At Eliot & Jain Sekular's annual Christmas party on Christmas Eve, Lisa Deedle and I were asked to play some music, as we are asked to do at every Sekular-house party. It pretty much just isn't Christmas if we don't play their legendary Christmas party, which features the most amazing tamales ever cooked by human hands.

Lisa and I were taking requests from the party-going crowd, and we ended up playing a nice little acoustic set of Evangenitals and Evangina tunes... mostly sing-along/play-along's like Home, Diggin' It, Not Quiet There, Sun is Shining. The final request for the evening, however, was Hey Ya.

Back in 2004, during Grammy night, we were half having band practice in preparation for the open mic at Mr T's Bowl while half watch the Grammys. Outkast was on, performing their hit song, when Brettsky began to chunk it out on guitar. We all began playing and singing, and it was revealed that I, Juli Crockett, happened to know ALL of the lyrics to that catchy-ass tune.

A series of "double dog dares" were issued, as to whether or not we had the balls to play the tune at the open mic that night. As you might imagine, when it comes to the Evangenitals, we are never short on balls. ;-)

Then something miraculous happened. I started playing the song at about 1/18th the normal speed, and soulfully singing Andre's surprisingly heartbreaking and passionate lyrics. An instant classic was born.

We performed BOTH versions, fast and slow, at a show at El Cid in the summer of 2004. That show was recorded by our dear friend Joey Ninja (from Ninja Academy) and the slow version is currently our most downloaded tune on iTunes. That is the genesis of the Evangenitals version of Hey Ya, loving called... "Hey Ya'll"

Why am I telling you all this? Well, because I just discovered another gent who is singing the tune in the slow and low tempo, and at this moment in time, he's a lot more popular than we are. Perhaps I'm feeling the need to assert my turf? A little tinge of cover-song envy? I don't know. Maybe this is the proverbial Tipping Point for the Evangenitals. The moment when a million people start searching for "that awesome cover version of Hey Ya" and instead of finding Matt Weddle of Obadiah Parker, they find the Evangenitals.

Miracles do happen. And I have a feeling that 2007 is going to be the year of the Genitals. Can you feel it?

So, long story short, after seeing all the hub-bub going on surrounding the Matt Weddle version, I laid down on track with some moving action titles telling a little bit of the Evangenitals tale, and I loaded it on You Tube as a video response.

Please go see it, rate it, favorite it, show it love, send it to your friends, etc:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAL_NsDYd0

With any luck, our version will get as much love as Weddle's. :-)

Regardless, I love you. All of you.

xo
julio

Last night I had visions, just before falling asleep, of a heroic/propagandic solider, perhaps german or russian. he wore a big furry white coat, decorated with medallions, a big black hat, and was being filmed/viewed from a low angle, to make him appear all the more grand and heroic, and i found myself thinking that this must have been filmed/was being filmed by leni riefenstahl.

the strange detail of the scene was that the epic soldier had an orange for a head, with two little gold pins for eyes.

it was like some insane collaboration betwixt riefenstahl and tim burton.

i'm going to try to paint it, because it was awesome. on second thought, i think i'm going to have P-TryXXX paint it, because i suck at painting anything accurately. :-)

On the Boots of My Best Friend

(from the comments of one of our YouTube videos)

"Lisa's boots are the bee's knees. Her fashion sense is legendary... cutting edge... always ahead of her time. Designers in France are biting their fingernails waiting and wondering what her next haircut challenge will be. It's an international phenom. Believe it."

:-)

Regarding the Benefit for Shelly Rohe, who goes in for brain surgery on Thursday, but was shaking her tailfeathers tonight :

Ok, now I will admit that I'm a little bummed that I didn't win the autographed headshot of the Mom from ET... nor did I win the Neutrogena gift basket in the raffle. In fact, I didn't win anything, but I have long since come to peace with the fact that I just don't really have that kind of luck. Not since I won a couple of shockingly awesome treasures as a child. But that is not the point...

The point IS that the benefit for Shelly was a beautiful thing to be a part of, and I'm so glad I made it out to Santa Monica support her and here Jeremy Zuckerman's band Cousin Junebug play.

Cousin Junebug was funkalicious, and it's official, they will certainly be playing with the Genitals sometime in '07. I was surprised to find that Mike Ibarra's trio, El Haru Kuroi, was a last minute addition to the evenings entertainment, and that was friggin' awesome. It had been a long while since I'd seen them perform, and they had some smooth new tunes to offer the West Side, straight outta the East LA compound.

Ibarra, Zuckerman, and I briefly discussed possibilities for our next big theatrical opus, now that we are all generally sufficiently recovered from Orpheus and Eurydice at REDCAT. More details coming soon.

All in all, the whole thing left me feeling pretty darn good. We had a group, non-denominational meditation session for Shelly, sending her our collective good energy as she goes into surgery, and for a second all was right with the world.

I wrote a Haiku for Shelly on her big 'ol card that she's taking to the hospital with her. It read:

Oh lovely Shelly
When your lovely brain is healed
Call me and let's play!

I am now gonna make some tea, take a bath, say a prayer for Shelly and all living things while I'm at it, and go to bed. Gotta rest up for band practice and the big rock show on Friday night.

This Friday December 15th We, the Evangenitals will be playing our last
show of 2006 at the Old Towne Pub in Pasadena.

I would very much like you to be there, if you can. There are many
reasons for this. I will list them, and you can pick whichever you
like, put it in your pocket, and come see the show.

1. This is the last Evangenitals show of '06.
(see explanation above)

2. The last show was so friggin' dope, and this one is gonna be even
better.
Need proof? Watch this video from the last show. If you were AT the
last show (Kent, Leslie, Sharon, Alan, Joseph, Eliot etc) you may find
yourself IN the video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xdZjSq-ydA

3. This is a fundraiser for our next album.
In January we will be hitting the studio to lay down tracks for all
your new, favorite songs that weren't on the first album. Like Fuck
'em All. So if you have wanted a recording of Fuck 'em All, come to
the show, and we will be able to make you one in January. We need
$600 to pull this off, and all proceed from the show go toward the
new album.

4. Because we love you.
We really do. Always have, always will. Seriously.

5. The "Super-Deluxe Medley of Cover Songs".
I'm not kidding. This medley will blow your mind, and you can only
hear it live, this time, while we've got the Holiday Balls to go
through with it.

6. We (10:15pm) are playing with the Natural Disasters (9:30pm) and
the Purple Gang (11:15pm) which means we have the musical spectrum
covered, from punk rock to blues to hillbilly soul to psychedelic
rock to 50's doo wop. We got it. Come n' get it.

7. There will be press coverage, celebrity photographs, and we need
your sexy faces to come make us look good. Video interviews.
Paparazzi, baby. This is Hollywoodland. Put your face on and be
seen.

If none of these reasons prove sufficient to encourage your presence
at this epic show, (or if you happen to be in another state, which is
a decent excuse) please at a minimum send us your good, supportive
thoughts and prayers.

And please be sure to check out ALL the new Evangenitals videos on
YouTube, and don't forget to leave us some comments!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xdZjSq-ydA

The Evangenitals & Friends
Holiday Hoe-Down
Old Towne Pub Pasadena
66 N Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena, CA 91103
Price: $5
9:30pm Natural Disasters
10:15pm Evangenitals
11:15pm The Purple Gang

All my lovin'
Juli Crockett
The Evangenitals
http://www.evangenitals.com

Hello Friends.

This is a video capturing an epic occurence that I'd like to share with you. It shows me, Juli Crockett, and my band, The Evangenitals performing at the Old Towne Pub in Pasadena. Caught on this tape is the moment where I, Juli Crockett, first performed an Evangenitals song STANDING UP on stage, rather than safely seated in a chair.

It was disorienting, frightening, and totally awesome. I would very much like to do more of it, as you may note that I could use a little practice.

p.s
I'm not drunk in this video... I'm just gaining my sea legs. ;-)

Please have a look, and leave us a comment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xdZjSq-ydA

Whenever I'm feeling blue and need a little pick me up...

Whenever I feel like I haven't got the energy to keep on keeping on...

Whenever I begin to question my "artistic path" or my "acheivements" or the "value" of my so-called "life"...


I just go here and suddenly...


I AM MIGHTY!

Cheesy as it is... it never fails to make me feel kinda inspired. Maybe it's the sound track.

If you need me to make one for you, I'd be happy to. :-)