on it... leave your requests in the comment box.

who are those guys?

2005-09-01T00:01:00.000+08:00

T he former 'jorge' member of the qingdao fab four, 'the cheatles', marc montebello wanted to break new wind with a guitar based, tarentino-
flavoured combo, and found brethren in these
other unlikely canadian lads...

marc's redSTAR profile

Life in Qingdao has brought its share of changes for 'Sir' Jeremy Van Sluytman. Marriage, more teaching, and now, relishing the experience as bassist (and sometimes drummer) for 'the billKillers'. In short (no jokes please), a teacher who plays music???.. or is it a musician who works as a teacher?? ..I stole that from a friend '-)

Alex 'eskimo-boy' Roy

credits

2005-09-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

this website is updated, poked, nudged, compiled, designed, and occasionally frowned on by marc montebello. it's marginally based on the original 'kubrick' template by Michael Heilemann. special coding for blogger categories and 'tag clouds' graciously tutored by Phydeaux3. grazie molto, dudes.

RSS provided by feedburner; email updates by feedblitz.

YOU CAN ALSO RECEIVE 'the billKillers' BLOG UPDATES BY RSS OR BY EMAIL :

enter your address here :

THANKS!
(not a spam thing, only genuine 'billKillers' news!)

videos and pix courtesy of kitty qu, veronica gotelli, and xinna. merci les filles!!

pix hosted by flickr and blogger.

videos hosted by revver, youTube, and dailyMotion. currently, revver has superior rendering at the expense of a slower load time and a clickable ad-tagged ending. do not click the ad unless you feel compelled, as 'the billkillers' site is currently a commercial-free venture. whatever the case, i'm quite content these days with dailyMotion and will be slowly changing over to their service. check 'em out.

m m

© the billkillers 2006. some rights reserved.

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