When EMA asks the question 'what's it like to be small-town and gay?' in her unhinged anthem 'California', Caleb Nichols has an answer: It was brutal, it was beautiful, and well worth singing about.
Nichols, along with Bay Area music scene vets Pat Spurgeon and Dominic East, explores the heartache and wonder of small-town teenage alienation in his new Bay-Area based outfit, CHURCHES.
CHURCHES is salvation through distortion for the disaffected small-town weirdo in everyone – a sonic cathedral of cymbals and guitars for the modern outcast. Download the free, self-titled debut ep and find out what all the noise is about.
Unless noted, these posts are by Caleb.
Churches is Pat Spurgeon, Dominic East and Caleb Nichols.
Get in touch: churches.band@gmail.com
We are excited to announce that Grand Lake guitarist Jameson Swanagon will be joining us this weekend for our shows with Imperial Teen! Also, in honor of these shows, we’re releasing a NEW remix of our track LOVELIFE by the amazing YALLS. For FREE. Stream it. Get it. Love it.
Hope to see you this weekend!
Friday, May 24 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco w/ Imperial Teen (Tickets)
Saturday, May 25 - The Satellite, Los Angeles w/ Imperial Teen (Tickets)
We are pleased to present this free live set of four songs recorded at the Hangar in Sacramento last summer, with the estimable Bryce Gonzales at the helm.
The Hangar was an amazing recording space in Sacramento with an amazing history. It will be missed, and so we’ve dedicated this session to its memory. This article in the Sac Bee is pretty informative.
Grab the songs for free by clicking “name your price” over at bandcamp, and then entering “0” (or, if you’re feeling it, you can throw us a tip).
ALSO we are SO EXCITED to announce TWO SHOWS with heroes and legends IMPERIAL TEEN!!!!!!
5/24 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco (Tickets)
5/25 - The Satellite, Los Angeles (Tickets)
Get the new music! Get tickets to a show! This is the last you’ll hear from us until at least the fall - so get on it.
In the meantime, you can catch Pat on tour with Rogue Wave (click here for tour dates and info about their upcoming album).
Lots of love,
Caleb
We made this video of “Save Me” with the folks over at Asterisk Magazine last year; its a real beauty though, and I thought I’d repost it. This song is the b-side of our latest 7”, which you can order over at bandcamp.
its been another fucked day of people shooting each other, this time near our apartment in sunny Santa Cruz. In the aftermath of the violence, helicopters hovered over the city, and my friend Ryan and I saw five drones float across the pale blue sky.
meanwhile, a hot air balloon exploded in Egypt, and there was a shark attack in New Zealand.
to celebrate all of this, we have decided to give away our first ep for free again, to anyone who wants because, ya know what?, life is short.
Grab it here, and then watch this:
Its been an absolutely horrible day.
Words can’t describe how torn up I feel about the events in Connecticut.
Outside of my most guttural response to today’s news, which involves lots of question asking, lots of anger towards the right and the NRA, and lots of sorrow, I suppose the only other response that is reasonable is an outpouring of love.
This is why I’m posting the video to our latest single here today; this is a song and film about the expression of love, and the joy and comfort we find in our families and relationships.
As I sit in my home and think about the deep crisis that our country is in the middle of (and this crisis is deeper than this shooting - it is larger and more horrific than even today’s news) I am counting my blessings, and truly feeling the words of John Lennon:
“Love is the answer/and you know that/for sure” (Mind Games).
With love and gratitude,
Caleb
Happy to announce that our newest single, LOVELIFE, which premiered yesterday on Paste Magazine’s website, is now available over at bandcamp.
There is more to come, including a video and a remix or two - but for now, we hope you enjoy our latest release.
Also, hope to see you Bay Area folks at our next show - 12/22 at Bottom of the Hill with the delightful TIJUANA PANTHERS and others. Tickets link below!
xoxo
We’re releasing some new music next month - on 12/11. That day we’ll offer up our newest single, LOVELIFE, and we’ll also stop offering our debut ep for free. So what we’re trying to say is, go download our first six songs for free NOW, before its too late.
Also, if you want, you can now order our debut ep on a limited edition cassette, complete with beautiful full-color j-card. For free downloads AND cassettes, just click here.
See ya in December -
CHURCHES
This photo. With this song:
