That's a booya! The Drastics will be heading north into the great Northern Open this next weekend and hitting Traverse City (at The Loading Dock) and Billy's in Grand Rapids! This will be our first time in both these cities so we'd love to see you and love for you to spread the word! We'll have Fada Dougou 'pon the mic spitting hotta flame so make sure you wear yer lil asbestos drawers so ya don't get burnt like Kurt Russell!!!!

OH HEY! Ya know what else is cool? You remixing, re-dubbing, re-working and generally mussing up some Drastic riddims. But ... how? By downloading the newest in yet another new Drastics series ... this time of DIY mix-packs (sort of a series within a series .. this month it's sitting in for our belated First Tuesday release) . Up first we have Fidelity which originally appeared on our "Chicago Massive" album. The free-for-download DIY album contains stereo drums, bass, rhythm, and stereo auxiliary sounds ... Just don't go muxin' or melfin' or mylin' around with these tracks now ... jussamussin ... hit up the lil application below or get to our BandCamp page (thedrastics.bandcamp.com) and git'a'downloadin ...

This is by no means a competition, but we'd love to hear what you do with our tunes, so send any of your re-workings to contact@thedrastics.com.

Our new album is also still in production ... we are back on track after a near-studio-meltdown and are getting all our ducks in a row before pulling the trigger on this one. Best be ready those cause this is gonna be 10 solid shots to the dome kid .. with some very extra-special guests!!

And in super advance warnings, we are going to be traveling EAST the first week of November .. expect to find us in PA, NY, VT and some more of America's classiest states November 2-7.

Oh yeah, AND we're now on the Reverb Nation and can find us at www.reverbnation.com/thedrastics.
 

Click These And Make Them Grow!

We here in Casa de Drastique like to travel light. It's not only easier on the ol' brain stem when we hit the road, but also saves us: money on gas (carrying less), the headache of getting a trailer, and from having to coordinate multiple vehicles. We also like to sell merch. Almost as much as those 2 things, we like it when people don't spill beer all over our merch and ruin it because it's laying flat on a table. And you know what else sucks about merch laying flat on a table? No one can see it! You need to prop them shits up! So ... how to combine all 3 (4?) of these glorious things? Simple .. a do-it-yourself collapsible point-of-sale combination CD/7" display (patent pending!). I took on this project las night around 9pm and was finished at around 1:00am .. but that included the design, taking photographs, catching up on the last 3 weeks of "Lost" and some testing of ideas ... but for you dear reader, this project shouldn't take more than 2 hours. Obviously, with all DIY stuff, this can be easily mod-ed to fit a different setup ... for example, 2 rows of CDs as oppose to the CD/7" split would be very easy to do. I modeled this on a 6-pack beer-carrier and it's a super easy project for any band trying to attract more attention to their merch table ...

Ok, so let's get started .. here's what you'll need ...

• Used cardboard box
• Scissors
• Ruler/Tape Measure
• Straight Edge
• T-Square (optional)
• Packing Tape
• Duct Tape
• Velcro Tape/Pushpins (optional)

And incase you can't read my chicken scratch to the right, here's what you'll need for the cardboard pieces ...

• 1 x (8" x 5") (1st level floor)
• 1 x (8" x 2.5") (2nd level floor)
• 2 x (10 1/8" x 2.5") (CD sides)
• 2 x (9 3/8" x 2.5") (7" sides)
• 2 x (4 3/4 " x 2.5") (2nd level support)
• 1 x (8" x 9") (back)
• 1 x (12" x 2.5") (back support, optional)

For the cardboard I recycled a box from a case of beer ... it was easy to cut and draw on and durable as it was designed to carry 24 bottles of brew ...

Below is a snapshot of all the pieces you need, pre-folded ...



I started by taping down the supports for the 2nd level ... On these two strips I added little "overhangs" that (in retrospect) I should have used on all the pieces. It makes it easier to connect when there is a little overlap between joints. If you decide to do this, simply add 1/8" to the height of each piece.

When taping, make sure you tape with the display flattened, or at least make sure there is a little slack in the tape .. you run the risk of using too-little tape when you attach the pieces standing up ..



Next, I attached the "floor" for the 2nd level ... easy enough.



Attached the "arms" of the CD level. The "arms" are the 10 1/8" x 2.5" pieces with 3 folds: 4 1/2", 1 1/8" and 4 1/2" .. notice the copy of "Waiting" resting comfortably ...



Almost there .. taped down the "arms" of the 7" level ... These "arms" are the 9 3/8" x 2.5" pieces with 3 folds: 4 1/2", 3/8" and 4 1/2".
I forgot to take a picture of it, but it's important to note that the back of the display has to be folded in half, horizontally ...



Cover in duct tape to add tenacity as well as a space-age silver sheen!


Here's the display case in action! Flat enough to fit in just about anything ...



Optional back brace .. the other idea I had for this was to use 2 pieces of velcro tape; one on the back and one on the side which could be easily fastened .. unfortunately I'm out of velcro tape ... this is totally uneccesary once CDs are sitting in the unit, but figured it couldn't hurt to have a little extra support ...

 

Cosmetically, this can go alot of ways .. cover it with stickers, glitter or sandpaper to ward off would-be-shop-lifters! Go nuts, think outside of the box .. in retrospect I should have covered the cardboard in duct tape first and then constructed it ... I'm sure I'll be adding to this design in the coming days to make it look more professional looking ... but in the meantime, it does the job ... If you make your own or improve on this (very basic) design send us pictures at contact@thedrastics.com

Booya!