Los Angeles

We play to these empty rooms
To the few people who don’t care
I just want to connect with someone
I just want to connect with you
Every word I sing, every note we bring
Is nothing more than the word PLEASE
Resounding over and over, endlessly into the void.
Into the emptiness of those rank, beer-soaked floors,
Into the emptiness of those eyes
That stare and judge
Without even truly judging
Even worse: they don’t see anything at all.
And we keep screaming against distant mountains
Too far removed even to reward us with the echo
Of our own voices

-- kg

In Rainbows

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT!!!!!

I downloaded the new Radiohead album 'In Rainbows' last night and immediately got into bed with the headphones on. HOLY SHIT is all I can say. I was not even thinking about a new Radiohead album until they popped up with their industry-changing offer: download the album directly from us (no record label) and pay us WHATEVER YOU WANT. Since that announcement, it's as if the tide that was straining to change just rushed in all at once. This is the tipping point for the industry, the sea change, whatever you want to call it. Once again, Radiohead prove themselves to be not only ahead of the curve, but pavers of the road itself. And then there's the music on the album. It sounds like they are paying back Phil Selway for all those years of drum machines. Live drums and tasty percussion mixed in with the bleeps and blips to create an incredibly rich 3-D sound. Super heavy hitters with awesome riffs, traditionally spooky Radiohead 'quiet' songs.....all of them bear the undeniable stamp of a band that has NEVER BEEN MORE SURE OF ITSELF. We can argue about how it stacks up in the Radiohead canon, but I can tell you that they have not sounded so totally in control of their vision since 'OKC'. And I for one am enthralled by this vision. There is such a deep sense of humanity on this one, so much warmer than the cold paranoia of the last few records (especially Thom's solo album). The vocals are sad, resigned, strong, seductive, soothing, heartbreaking. Radiohead is now playing the blues. (And the greens, and the yellows, and the oranges, and the reds........)

I am alternately daunted and inspired by how much more advanced their songcraft is than most anything out there. More inspired than daunted, however, as this raising of the bar is a call to step up our game with the songs we are writing right now. I want to get into that game. I want Costa Nova to be considered with our heroes when all is said and done. Thank God that the only way to get there is to play as much music as possible!!!!!!!

love and inspiration,
kg

Reborn

Okay so have you ever felt like you were at a certain place in your life waiting for your whole life to change? Well I have that feeling right now and it feels like I am living in the womb. Ya know sometimes its nice and warm and fuzzy in here and sometimes its kinda gross.Either way I feel protected inside my faith in this whole dream.You always hear bands say when they look back on it the struggle was some of the funnest times they had in the whole thing. Part of why they say that is cause its true but also part of why its so easy for them to say it is because they are not in that moment anymore.There is a certain pressure released once they have made it. Some bands take on a new kind of pressure which gives them perseverance and others don't.You can usually tell which is which by the music they are writing.I do enjoy this struggle we are going thru.Its kind of like when the baby grows in the womb.You learn things, you grow as a person and a musician,you laugh,you cry,you meet cool people,you travel, basically overall you are living life.Your life.I know I can look back on all that we have done and are doing with a lot of pride in how hard we are working towards our dreams. AND I can't wait to make our dreams come true. Hard work and perseverance is easy when its doing something you love.I mean there is still blood,sweat and tears but thats all part of the beauty now isn't it?
You can sleep well in the womb too.............Andy

Space Travel

Okay so we have no shows coming up and we are going to focus on writing our new songs.We have a ton of ideas and I think its pretty safe to say we are connecting really well together when we just jam stuff out. I am really excited to start work on the se new songs. I equate our band to building a space station. All these songs I want people to be about to travel to space when they hear them. Just close your eyes and feel like you're in space via our space station. From now on after having these thoughts, whenever I see them working on a space shuttle in space on the news I will think of our band.Sometimes you have to go outside the station to repair the damage done when going through different atmospheres. Being in a band is hard work. Well especially if you have set your sights as high as we have.........outerspace. I thought the other day it would be cool to be the first band to travel on a space shuttle and then do a performance from space.How fucking cool would that be?? Now watch someone is gonna steal that idea. Led Zeppelin,U2,The Stones, they all have had or have their own planes but how bout us having our own space shuttle or space station. Well I know one thing, we are already building our own space station and as for having our own space shuttle? Well, we'll start with one thing at a time. I hope you feel great right now and have a great week.
Andy

Costa Nova on XM Radio this Thur 8/16

XM RADIO will be featuring Costa Nova (Thursday - August 16, 2007) on the
R>A>D>A>R REPORT at 10pm ET (7pm PST, 4pm HST)

The Radar Report Encores every Friday at 2pm ET and Every Saturday at
6am ET

Billy Zero, the program director of XMU, thought enough of our little
ole song "Swing it" that he will be playing it on XMU's new music show
'The Radar Report' this thursday. We are pleased as punch to be
picked since they receive about 500 submissions every week.

'The Radar Report.'is a weekly show that airs for about an hour every
Thursday night. Many people in the industry either listen to this show
or check out the visual version of the Report. Costa Nova is 1 of just
13 bands that is being featured this week.

The show airs on: XMU, XM RADIO Channel 43, XM RADIO Online, Direct TV
Channel 831 and on AOL

XMU, XM 43, is located on XM SATELLITE RADIO in the United States and
Canada:

XM Radio
or
XMU

You can View the Report here: www.RadioUnsigned.com

What I Learned On Tour

So, I learned a great deal on this tour about a lot of things, but I really tried to focus on honing my performance skills every night. And being the consummate professional that I am, I also did homework when we were in the van. The video you see here was and is my primary study aid. Forget the old Mick Jagger live footage, or that of Bowie as Ziggy Stardust; THIS is the pinnacle of all that I aspire to as a frontman.

-- kg

End of Tour......and now.

So okay we are back home in Los Angeles and it took a day or so to adjust. You get so used to being in a van,sleeping on people's floors,using gas station bathrooms about every 2 hours,taking naps whenever you can, eating as healthy as you can and whenever you can, etc.....but most of all and the beautiful thing is.....you get used to playing shows all the time and that is your main focus more than anything. Music. Its amazing and its truly beautiful and I wish we were leaving again this week. Now that we re home its back to rehearsing,playing locally,writing new songs ( which is great cause I love the direction and ideas we are going in and touching on), and planning our next step in the Novista Revolution. The last show of the tour at Mojito's in San Francisco was awesome. Great crowd,old friends,new friends,cool place and we played very well that night. We even felt so great about it we improved a song on the spot and just jammed it out for a few minutes. We thank you Mojito's,friends,and everyone else there that night to give us such a great experience our last night of our tour. Please come see us live if you get the chance we just continue to grow and get even stronger live and I would love to share our music with everyone possible. Okay well enough for now still tired from it all. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Ando Calrissian

July 20th - Portland is a small town

Hey everyone - as Andy said, we had a great first few days of the tour and saw some beautiful scenery on the drive north. Portland is a quirky place that feels like home the moment you hit the streets. After the radio show we went to the famous Doug Fir for a late dinner (which was excellent and cheap) and as we left, we saw what was clearly a band's tour bus pulling around the corner towards us. Don't get me wrong, we love our trusty Vanny Van Vanderson, but seeing the plushness of that bus had us a bit green. We were wondering aloud which band might be inside, when Andy decided to bust my chops and said, "Yeah, Kev, it's Tegan & Sara's." I've been raving about the twin sisters from Canada, as I finally bought their last album a few months ago and can't stop listening to it. (their new album comes out today, i believe - buy that sucker!) Having had a few beers, I didn't hesitate to ask a woman standing by the bus door whose bus it was. As she replied "Tegan & Sara," I saw that the woman standing behind her was none other than Sara. Or maybe Tegan. Give me a break - they're fuggin' twins, ok? Seriously though, I'm pretty sure it was Sara. Anyway, I introduced myself and told her how insane their music had been making me lately. She graciously and bravely accepted the compliments of a lunatic, and was cool enopugh to ask about our band. Andy stepped up with a handful of stickers - good man. She was extremely nice and her friend seemed happy to see some fans giving her respect, so I don't think we embarassed ourselves too badly. The whole experience made me feel part of the larger music community - two bands on tour, passing through the same town. Awesome. Now, if we can just get our hands on that bus.....

xo,
kg

July 20th KPSU in Portland

So after a lot of driving the previous day we finally arrived in the northwest.Portland is so lush and green its really beautiful.Somewhat overcast and a lil rain going on which is a nice change for us being we live in L.A. where rain is unheard of in summer time.We find the campus radio station and load in.Andrew Stern was our gracious host for the show.Thank you Andrew.This was our first time on a radio show and it was really fun.You can access the show in the archives at
www.KPSU.org
After repacking,then unpacking again it was off to check out lovely Portland nightlife with our friends Jessica and Nate.They were also gracious hosts to us as well.I'll let Kevin tell his little story tho....

-Andres of the North

San Francisco July 18th

Okay so this was the first night of our tour and it couldn't have been better.We had awesome Italian food before the show,and the guy even gave us tiramisu free of charge.Mmmmmm.The people at Grant and Green were really cool and after hanging out for a bit it came time to play.We played probably our best show ever.The people that came out to see us were cool and we just let loose on stage.Gilday broke his bass,my guitar strap came off but neither of us missed a note.Pretty awesome energy we had that night.Afterwards we milled about to check out Mojito's where we'll be playing next week.Cool place.Can't wait to come back through and play SF again.Tomorrow morning we're off again.Hope everyone is well.

Costa Nova Live at the Knitting Factory Video

Check out our new video of 'On Your Side' live at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood on Father's Day, 6/17/07 - Plus there's a special Father's Day surprise at the end. Check it out!!!

-Gilday

->*<-->*<-->*<-begin transmission ->*<-->*<-->*<-

People of Earth............time for me to initiate first contact on this here blog. We have been running ragged trying to get everything in order before we hit the road - which is the best kind of ragged running that I know of. New song coming together called 'Wailing Wall'. Oh shit it's gonna be a doozy. Let's see if you can decipher the lyrics, that is if you can hear them at all. I will be accepting all guesses/translations because I haven't finalized any words yet. You sign over all rights of your lyrical brilliance to ME, of course. That way YOU get to be part of the creative process and I don't have to do my homework. Cheers!

Ok, gotta run to rehearsal. Maybe get some pad thai with tofu on the way. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

xoxo, kg

Broom Brrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooom!!!!!

WE HAVE A VAN!!!!!!!!!! Yes thats right Costa Nova is now the proud parents of a van.Whats that you say?YOu like Costa Nova and would like them to play in your city?Oh dip.Not a problem.We have a van!!!!We can drive whereever we want to go.Play whatever city(as long as they book us) and drive to YOUR town.Can't wait to play on July 12th at 14 Below in Santa Monica so that we can all get in the van and drive to the show.Our van is sitting right outside my window right now.I think it misses us already.Our van rules.Okay I know I know this post seems silly but its honestly a huge step in such a great direction for us.We are so very grateful to the people that made this all happen.I hope everyone is having a great 4th of July and hope to see you all soon.
Loves,Andy
P.S. WE GOT A VAN!!!!!!!

Saturday morning music bliss

So waking up on a beautiful saturday morning,taking a walk down the street to get breakfast,and having the IPod on shuffle non stop for like over an hour now.I love music.I guess thats why I became a musician.hah.What are the chemicals in us that make us go a certain direction in life?I sure as crap don't know but I know what I like.God somehow puts us where we need to be in life whether we understand at the time or not.Now soccer is on tv as well.Life is good this morning.New songs in the works in Camp Novista.Can't wait.I do enjoy the process of working all the parts out and getting them to what we feel is the complete and finished song.Creativity is a gift I am so grateful for every day.We have had these hour long jams going on lately and it is like walking in the clouds.So calm and peaceful even if we are playing something totally aggressive.Its still blissful.I am also so grateful for Kevin,Gilday and Jeff too.They are the most amazing musicians I have ever played with.IPod still going......so good don't want to stop listening but I do have a lot to do today so the headphones will have to come off for now.Music Music Music Music Music Music Music is bliss...................Hope you have a great weekend.
Andy

Knitting Factory Wrap-Up

So Sunday night was a huge success!!!! Thank you all for forsaking the men that made you and spending your Father's Day with Costa Nova. Thanks to Franco Near Death, The Greatest Touchdown Ever Scored, and Fire at Play for rocking the stage. We all had a blast and just so our audience didn't walk away empty handed we threw out ties for everyone to give their Father's to make up for coming to see us instead.


We also debuted our new T-Shirts Sunday Night and they were a big hit. Thanks to everyone who bought one and supported the Novista cause. We are gearing up for our big west coast tour and we will are working out an LA show before we head off up the coast. We will be handing out our new stickers at our next show so we can further vandalize this lovely city of ours.









Things are good in the Novista camp and we have a few suprises coming in the pipeline so stay tuned. In the meantime tune into our new track "From The Attic" on our site or our myspace. It was produced and engineered by Mathias Schneeberger (Burning Brides, Great Northern, Twilight Singers) and Colin Studybaker (Iron and Wine, National Trust) and it totally rocks! So like it!!! OR WE'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND SLAUGHTER YOU LIKE THE MANGY FERAL DOG THAT YOU ARE!

hugs and kisses,

-Gilday
Bass

PS I'm not as good at being nice as Andy is

...or Kevin

...or Jeff

Gearing up.....

We are now in prepare for tour mode.Its pretty amazing to think about where we used to be in our routine and how we thought we were a busy band just cause we rehearsed 3 or 4 times a week ,now we not only aim to do that ,we do so much more all at once.Its great.You are living life so much in the moment all you worry about sometimes is getting all your life stuff done so you can be focused on the band.You have to live your life so you have balance but the band is your life.We are prepping for the tour and before going we are trying to work out some new songs.More new songs!!!! I love it!! Its just growing and learning all the time.And that my friends.....isn't that what lifes' about?On that note I am off to sleepy dream world,one of those places where songs are made.
Night,Andy

Swagger

Okay so last night's rehearsal was just so not us.We were so exhausted and still in the mindset of recording the song we did not feel like the band we are.It really made us realize how much you get inside a song when you record.I have been daydreaming a bit about when we finally get the chance to do a whole album and how amazing that will be.Well tonight we were well rested and rehearsal started out pretty good with a jam to open ourselves up again.We then went into our set but still didn't feel settled in.So we just hung out and talked.It gave us the focus we needed.We then ripped through 3 songs and it was amazing.I love this band.A couple more rehearsals and then get ready for sunday and the skies to be filled with the sound of Costa Nova.
Andy

Recording Day 2/The Day After

Day 2 of recording started with all the guitars I had to record.Got the rhythyms down and then the fun began for me.Recording feedback and delayed guitars is bliss.I love it.Mathias and Colin had good input and it helped me to let loose even more so.After my stuff was done it was all about our Golden Boy Kevin.He did a great job with his guitars(he played part of it through my Les Paul which was awesome) and he has turned into such a confident, talented singer.I was so proud to hear what he could do.So we left with a rough mix late last night.We are all very happy and excited about this recording experience.Today is a day of rest and then this week its back to doing what we love.Plus we have a show coming up on Sunday night at The Knitting Factory which if you're reading this then you should come.It will be a lot of fun.Hope everyone has a great week.
Andy

Recording Day 1

Recording Day 1

So today was the start of our recording.We are doing one song called "From The Attic".Its a new song for us and we have just recently played it live for the first time at our last show.We love this song and really wanted to push ourselves to record it now even with how new it is.Today was a long day at the studio but a very successful one.The thing about the studio is it never goes completely the way you think it will.You have to be prepared for that.We spent most of the day on bass and drums and HOLY MOLY they sound amazing.Jeff and Gilday were total professionals and hashed it out so well.Our engineer Colin did an amazing job with their sounds.Late in the evening I got the chance to start laying down a guitar track.Its a pretty unique experience and you learn a lot in the process.The first thing with music is that no matter what you are doing you have to lose all your ego and remain humble for the cause of the music.You always hear about bands breaking up and 60% of the time its always egos as the reason all of the time.If you saw Anchorman you are cracking up right now.Anyways ,so what I had thought in my head that was gonna be expected of me to do as far as what and how the music needed to be recorded ,ended up being something totally different.I was a little unprepared for it but once I knew the direction it was going I got back on my feet.This is why I said before that you have to be prepared for this kind of thing.It happens.So we got down one rhythym guitar track and it was a great ending to our first day.I am really excited to start off tomorrow jumping right into it.I can't wait to do the overdubs.Its like Christmas morning all over again.When all is said and done it'll be like New Years.For now its off to sleepy land.
Nite,Andy

The future that lies ahead

Okay so we talked tonight how we should be using our blog more so here goes. We finally played our new songs the other night at our show.We had taken some time off from playing out so we could hash out these new ideas we had brewing and it worked out well. We played 3 new songs total.Tonight we had an acoustic rehearsal being that Jeff is still sick and all. More new material was worked on. We need someone to save us from having to work day jobs so we can play music all day and write a double album. Not a concept album mind you. We also have a show coming up on the 17th of June at The Knitting Factory with Franco Near Death,The Greatest Touchdown Ever Scored,and Fire At Play. I hope you all will be there. And by all I hope there is more people reading this than just the band. Okay be well and let your hair grow long and hippie like and dance around to Costa Nova.

Nighty Night,
Andy

Transmisssions from the front line!

Welcome to Costa Nova's new blog. Check here periodically for all the thoughts, pictures, and updates every Novista needs.