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Ultrea / Blog

March 8th blog

We had an incredible show Saturday night. All local bands packed at the RedZone/Annex! Thank you to Breech, Autochaotic, and Ockam's Razor for sharing the stage... somtimes literally! We love to steal a mic and join other bands. We've played with Breech many times and don't mind trading members just for fun. Jen helped them out with "A Nation Under" and both Mike and Lance brought their energy to the Ultrea set. Also a special guest appearance by Black with Envy's Chris Papp. A big thanks to all of the Ultrealiens that made it out as well as all of the fans and supporters of local rock music. Truth is we would play to the bouncers and barteneter (and we have before) but when we play to a full crowd like we did on Saturday, it is more validating that all our hard work is paying off. We will continue... "We will pick you up when you can go no further." It's the spirit of teamwork, kindness, and respect for one another that can make a dramatic difference in the way we live our day to day lives and the way we interact with those around us. It only takes the small presence of mind to notice opportunities and lend a helping hand. It could be something as small as holding the door for someone at a gas station or offering your seat to a pregnant woman. It could be something as extravagant as seeing a military veteran or elderly person ahead of you at the super market paying for their groceries, no strings attached, just because you have the ability to do so. Every time we see these acts take place it inspires others to pay it forward too. Acts of kindness is one of the easiest ways we can make a difference in the world around us. Kindness is contagious and we want to infect as many people as possible. So we challenge you today, this week, all year to look around and spread compassion everyday. It may seem small, but life is more bearable when you know that someone cares. And you never know who might be in dire need of some kindness.

In Ultrea news, we are very motivated and excited right now. Our upcoming album had seen many challenges in the way of its progress, but we have pushed through and really have alot of momentum and progress as of late. Drum tracks are finished and sounding amazing. Guitar tracking is moving ahead and completing new material. Inspiration comes in waves and we seem to be riding a big one right now. Our indigogo video is currently in editing and should be up soon. All work and no play makes ultrea no fun so we all went down to The Red Zone on Tuesday night and supported our good friends in Left of Reason as they played with Righteous Vendetta. Thanks for spending the time to read this today and we hope it inspires you throughout your week. Always Persevere ~Ultrea

How we grow

Noshow blog: Everyone has trying times in their life; ultrealiens are no exception. We are none of us perfect. We are always learning how to thrive in this life, in this world. It is our experiences of sorrow, loss, forced change, discomfort, and shock that allow us to grow. We are all forever changed everyday. Every occurrence leaves it's marks, visible or not. They say that life is not a destination but the journey. If this is true, I think the goal would be to get through the bumps with solid footing so you can enjoy the easier terrain ahead. If you try to run past the rough patches your likely to stumble and fall. Lets face them carefully, with strong intent, and never alone. We will pick you up when you can go no further. I hope todays blog can give hope to others. As you can see I'm in an inspirational mood as Ultrea is continuing to create new material. We will be continuing to record on the weeks ahead. We will be more than a little antsy to get back on stage March 8th in Madison at the Annex (RedZone) we have tickets available on advanced for $5. Otherwise it will be $7 at the door. In the meantime; lets band together. Life is a team sport. Trust, communication, protectiveness, sacrifice, selflessness. All teams have a balance of these qualities. The best part is you get to pick your own team mates, and ideally you dont have to square off against others. However, I feel an inevitable superbowl is in mankind's future. Choose your team mates wisely and always persevere.

Antigo Anniversary

As people we are constantly evolving. We grow from every experience and encounter along the way. It was a time of reflection this weekend as we returned to Antigo, WI to Headquarters II. Where we helped celebrate their one year anniversary. Many things were the same. It snowed again... a lot. There was loud rock music, drinks and good times had by all. This time we were accompanied by music veterans Left of Reason and newcomers Forever No More. From Tomah, Forever No More's front woman Kat wields a strong and sultry voice, truely a pleasure to listen to. Watching these two diverse bands got me thinking. Thinking about where we have been since we started out two years ago. I had never fronted a band before. Most of us barely knew each other. Those first few shows were down right awkward and to be honest, they are painful to watch now :). In our time together we've grown as musicians, as people, and as friends. We have evolved and will continue to push ourselves forward to be better everyday. We encourage others to do the same. We are back in the studio for the next 2 weeks but you can stay in touch with us via twitter @ultreaband @ultreaVoxtress and on instagram @ultrea. Our next live performance is Saturday March 8th at The Red Zone with BREECH, Autochaotic and Okams Razor. See you there Ultrealiens!

RAW blog

We are all human. We doubt ourselves and our dreams. It's ok. For it is when we are uncertain of the outcome and the outcome is grand, that we are validated in our aspirations. Ultrea was selected to perform in the RAW Artists showcase: Awakening last Thursday night. A night where artists from all categories combine to create an unique event that features drawing, photography, jewelry, fashion, film, hair artistry, and of course music. The evening was upscale most spectators where in cocktail attire sipping on red wine noting the contrast in beautiful paintings. I was a little nervous. We are used to the blue collar... make that black tshirt, beer drinking, horns raising crowd. The show began and more and more people filed in. By the time we took the stage it was elbow to elbow. We started with "No Good" clearly our most radio friendly song, but half way through "Calm Before the Storm" when the music cuts I snag a quick glance to my bandmates and think... well here we go. We let it rip. The biggest scream i could muster. And it was like we were back at the Majestic. (One of our first BIG shows with In This Moment) No one left, no one booed matter of fact people were smiling, bobbing their heads, and clapping. It was a truly humbling feeling. Getting a positive response. Especially in this new territory. Afterward i was overwhelmed with the amount of people to approach me and talk about the music, their stories, and how they too were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. It just goes to show that even in times of doubt, perseverance is a universal word for us all to get behind. Thank you to RAW, Sameria, High Noon, all of the artists who participated, and to the amazing people who inspire us to continue spreading this ever important message. We are road tripping it up to Antigo, WI this Saturday if you know anyone in the area let em know we will be at the Headquarters II 1 year anniversary show Saturday night. LOVE AND PERSEVERANCE ~JEN

Weeeee're Baaaaaaaack!

It felt so good to be on stage again this weekend. First on Friday at the Dragonfly Lounge then Saturday in Milwaukee at Club Gabraldi. As many of ou know we have been taking some time away from performing to focusing getting some our our songs recorded. But we live for the stage so when 626 announced they were releasing a cd we jumped at the opportunity they are "two wild and crazy guys" so in honor of the cd release we cooked up a little crazy of our own. 626 has been described as adult party rap. So we busted out our version of Eddie Murphy's "Party All the Time" if you were there you got an eyeful off a different Ultrea. We hope you were entertained. Saturday was road trip day we packed up two vehicles snugly and drove to Milwaukee. We had a great time playing with ELSE and Red and the Wolf. We love playing in the vintage buildings over in Milwaukee each has its own unique qualities. This one had a large corner stage and giant mosaic disco ball (as seen on our Facebook page) Thank you to ELSE for having us out. The crowd was excellent too! Many stuck around to chat and drink with us afterward. We love that! Getting up close and personal. We hope you left feeling motivated and look forward to seeing you again. After that we packed up and headed for home. But not till after we lost and found Jason. In his defense, he did leave us a note... In the snow... Because that's the first place you look for a missing bassist. Everyone snuggled into our packed vehicles and after a nap, a bathroom break, and a couple wrong turns (opps) we are back home and ready to do it all again this week. You can catch us this Saturday at The Inferno With Dead Horse Trauma, The Unnecessary Gunpoint Lecture, and Go Play Go God. P.S. thank you for your patience as we will have all your favorite Ultrea songs to you as soon as humanly possible.

The end of 2013

As we reflect back on 2013, we have so much to be thankful for. We had an amazing year! We hope everyone had a safe and great holiday week and weekend. And we hope you all have as big of plans as we do heading into the new year! We spent some quality time with our families, but still got together Saturday night to have a jam/plan session. After Bryan made us some gourmet stuffed burgers, we began outlining ideas for our Kickstarter video for this upcoming year. Kickstarter is a video sounding board where you can find people, causes, and in our case a message to get involved with. In our Kickstarter we will talk about who we are, our message, and how we plan to spread it. We want to encourage personal, professional and global change in a positive way. It is our mission, our goal and our life. We cannot make our goal widespread without your help. So we will keep you all updated and ask that you share with your friends, family, clients, co-workers, neighbors anf the world, the message of Ultrea “Always Persevere.” P.S. we also started work on two brand new songs not heard by anyone… not even the band house roommates. SO what are you doing for New Years?? Well, Ultrea is coming out of the recording cave to hang with our friends Left Of Reason and Roxstar as the share the stage with Bobaflex in Janesville Tuesday night at the Back Bar! Come ring in the New Year with some loud rock and roll music and good friends.

Blogtastic!

Thank you Ultrealiens! We hope everyone who got their hands on “No Good For Me” is enjoying it. We put in a lot of effort to get it into your hands debuting it last Friday. The turnout to this year’s Tats for Tots event was astounding everyone was so generous the marines accepted truck loads of toys for the less fortunate. We were happy to donate our music as a small thank you. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Ultimate Art’s for hosting this incredible event for the 11th year. To the studio we GO! Now that you have a teaser of music it’s back to work for us to bring you some more. We are moving spaces so this week it’s time to set up and get ready to lay down some more tracks. But not before we celebrate a very special birthday for out drummer Bryan. Bryan joined Ultrea last year. Good thing he did. We have never been tighter. Love you man, let’s eat some steak! Don’t worry we are not disappearing you can catch us out at shows supporting our fellow local artists. It is so important to support the local music scene. All “signed” artists started where we are now. And how did they make it big? With practice, persistence, and perseverance. BUT they would be no where without their fans. YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF OUR SUCCESS!!! We ask so much and only hope that we can deliver what you deserve in return. Thank you for all of your support this year. For voting on the contests, for rocking out at shows, for spending your hard earned money to sport our t-shirts. We love you all. Stick with us Ultrealiens. Help us be a part of positive change for the world. if you want to see us take the next step please vote for us to be on rockfest at http://www.rock-fest.com/webform/who-would-you-see-rock-fest-2014

Thanksgiving givaway!

We hope everyone had a great thanksgiving week. All of the Ultrealiens got together for our own thanksgiving meal complete with pumpkin pie on Tuesday for a planning/scheduling session. We are happy to say that we are scheduled for tracking/mixing of new music to be brought to you by spring. But don’t worry we are not leaving you empty handed through winter. Over the last few months we have recorded 2 tracks for you until we can complete our next release. We will be handing out cd’s and digital cards at the Tat’s for Tots event at Ultimate Art’s Tattoo this Friday Dec 6th starting at 3pm All you have to do to get your copy is donate an unwrapped childs toy. You will also receive an envelope of gifts from Ultimate Art’s Tattoo, Genesis Hair and Day Spa, Pasta Nuovo, Cardinal Ale House, Ultrazone and much much more! We still have a bit of work to do to get these cds into your hands. Sunday we got together to fold all of the artwork sleeves and this Tuesday we will be having a duplication party! Next week starts preproduction and setup for new tunes. Just a reminder that today is cyber Monday and we do have music and merchandise available online at https://www.reverbnation.com/store/index/artist_2497018

We had a Wicked Wednesday!

A huge thank you goes out to 94.1 WJJO for hosting the show last Wednesday at The Red Zone. It was such an honor to share the stage with Wicked Wisdom and Emphatic. Jada is a captivating performer and a kind, supportive human being. It's hard not to be inspired by her on and of stage. Both Wicked Wisdom and Emphatic are amazing performers and even better amazing people! Very humble and helpful! We are very lucky to have opportunities like this.

We were floored that so many came out on a Wednesday night to rock out! I have to say it was incredible to have so many of our die hard fans there as well. Fans that have been with us since day one. Two years later and they are still supporting us on our path. We met a ton of new listeners too! It is our goal to touch as many lives as possible and shows like this one make it effortless. We are humbled by the great feedback we received and for those that signed up for our mailing list. We will definitely be in touch with news and updates. Be sure to watch our FB page as most current update can be found there. Also we are on twitter @ultreaband.

We have a HUGE week this week starting with TUESDAY with WAYLAND, Royal Bliss and American Hitmen back at The Red Zone. (doors at 7) This is such a great venue! Amazing stage, scrumptious food and tasty drinks. The Red Zone is one of our favorite places to play in our hometown!

Friday we get the privilege of playing with Ockam's Razor, BREECH and Ash Aria at the Frequency downtown Madison. It's a cozier venue, so get there early!

We finish out the week with a return to Papa Don's Horseshoe Saloon in Monroe with Left of Reason and Roxstar

AND NOW... you have waited patiently... we are happy to announce NEW MUSIC! and guess what? You can get your hands on it for FREE. That's right. Ultrea will be giving away our latest single "No Good For Me" as a part of Ultimate Art's Toys for Tats event. Toys for tats is the largest one day toy drive in southern Wisconsin. For every person that donates a new, unwrapped kids toy, they will not only receive an envelope full of gifts but some new music from yours truly. Come out and support a great cause and receive one of the many "thank yous" from a ton of surrounding businesses. The Marines will be there, JJO will be there. Dress warm! See you out!

~Jen

oogity blooogity

Happy Monday friends! Thursday Halloween at the Inferno with An Ocean Above Us, Faultline Empires, And Autochaotic. There were some pretty amazing costumes as for us we went as the Men in Black... except Greg, he was our alien... you could say he was an Ultrealien heh heh. We had a blast sharing our passion and are so moved by the positive feedback we recieved. Every stranger that becomes a friend is one more  hand in the Ultrealienation Army against negativity, injustice, and hate.

We have been working so hard finishing up a new track to get into your hands before christmas. And after coutless hours it is almost ready!!! Trying to schedule around 5 peoples day jobs and family events can prove to be difficult but we make it work. Check back to the Ultrea facebook page this week to find out how to score a copy of our latest single. Perhaps there will also be a bonus track... ;)

we want to send out a special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our sound guy/roadie/friend Luke. He has been with us through think and thin we could not ask for a better friend.

We want to congratulate BREECH on their completed album "Through the Eyes of Dissension" we look forward to playing with them later this month November 22 at The Frequency with Ockam's Razor.

There are some amazing shows coming up that we are so fortunate to be a part of. November 13th we join Wicked Wisdom and Emphatic at The Red Zone! Then November 19th with Wayland. Performing is one of the best parts about being in a band. Performing with amazingly talented artists is incredible. Please come and share the energy only live music can invoke. Stay positive thunk for yourself and question everything you think you know. One never stops learning! ~JEN