Last May our video for “Star Wars (A Film Like No Other)” was played on SpikeTV. For months the videotape we had of its airing sat on my shelf above the TV. My brother thankfully recorded it, handed me the videotape, and said something about seeing the video and how it was actually “pretty good” which was the biggest compliment he’s ever given us. Anyway, I went to watch it, but then realized I didn’t have a VCR anymore and so there it sat, on the shelf.

Well, I finally borrowed a VCR and digitized it.

How’d it get on SpikeTV?

Well, it’s a long story but basically Tom and I made a video mashup for the song using the great tools at StarWars.com the year before. It got something like 15,000 views and was one of the top videos at the time. That led to Atom.com asking to post  it at their site where we became a Fan Movie Challenge Finalist. Then, a few months later, SpikeTV called and asked to play it to help celebrate the 32nd anniversary and promote the Fan Movie Challenge.

It’s how things happen nowadays.

Enjoy the video and I’ll pass on my thanks to my brother for you.

It’s that time of the year again.

Our band is gearing up for our 4th RPMChallenge. That’s where we make up and record an entire new album of original material in 28 days.

This is our 4th one, so we’re excited as ever. But the pre-challenge to the challenge for us is coming up with a theme for the album. Something that can guide all the individual songwriters in the band and help us focus on a coherent whole.

As many of you know, our 3 prior RPM albums have been based on:

- Writing an album looking back to when we were kids which produced songs like My Cereal (which features friends, fans, and many other RPMers on the “Coco Chorus” )!

- Updating traditional Irish pub songs and cranking them to “11″ which produced songs like Tell Me Ma which was featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered Second Stage.

- Writing an album about work and technology which produced songs like Mason Rocket (Spy Extraordinaire).

Now the question becomes, what will we end up creating this year?

We’re working on it!

Now, if you’re a musician that follows us because of IndieGuide.com and our books The Indie Band Survival Guide, and/or The DIY Music Manual, then we strongly encourage you to sign up at RPMChallenge and give it a shot.

RPM is not a contest. There’s no prizes. It’s completely a motivational thing. 1000s of musicians worldwide signup. Many make it to the end. But the community is amazing throughout the process as everyone works to complete their album. It’s a great reason to get the creative juices flowing, make an album of new material, and get some helpful feedback along the way by other musicians.

And honestly, what would you be doing in February anyways? It’s a crappy month. The weather blows…at least it does here in Chicago.

Looks like we’re not the only band that has a housing bubble song. Dave from Blimp sent us a link to their video. Damn funny.

Last weekend at Dragon*Con, BT, represented by our own Randy Chertkow, had its third TCLP Interview with the Command Line himself, Thomas Gideon. To give it a listen, just click here.

By the way, as Randy clearly states, some members of the band are not wimps for not making it to Dragon*Con. However some might be Bedwetters.