Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The Stranger gets Ben's 2008 Regrets

Check out the full thing here!

I regret not going to nearly enough live shows. I regret not keeping in touch with my family as much as I should—they are amazing and out of state. I regret drinking a bit too much wine (and whiskey). I regret not telling Mark Mercer what I thought of the H Is for Hellgate album before I lost my chance. I regret not shamelessly plugging my bands, We Wrote the Book on Connectors and H Is for Hellgate, nearly enough. I regret not hearing Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band until a couple months ago—amazing. I regret not writing enough music and not making enough art in general—this is something I will strive to spend most of my time on in 2009. I regret not saying "Hooray!" more often—it always makes me feel better. I regret not eating more broccoli—yummy and healthy! To keep things positive, here are things I don't regret at all: getting married to the lovely Emily Rose, getting to play music in two amazing bands and releasing great albums with both of them, being part of an amazing music community in a great city, friends, family, and, last but not least, the election of Barack Obama, which helps remind me that maybe we're not all screwed after all. Hooray! BEN "HOORAY!" BAIER, WE WROTE THE BOOK ON CONNECTORS, H IS FOR HELLGATE

Friday, December 12, 2008

2nd Annual H Is for Hellgate Holiday Party/Competition

Snap!!

I forgot to plan a holiday party this year, so here's what's going to happen - we're just going to make our show at the Comet Tavern tomorrow (12/13) a Holiday Party/Competition.

You may remember attempting to smuggle cookies into the Crocodile last year for our baking contest. Boy was that tasty! This year's competition is simple - tacky Christmas clothing. You know you’re dying to wear a knit vest with felt snowmen sewn on the pockets. The winner gets Hellgate-a-rific prizes!

Then on Sunday, 12/14, cuddle up with a loved one near the fire and tune into 107.7 The End at 9:00 PM as we play live on air!

Finally, our last show for a good month or so will be Wednesday, 12/17 at the Green Room at the Showbox with our BFFs, We Wrote The Book On Connectors.

Hooray,
Jamie, Ben and Jon

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Thank you!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came out to the CD release show at the High Dive last Friday and helped make it a fantastic evening. As we like to say, hooray!

Special thanks to Lesli Wood, Pam, Kerri, Chrysti, and Irene for taking the time to learn our songs and perform with us. It was so fun!! Wanna be in Hellgate fo'eva!?

Also, thank you to Chris Estey for his publicity work and getting our semi-pretty faces all up in the press.

Now, all of you people need to come to all of our shows. Or, if you missed the release show, now is your chance to make it up to us. Here are our last two for the year:

Wednesday, December 10th at Re-Bar for Laffhole
Saturday, December 13th at the Comet with Spaceship Excellent and our friends Chores from Portland.

Finally, tune into 107.7 Locals Only show on Sunday, December 14th at 9:00 PM. We'll be chatting with Megan Seling about THOSE DOGS and playing a few songs live on air.

Friday, December 05, 2008

Even the liberal elite media thinks you should celebrate our CD Release tonight

OMG. Today is like having a birthday, anniversary, holiday, and lottery winning all in one day. Ben, Jon and I are sooooooooooo excited for tonight's album release party. We hop you can join us. Here's how it's going to go down, in case you want to plan the appropriate outfit:

Pretty, Pretty Princess with guest Lesli Wood
Dual Sunrise Over Magrathea
Dusk At Devil's Tower
Blood with guests Pam and Kerri from Danielli
Thunderbolt
Be Prepared To Die Alone
Copernicus and Me with Chrysti and Irene
City Hall
..and maaaaaybe Tina Fey if y'all ask nice and say "please and thank you."


We've gotten some rad press today:

Venus Zine - feature article about my crazy progression through music.















SeattleNoise: H is for Hellgate
WHAT: Certainly the heart and engine of this edgy indie-rock outfit is the electrifying guitarist and singer-songwriter Jamie Henkensiefken, whose determined voice is dauntless among the maelstrom of meaty riffs she is prone to disperse. The band leaves ample room for those magnetic melodies but never forgets the golden rule: to rock the H-E-double hockey sticks out of their audiences (when not humoring us with love songs like "Tina Fey"). Ben Baier (bass, vocals) and Jonathan Jacobson (drums) round out the band.

CAREER DEBUT: "April 2006 at a party at my house," Henkensiefken recalls. "We played the six songs we knew for our friends before our first public show. Our set was ended by me nearly punching a drunk girl who grabbed my mike and insisted on singing 'With or Without You' through our entire last song."

MONIKER: "The solo project I had prior to H Is for Hellgate was called Henkensiefken, my last name. The joke of having a difficult band name was over after a year, so I decided to change the name. I wanted to have the new name have something with "H" and I wanted to give a shout-out to my hometown of Missoula, Mont., so I included the name of one of the valleys that leads into Missoula, the Hellgate canyon. The Hellgate is really beautiful, but usually delivers nasty weather into Missoula, and I thought those characteristics fit the moodiness of the band's music."

SEXISM: "I really try to ignore and not feed into attitude from guys on the occasions when I get it so I can at least try to keep my view of myself as an equal and not act from a defensive position. Sadly, it comes mostly from other musicians and sound guys, but often it's in the form of a backhanded compliment. For example, I was at a music store a few weeks ago buying drumsticks and this older guy said, 'Whoa, a female drummer! That's pretty neat!' I know he meant it as a positive statement, but I was being singled out because of my gender and belittled because, to him, it was remarkable that a girl plays the drums. ... We get put on bills all the time with other female bands even though stylistically we're totally different. It goes back to that absurd idea that "girl band" is a genre that all of us chicks play after our boyfriends write the songs."

RELEASES: 2007's debut "H Is for Hellgate" and this weekend's release of their second LP, "Come for the Peaks, Stay for the Valleys"

WHERE TO LISTEN:
hisforhellgate.com

NEXT SHOW: A CD-release party tonight at the High Dive, 513 N. 36th St., with two excellent Seattle bands: the Apple War and Safer. Tickets: $7 at the door. Information: highdiveseattle.com
-- Shawn Telford

Safer, H Is for Hellgate, the Apple War, In the Empty City(High Dive, late) Despite what I may have thought of local rockers H Is for Hellgate after the band's less-than-memorable self-titled debut last year, I just had to listen to this year's follow-up, Come for the Peaks, Stay for the Valleys, after seeing the cover art—it's got two adorable flying puppies on it! Turns out the puppies aren't the only thing Peaks has goin' for it. Hellgate's pounding drumming and wiry guitar work nod to turbulent '90s post-rock, but some songs ("Blood," for instance) come with a somber Pacific Northwest vibe. "Copernicus and Me" is dark and drilling; "Dusk at Devil's Tower" is one part Jawbox, one part Bikini Kill. I came for the dogs, but stayed for the music. MEGAN SELING




H is for Hellgate CD release at the High Dive, Friday, December 5

I enjoyed H is for Hellgate’s first, self-titled album a bit but it was more revealing in its potential. There were great moments in there but it was obvious that this is a band that could make a truly excellent follow up. And a year and a half later, they did.

This show celebrates the release of their brand new record Come for the Peaks, Stay for the Valleys. It is a personal but still excellent and rocking record. Everything that the first album did right: well-written songs with unexpected time shifts and driving guitar parts, the second album does better. Lead Hellgate Jamie Henkensiefken has grown incredibly as a songwriter between records. Another point for H is for Hellgate: they wrote a love letter song to Tina Fey before the rest of America caught on.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Come For the Peaks, Stay For the Valleys out TODAY

This is what you can get from:


iTunes


Amazon MP3s


or, we'll send you a good old fashioned CD for $10 + shipping if you click this button:









This album has been a long time in the making, production, waiting, and planning. I hope you enjoy the music - if you choose to buy the whole album, just a few songs, or download the free mp3s. Please help us celebrate the release this Friday at the High Dive in Seattle. We're going to have a bunch of our friends joining us on stage for some songs and generally rejoicing about having some new goods out to the world!

Hooray for us! Hooray for new music!