Christmas and Costa Nova

This is a long over due blog update. I'm not the best writer so it takes me a while sometimes to get my thoughts together. I speak better through my guitar I suppose. Its technically Christmas as I am writing this so......MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Okay so its been a very busy holiday season for us here at Casa Nova as we call it. We had our holiday party on a very rainy saturday night a while back and were graced with a beautiful performance by my dear friend Mark Miller. One of the most amazing guitarists I have ever known. He'll be playing O'Brien's Pub in Santa Monica this sunday night and you would never regret seeing him play for sure. Also joining us will be our good friends Rich Podgur, Nick Roberts, Ryan Crosby(Kid Whiskey),and maybe some surprise guests. Ya never know.

As for those Broken Towers at Midnight, well they are still being built but I am sure you'll see and hear some amazing new things from Costa Nova very soon. I know cause I've been in the lab with the rest of the band preparing it all. So yeah you can trust me on this.

We did play semi-acoustic at The Kibitz Room last night with our friends The Shakers. Thank you to Jodi and The Shakers for that. We played two songs which were never played live before. One is an original called "Askin" and the other was "Everybody's Friend" which is an acoustic Jane's Addiction song that we have messed around with. Great song.

Okay well more to come soon of course but for now its off to sleep so we can all wake up and see our gifts from Santa Clause.

Goodnight.

Andy/Novista

Broken Towers At Midnight and other such November conquests.

Hi Novistas. Yep you are a Novista. If you have seen us play, read our blog, listened to our music, looked at our photos, become our friend on Facebook, whatever the connection is, if we have connected in some way then YOU are a Novista. Connecting in this universe happens on so many levels. Too many to mention but I just told you of a few. Music is such a beautiful way to connect and we as a band are so very grateful of our connection. We are very open to that growing as well. This past thursday night we played the Viper Room and our Costa Nova family connection opened further. We had some very special friends on stage with us to compliment our songs. Adam Gertler who you all might know from his show "Will Work For Food" on the food network or maybe his amazing cooking skills is also our part time harmonica player. He has guested with us many a times and it is always so great when he does.

Our second wonderful new edition to our family is Drea Lewark. She joined us on stage for two songs (Closing Time and Yearn To Burn) to add her magical angelic vocals to our sound. The vocal and stage chemistry between her and Kevin was awesome. It felt like angels tore open the roof of the Viper Room and the heavens put a spotlight on those two that night. I'm so grateful for their talents and doing such a beautiful job.

I also appreciate all the hard work Alex and Gilday have been doing in our rhythym section. Gilday had to get 5 stitches on his middle finger the other day and was such a trooper to play through it all. We all know how much Gilday likes to give the middle finger and all but its more important for his playing of course. We all have so much love for this band and its a strong connection we all can't deny. Which brings me to the Broken Towers At Midnight.

November is our month to hide away for a bit to get all these new songs we have off the runway and into the air. We might still be doing a show ,we always remain open but next time you see us you might hear a lot of new sounds that you have never connected with. We hope you do cause we sure do.

In any case its a blessing to connect with any and all of you in any way we do. Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend like we did and well wishes to my Costa Nova family who are going to connect with U2 tonight at the Rose Bowl!! I am going to connect with music and the Yankees in the Bronx!!

Ciao Novistas.

Andy Novista

Sometimes we try too hard to be instead of just being

Well I am sure this is true of myself sometimes. I get caught up in where I want to be or what I want to be doing instead of just enjoying where I am at. I am learning tho. You learn from your mistakes and you grow and its a beautiful thing.

The other night I watched a documentary called "Woodstock-Now and Then". I get really inspired by the purity of the music from that time. They put so much emotion and passion into every note. They just let it pour out of them. They had something to say that ,at the time and even now people could relate to. Its honest and true. Comes from the heart. So that brings me to right now. Present time. Sure 1969 was a time of change with so much going on in good and bad ways. Very magical time in music for sure. Like we don't live in a magical time? This is OUR time so it has to be magical. In our time we elected the first black president ever. EVER!! Think about it.......Malcolm X was assasinated. Martin Luther King Jr was assasinated. Can you imagine the chaos if that happened with President Obama? I really hope it does not happen. I don't need President Obama to get assasinated to inspire me to write songs.

Okay so what has happened to music? Wheres the emotion? The passion? The amazing musicianship?? Is it about a party now with Paris Hilton? What you're wearing? Who you're with? Are you indie enough? Emo enough? How bout can you play your instrument? Can you write a song that will make people feel? Do what you want, I respect that but for me.........I want to write songs that make you feel. Make you think. Stop you in your tracks. I wanna tear open your chest and make you feel every ounce of emotion I was feeling when I wrote it. The pain of lost love and heartbreak, the loss of my family and friends that have died, I want you to feel it tearing you up inside and cry for my pain because you can feel it in our songs. I want you to feel like a phoenix rising up from the ashes and feel uplifted by our songs. I want you to smile so big the world feels it when you hear that song of ours that gives you good feelings. I want you to close your eyes and drift up into the clouds and the heavens when you can't resist busting a move on the dance floor cause that groove we're playing is just too good to not dance to. I want you to feel all we're feeling from our hearts straight into yours. Like an arrow exploding with all kinds of emotion. This is OUR time in history. Lets make it something by just being. Being here at this moment right now and enjoy it to the fullest. I know its not easy and it might sting a little sometimes but growth is important. Its a part of life. A good part.

I hope everyone has a beautiful sunday and look forward to seeing ALL of you tomorrow night at El Cid in Silverlake for our show with The Naked and Fat City Reprise. Come about 9pm so you can share a magical moment in time with us.

Ciao.

Andy/Novista

Sick but San Francisco bound.

On the way to the bay to play. Have an L.A. cold so I'm laying down in the back of our home away from home......Vanny. That's right we have a name for our van. The van is family. Takes care of us. Dave Chappelles Block Party on the DVD player aka Kevins laptop. Be ready SF to get your groove on to our Costa Nova sounds time for you to get up stand and get down to our sound!! Hopefully you don't catch my cold in the process. This has been a Costa Nova update from the road. Be well!
Andy/Novista



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Going for broke.

When you have big dreams and high aspirations you have to let go of everything and go for broke. Don't worry about losing it all when tomorrow you could be the richest person in the world. And I don't mean money. Thats a only a part of it. If you think only money can make your dreams come true then you've already lost the battle. Its everything that makes it happen. From the shows, to the recordings, all the online promoting, the networking, the playing your guitar till late in the night, to the several nights a week rehearsals, the song writing, the listening to music for inspiration and learning, the lessons, the caring, the heart, the love of, the drive, the appreciation, the gratitude, the desire, the friendships, the bond, that never say die attitude, the hope, the faith, the belief, and of course the blood, sweat and tears..........if you want something bad enough then go after it. Don't give up. Dreams do come true.

This has been sunday thoughts. Hope you enjoyed them.

Andy/Novista

New songs for you to dance along........

From the ashes rising up like a Phoenix..........worked on our new (well its a song waiting on the launchpad for over a year now but we didn't have the perfect drummer to start the countdown and now getting closer to liftoff!) song called Phoenix. Came out of a jam we did and Gilday put together a masterpiece that we have contributed to for quite some time now. We've actually road tested it a couple times at shows but it was never the full version of what it is now. Today was an exciting and inspiring rehearsal. Kevin our singer is out of town for........oh wait yep you guessed it. Another wedding! I think this is like the millionth time he has gone to something wedding related since I first met him in the spring of 2005. A side note to his friends.........congrats. Kevin is just too popular. Singers.......Psssshhhhhhhhhhhttttttttt. Nuff said. So back to us. Yes yes so today was awesome. Alex killed it on And The Colors Ran so it looks like that could well possibly be in the set again! Great job Alex. So yeah we did some killer work on Phoenix. Can't wait for Gilday to get in his lab downstairs and post today's songs so I can get lost in Andyland listening to them. Oh I guess that might mean that we could play And The Colors Ran at El Cid on Monday October 12th as well. Hmmmmmmmm. That would be dope. Okay off to see other people play music for a while. I got cabin fever......need to get outside....be social......must try to talk to strangers.........psssshhhhhhhhttttt.

Much love.

Andy/Novista

Things Behind The Sun

Saturday songs. We have a song called "Burning Building" in the works and can't wait for this one. Coming soon.

Today I learned "Things Behind The Sun" by Nick Drake. Love this song. The Mars Volta did a badass cover of it recently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV4D_q9QiuQ

thats Nick Drake's version and this is the Mars Volta's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K5d9ROU9N4&feature=related

dunno about the videos but the song is incredible.

Maybe we'll cover it one day for Costa Nova. Ya never know.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Andy/Novista

Traveling, my heart talks and The Market.

Just got back from traveling a few days ago. In a sense I'm always traveling I just don't always see the earth moving below my feet cause I get so lost in my head. Yeah I travel a lot in my own head with my imagination, lucid dreams and dreams in general. So in the real world I went on a big jet plane to New Jersey,Philadelphia and NYC. Seeing Mom, friends and family. In Philadelphia I saw rain and art. Oh and I love the urban style girls have on the east coast. It can be real subtle sometimes but its cool. I dig it. Art always inspires me in so many ways. I saw stuff by Picasso,Cezanne, Duchamp, Mattisse, so many more and especially one of my favorites......Jasper Johns. So dope. Being in Jersey is interesting for me cause its where I'm from. Its funny hearing people dis Jersey saying how its the armpit of NY. Suckers. Jersey is so lush and green its not even funny. Plus we have really nice beaches.

What does any of this have to do with our music? Lots cause it refreshes the soul and reenergizes you in so many ways.My heart was talking to me while I was there and I didn't figure it out till today. I'm at a place in my life where my heart is pretty ripped open. Its a scary place to be and and amazing place all at once. I'm getting more and more comfortable with it everyday I live. So much great emotion I feel like its gonna explode sometimes. Crazy.But without emotion your heart doesn't really feel. And then the heart dies. No one wants to have that. All I gotta say is feel it..............let it in.

And who can forget NYC? Chillin with Tarasky and the ever so infamous Matt Goias. Both inspiring people in their own right. Now back home and working on our new song called "The Market". Its flowing through my headphones right now as I type. So many cool ideas and vibes going on musically within the 4 of us. Alex Keefe brings such a great beatstyle to this band that we have been longing for,doesn't get much groovier than Gilday on the bass, and Kevin is a lyrical Jackson Pollack. Everyone jamming together painting on our canvas. I am so grateful for those magical 3 guys.

So for the near future we might possibly be traveling to a northern city soon........stay tuned. Otherwise tune into these upcoming shows.......

El Cid (Silverlake) Monday October 12th

The Viper Room(West Hollywood) Thursday October 22nd

Ciao for now.

Andy/Novista.

Life, The Universe,AndyLand, Music, and The Journey.

Costa Nova is living life alright. Yes I know its been a while since the last blog and I am to blame for that. I am surprised the band trusts me to ramble on here but thats just part of being in a band. Life. What can you say about life huh? Well life is what you do and it inspires us to write more music. I've been told its cathartic. Yes its true. I unload emotions just sitting in my room playing the guitar. Its pretty amazing and I am grateful to be able to do so. Without life and its experiences ,what would we have? Emotions good and bad are necessary for balance right? To be a well rounded band its good to have songs of all types. Feel good songs, get up and dance your ass off songs, introspective songs, daydreamy songs, sad songs, reflective songs, and so on. This way you can feel all of life's emotions just by listening to a bunch of songs. If you can relate of course. Its a matter of getting someone. A connection. So what have we been up to lately? Connecting on all levels is what. We have an amazing new drummer(Alex Keefe) who has inspired us in so many ways. We are all connected. Some of the music coming out of new jams is gonna be our best stuff yet. I am listening to a new one called "Nightwatch" as I type and its probably the 7th time I have listened to it today. Narcissist? Okay guilty.......sorry but I love what we do. I can't help it. So the universe.........the universe gives us a beautiful gift. Can't deny the universe man. And it keeps on giving. Just tell it what you want and you will get it. BUT!! Make sure you are very clear with what you ask for. Make sure you KNOW what you want. Be prepared cause here it comes.

Okay so AndyLand..........well sad to say one of my pedals that gave me so much of my signature sound died out recently. Heres the kicker..........I went out and bought the same pedal only to learn( from one of the original designers himself) that my pedal had some weird defect that gave it the sound it had. I was(as far as we know) the only person to ever have that sound to the pedal. So the saddest news to me was that the sound is gone forever. Frustrating but Gilday has been encouraging. The whole keep moving forward thing is what am I embracing. In many ways right now in my life. Close one door and another opens. So AndyLand is being repaired and always growing. If you are wondering what AndyLand is, well, hmmmmm......its many things. Its a place created by sounds deep from within my lucid dreams. haha. Thats pretty much true tho. Which leads me to the music. Oh boy. I love music. What more can you say? We have so much new music to share. One of my favorite quotes of all time was something Richard Ashcroft of The Verve said........"Its not tough selling records, Its tough when you are making amazing music and no ones listening to it."

Thats a pretty intense statement because as a band trying to make it you can totally relate. We've been getting good feedback on the newer songs lately and I've heard some really cool things said about them. Its like trying to find your perfect lover. You just need to find that person who gets it. Well try doing that all at once to the whole world with your music!! haha. Thats where the journey comes in. What I've learned lately is to enjoy it. End of story. Seriously if you can enjoy the journey then you've already succeeded in so many ways. And I'll be the first to tell you its not always easy at all. The universe will push you so hard and try and hold you down just to see how bad you want it. And we get right back up everytime and ask for more. I'm starting to enjoy how much more it gives back each time now. It seems to increase its generosity. Hey like I said ask the universe for it but just be clear. We have gotten so much clarity after being knocked down so many times. Like I said we keep getting back up. Theres still so much more of the journey left and we are going to fully enjoy it. So I think you know what you have to do. Come enjoy the journey with us. Let us entertain you and give you a soundtrack for your journey. Happy times, sad times, party times, move and groove on the dancefloor times, you name it. Cause we write songs about life and I know you can relate to life................Happy Labor Day weekend.

Andy/Novista

SF and Good Times

So this past weds we played the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco. I had a lot going on over the past couple weeks for myself and what we were doing as a band. In the days leading up to us going up there I was having some stressful days. I believe in us as a band and what we can accomplish but sometimes you forget the positive aspects of who we are. As we started our drive up there you start to get adjusted to being on the road. For me it usually takes till the end of the first day to get to that mindset. The more we have done it the faster I get adjusted. Playing a show is always the highlight no matter what but there is always a lot of idle time in traveling. I'm usually a lil on edge until we get to the club. Then once there my excitement starts to build. I have to say even with the idea that I was singing on 3 songs for the first time in Costa Nova ever I was not nervous at all going on stage. I felt so free and relaxed up there it was amazing. Its a great feeling.I sang our song "Sweet California" part of "High Noon" and we covered Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done". People's responses after our set were so wonderful to hear. So many beautiful comments. Playing was amazing feeling enough and the after show comments really had me smiling even several days later still. So this note is sort of a THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who were at the show and also my bandmates and our friends who were with us. Times like this when you feel so drained and everything gets a lil tougher, its like a wave that breaks and you ride it like you're on top of the world. And everytime after we play our first show we get back in the van and wish we were playing somewhere the next night. The road is so free and fun. Want to do it more. Cross country to the east coast so Gilday and I can play on our old turfs. So today I am grateful for all the good times and look forward to many more. Thanks again to everyone who made this possible. You know who you are. This has fueled me for a while till I get some more. Like the 26th at Venice Rocks!! Ahhhhh LOOK OUT MAN!!!

Andy Novista.

Costa Nova Return to SF & Red Devil Lounge

We are very excited to announce that we will be returning to San Francisco and Red Devil Lounge on July 15th opening up for Dilana! This is gonna be a killer show, mark your calenders and get your tickets now. Get advance tix here: Check out our friend Dilana on MYSPACE - FACEBOOK

The Colors Keep Running.......

More work done today on our new novel of a song called "And The Colors Ran". I say novel because it feels like it has so much in it to read into. I feel like I have so much more to think about and remember when playing in our new songs and its a beautiful thing. So many layers and intertwining parts but all making perfect sense and going in the right direction all at once. When you hit harmony like that in the universe its something special. It feels good. Real good. Puts a smile on your face for sure. Hopefully you'll feel the same way when you here the finished product. Ah yessssss........the finish line. We can see it with this song but we still have some more of the race to run. We'll get there and we can all dance the night away when we do. 

Shake your booty..........Andy

Billy Joel and Songs

I had a dream this morning that I was writing music for Billy Joel and I was saying that he should write a song like this cause it would be amazing. I could hear it on piano in my dream but then I realized no wait! I will write this song for us!! So I woke up this morning and recorded the best version of the idea from my dream. We'll see how that goes. Its not always the easiest thing to get whats in your head ,out of your head perfectly but I am gonna try. Sounds pretty good inside my head too bad you can't just put on headphones from my head eh? Maybe it'll be a Costa Nova song one day.............one can always dream. 

Andy Novista

Feelin' Groovy

Great show last night at The Garter in Venice for the night "Venice Rocks". Holy crap talk about a long couple of weeks. I was so tired going into our show last night I felt dazed a bit. It was kind of cool to start playing like that tho. I had to find my footing in all of our sound. By the 3rd song I was off and flying. It felt really good. Lots of movement and feeling going on which is always good. We did a string of shows there over the past couple of months and don't really have one booked right now but we really dig the Venice rock scene. Good people who appreciate music. Our newest song "Forecast" has been going over well and not to sound dumb or anything but I really dig it myself very much so. Its pretty groovy. Which is definately an area of our style I want to go a lot more......and more.......and more. Be ready to groove peoples..........wah pedals, delays, and much much more. Stay Tuned for the new Tunes. Sleep well. 

Andy Novista

What Satellite?

Ever wonder where songs come from? I mean seriously. Its a pretty amazing gift to be creative. I thank God everyday. So....if they sound good to me is that all that matters? How come they don't make sense to everyone else? I think its hard enough for people to get me as a person so how the heck are they gonna understand whats in my head that I am pouring out into music? Its tough. And even if they do understand what it is coming out of my mind why would they think its right? Sometimes I feel like I am an alien and I was accidentally left here by the spaceship I was on and nobody even myself realizes any of this ,so it all goes unnoticed just like my music. It takes a lot to grab people's attention in todays world. People have so much access to anything in a split second that you really have to get in their face about it. Well at least be unique in some way. At the end of the day I feel like I'm at a place where I am making music that I like to hear so I think thats a good step. Now back to working on my craft. Song craft not space craft......haha. 

Andy Novista

The Future

Clearing the decks........ready to write songs and take on the world is a good feeling. Lets stay here for a while. Until we write our album at least and then lets go see the world. 12-51am singer down hallway playing his acoustic and singing. Go man go. I know I am just rambling but hey, Led Zeppelin ,one of the greatest rock bands ever, even wrote a song called Ramble On.....so thats what I am gonna do. btw....listening to Led Zeppelin today and dammit. Such good songwriters. I mean really. So much one can learn just from listening to them. I am gonna keep listening. Like right now. Gonna go fall asleep with the ipod headphones on now. Sweet Dreams peoples!! 

Andy Novista

Digging Deep For Destiny

It is Feb 2009 and Costa Nova is blazing. You cannot and will not be able to stop us! Sit back ,listen, and enjoy. 2009 is our year and you will all see this happen. We have found the bond, the courage, the determination, the bravery, the love, and the vision. All our blood ,sweat and tears is coming into fruition. We have jumped off the cliff with no parachute and have total faith more then ever before. This is like those moments you see in a movie where the hero is bloodied, battered and beaten down, down on a knee and about to take their last blow to their death and they dig down way deep inside and find that light in their soul that ignites the smallest spark of energy that explodes like a rage of fire and unleash all their passion for life ,more powerful than any punch they've ever thrown to take down that giant evil demon whose been trying to keep them down this whole time. Its a blow to the demon that says eat shit motherfucker this is MY life!! Costa Nova has heart and soul. If you can't hear that in our music then you ain't listening. I know this for a fact cause I feel it flowing through me everytime we play. Its a gift from God to me and I am grateful for it everyday. This is our calling and you'd better believe we are here to stay!

I hope your 2009 brings you all you dream and hope for. I know our will.

Much Love,

Andy

Costa Nova Live!

Greetings, Novistas!

Newly inspired from literally soaking in the sweat of the mighty Jane's Addiction, Costa Nova is fired up as never before to bring you the rock n' roll with a fantastic week of performances! And, as an incredible bonus, we have the fabulous Nikki Lane joining us to kick ass on drums. She is a force of nature and a damn fine American - do NOT miss these special shows:

First up is a long overdue performance for our OC fan contingent. Come see our Laguna Beach debut at The Sandpiper - more proudly known as "The Dirty Bird." Yes, all you SoLag skate punks and surf rats, we are coming for YOU. Get off the skims and come party!

Next is a return to one of our favorites, The Scene in Glendale, with our good friends, Darkhorse. You owe it to yourself to catch us with these Philly transplants and their raw prog punk insanity.

Rounding out the week, we will be making our second appearance at Twighlight Of The Gods at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood. This night always packs a punch with a solid lineup of local bands who know how to throw down a rage. Don't miss out!

Monday, February 23 10:00 pm

The Sandpiper
1183 S Coast Hwy
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 494-4694
http://www.myspace.com/sandpiperlounge

Thursday, February 26 9:00 pm

The Scene
806 E Colorado St
Glendale, CA 91205
(818) 241-7029
www.myspace.com/thescenebar

Sunday, March 1 9:00 pm

Knitting Factory - Front Room
7021 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-463-0204
http://la.knittingfactory.com

Much love,
Costa Nova
http://www.reverbnation.com/costanova