portal: news
Blood Red Tape Gathers Steam - July 17, 2008
We just received the final master last week, and are still awaiting the finishing touches on artwork, but there's some encouraging news to report this week on a number of fronts, so here it is - all in one post!
Blood Red Tape will be featured on WJFN for two shows in January of 2009 (yes, we realize that's a ways away, but it's still nice to be selected).
Back in the Day has been added to the rotation on Underworld Mix Radio. It was also selected to be on a Soundraze Top 20 compilation this fall.
And, progressive anthem Your Kettle was just licensed for an upcoming video game through Audiosocket.
Sweet...
Blood Red Tape will be featured on WJFN for two shows in January of 2009 (yes, we realize that's a ways away, but it's still nice to be selected).
Back in the Day has been added to the rotation on Underworld Mix Radio. It was also selected to be on a Soundraze Top 20 compilation this fall.
And, progressive anthem Your Kettle was just licensed for an upcoming video game through Audiosocket.
Sweet...
The Dividing Line Feature - May 2, 2008
Big thanks to Frans Keylard at The Dividing Line for featuring Blood Red Tape's "The Kingdom" and "Your Kettle" on his 250th show last night. Much appreciated continued support, Frans.
Blood Red Tape Pre-Sales - April 26, 2008
Hey Portal fans,
Just a quick note to say that audio previews for Blood Red Tape are now available at bloodredtape.com. Three songs are available to the general public, and two more to those who sign up for our new fan list.
And, for those who just can't wait to get their hands on a copy, we're offering advanced sales. Each copy will be sent, autographed, within the first couple of days of their arrival here, so it's the earliest way to get your hands on it.
Just a quick note to say that audio previews for Blood Red Tape are now available at bloodredtape.com. Three songs are available to the general public, and two more to those who sign up for our new fan list.
And, for those who just can't wait to get their hands on a copy, we're offering advanced sales. Each copy will be sent, autographed, within the first couple of days of their arrival here, so it's the earliest way to get your hands on it.
Annual Update 2008 - March 11, 2008
Well, I suppose first off we should apologize for being so poor with the communication over the last year or so. Thanks to everyone who's been keeping tabs on us and pestering us for information. It's really nice to know there's people out there who care.
The good news is that 'Blood Red Tape' is coming along really well. We're really happy with it so far, and can't wait to get it out to you folks. We're booked in for mastering in mid May. So the album should be available by mid to late summer, with live shows and maybe some touring to follow shortly.
Thanks again for sticking with us. I promise 'Blood Red Tape' will be worth the wait.
Cheers,
.kevin.
The good news is that 'Blood Red Tape' is coming along really well. We're really happy with it so far, and can't wait to get it out to you folks. We're booked in for mastering in mid May. So the album should be available by mid to late summer, with live shows and maybe some touring to follow shortly.
Thanks again for sticking with us. I promise 'Blood Red Tape' will be worth the wait.
Cheers,
.kevin.
Blood Red Tape Updates - January 12, 2007
We're into the playoffs... the 7th inning stretch... we can see the light at the end of the tunnel... I can't think of any more clichés right now.
Regardless, we will officially begin recording within the next month, and to prove it, we've launched a temporary site at bloodredtape.com where you can find photos from the studio, audio clips of new material, videos, and more in the weeks to come.
On a related note, we are looking for translators for the official Blood Red Tape website that will be launched to coincide with the album's release. We would like to offer the site in as many languages as possible, specifically espanõl, portugese, français , nederlands, deutsch, svenskt, polski, italiano, русско, ελληνικά, 汉语语言, 漢語語言, 日本語, 한국어, and نحن نحتاج مترجمات.
If you'd like to help out, we'd love to have you on board. Just click the appropriate language and drop us a line. I'm sure a free copy of the album and a shiny new t-shirt are the least we could offer...
This may be the last official news post on portalband.com until recording is complete. In the meantime, however, here are some other links that will help keep you abreast of our developments in the studio:
Blood Red Tape RSS Feed
Blood Red Tape Website
Portal's MySpace Page
Garageband's Prog Chart - Portal #1 for AN ENTIRE YEAR!
Regardless, we will officially begin recording within the next month, and to prove it, we've launched a temporary site at bloodredtape.com where you can find photos from the studio, audio clips of new material, videos, and more in the weeks to come.
On a related note, we are looking for translators for the official Blood Red Tape website that will be launched to coincide with the album's release. We would like to offer the site in as many languages as possible, specifically espanõl, portugese, français , nederlands, deutsch, svenskt, polski, italiano, русско, ελληνικά, 汉语语言, 漢語語言, 日本語, 한국어, and نحن نحتاج مترجمات.
If you'd like to help out, we'd love to have you on board. Just click the appropriate language and drop us a line. I'm sure a free copy of the album and a shiny new t-shirt are the least we could offer...
This may be the last official news post on portalband.com until recording is complete. In the meantime, however, here are some other links that will help keep you abreast of our developments in the studio:
Blood Red Tape RSS FeedBlood Red Tape Website
Portal's MySpace Page
Garageband's Prog Chart - Portal #1 for AN ENTIRE YEAR!
Good To Be Home... - November 17, 2006
It was a whirlwind tour, to say the least, but with two weeks of ceremonies, meetings, seminars and shenanigans behind us, we're finally home, focussed, and ready to put our noses back to the grindstone.
It's amazing how these news posts get further and further apart when writing is the focus. We'll be remedying that in the coming weeks with a new blog we'll be launching to keep you in the know with respect to our upcoming release. We'll have some behind the scenes photos, videos, and audio (as it becomes available) by the end of the year, so stay tuned to bloodredtape.com in the coming weeks.
Also, we've said it again and again over the last few weeks, but tonight will indeed be our LAST performance before the new release, so come on out to Sidetrack Café and help us support My Sister Ocean once again.
See you on the blog!
It's amazing how these news posts get further and further apart when writing is the focus. We'll be remedying that in the coming weeks with a new blog we'll be launching to keep you in the know with respect to our upcoming release. We'll have some behind the scenes photos, videos, and audio (as it becomes available) by the end of the year, so stay tuned to bloodredtape.com in the coming weeks.
Also, we've said it again and again over the last few weeks, but tonight will indeed be our LAST performance before the new release, so come on out to Sidetrack Café and help us support My Sister Ocean once again.
See you on the blog!
Pandora Radio Adds Portal. - July 1, 2006
Happy Canada Day to everyone! Great time for a gift from the folks at the Music Genome Project, who have added Portal to their ever increasing list of great music. The project's flagship service, Pandora Radio, now has Portal's latest release, Element, in its catalogue, which will hopefully direct even more music lovers our way.
If you haven't checked out Pandora yet, it's definitely worth trying. Kenton's got twelve different stations on the go - it's all he listens to!
If you haven't checked out Pandora yet, it's definitely worth trying. Kenton's got twelve different stations on the go - it's all he listens to!
Portal Displaces Tool. - June 11, 2006
The students at Osiedle Akademickie in Poland have spoken - "Remnants" is #1! "Remants" replaced "Vicarious" by Tool as the number one single on RadioSAR this week, making the boys two for two, hitting the top spot on both Polish radio stations they've charted on.
New T-Shirts! - May 26, 2006
It's been a busy few months here at Portal HQ and a few things have been relegated to the back burner for far too long. Well, we can finally cross "Design New Apparel" off the list.
We've got about three t-shirts left from our "Vast Expanse Diminishing" release and we figured it was time for something fresh and new. Pictured below is our first step back into the fashion world after three long years. The design will be available beginning Saturday night, in both guys' and girls' styles, and in a variety of colours, including navy, army green, and black.
Thanks to Greg from S.O.S. the kick in the ass, and Ryan and the crew at Spark for helping us out with the design and printing.
p.s. Almost forgot... for fans from abroad who are interested in some apparel, and aren't willing to wait another few months for us to update our Cafépress store, we've done mail orders before and would be more than happy to again. Just email portal@portalband.com and we'll discuss details.
We've got about three t-shirts left from our "Vast Expanse Diminishing" release and we figured it was time for something fresh and new. Pictured below is our first step back into the fashion world after three long years. The design will be available beginning Saturday night, in both guys' and girls' styles, and in a variety of colours, including navy, army green, and black.
Thanks to Greg from S.O.S. the kick in the ass, and Ryan and the crew at Spark for helping us out with the design and printing.
p.s. Almost forgot... for fans from abroad who are interested in some apparel, and aren't willing to wait another few months for us to update our Cafépress store, we've done mail orders before and would be more than happy to again. Just email portal@portalband.com and we'll discuss details.
Vote for Portal at Rainmaker. - May 17, 2006
The good folks at Rainmaker are holding a friendly competition to select one band to headline for next year's festival. It's really easy... just click here to vote for Portal! There's no form to fill out or anything. Just click the link!
#2 Debut for "Remnants" on SAR! - May 14, 2006
Thanks to Kevin for keeping tabs on things from London (and staying up late enough to fill us in). On the eve of our second big promotional push overseas we are thrilled to find that "Remnants" has debuted at #2 on the chart at Radio SAR in Gdansk, Poland.
Two press kits received, two charts achieved...
Two press kits received, two charts achieved...
A Fair Trade. - May 13, 2006
Today is World Fair Trade Day, which we vehemently support, but we're also going to shamelessly use the title in a ridiculous segue to inform you of some events for the next few weeks. In the spirit of being "fair" to both Bill and music fans in Calgary who have been so horribly under-exposed to his phenomenal drumming, we have made a "trade" until the middle of June. Bill will be performing with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary for the next month, after which we will resume writing and pre-production for Portal's upcoming release, Blood Red Tape.
In the meantime, we needed a capable stand-in for our upcoming performances, and boy did we luck out! Jason Sider, Andrew's drummer from Haven/Neevah has filled in beautifully, and will be performing with Portal at the Rainmaker Festival at the end of May, as well as our shows through the end of June.
Speaking of Rainmaker, we'll be camping out for most of Friday, Saturday and Sunday and would love to raise a glass with fans, friends and family alike, while we take in three nights of some of the best indie music in the province. We've got new apparel, new tunes, and a new season to celebrate, so we'd love to have you join us!
In the meantime, we needed a capable stand-in for our upcoming performances, and boy did we luck out! Jason Sider, Andrew's drummer from Haven/Neevah has filled in beautifully, and will be performing with Portal at the Rainmaker Festival at the end of May, as well as our shows through the end of June.
Speaking of Rainmaker, we'll be camping out for most of Friday, Saturday and Sunday and would love to raise a glass with fans, friends and family alike, while we take in three nights of some of the best indie music in the province. We've got new apparel, new tunes, and a new season to celebrate, so we'd love to have you join us!
Radio SAR Adds Portal. - May 6, 2006
Portal's latest CD, Element has been added to the playlist at Radio SAR in Gdansk, Poland. Hoping to "strike while iron's hot" and take advantage of an apparent hotbed of Portal fans, we recently conducted a bit of a media blitz, and Radio SAR was the first station to respond!
Remnants will be aired on the Sunday Chart Show (4:30 PM local time), Alone will be played on "KoGut", Monday evening at 5:00 PM, and Severance will first air Thursday evening at midnight on "In PROGress", Radio SAR's weekly progressive rock show.
We've been instructed to watch the charts over the next few weeks at http://www.radiosar.pl/lista as it was suggested that our music is right up the station's alley. We've got our fingers crossed...
Remnants will be aired on the Sunday Chart Show (4:30 PM local time), Alone will be played on "KoGut", Monday evening at 5:00 PM, and Severance will first air Thursday evening at midnight on "In PROGress", Radio SAR's weekly progressive rock show.
We've been instructed to watch the charts over the next few weeks at http://www.radiosar.pl/lista as it was suggested that our music is right up the station's alley. We've got our fingers crossed...
Indie Band of the Year! - April 13, 2006
Once again, Poland has been good to Portal. In a listener poll conducted by the Active Rock Show on Radio Kampus in Warsaw, Portal was voted Indie Band of the Year for 2005.
I'm speechless, and not quite sure what else to say... except that that travel itch is getting increasingly harder to ignore!
Paradigm Charts on ActiveRock. - April 5, 2006
We just happend to scroll down far enough today and noticed that, while Alone continues to hover in the top ten, The Paradigm has also crept into the top fifteen on ActiveRock's Chart in Warsaw, Poland. After debuting at #22 a couple of weeks ago, and rising to #13 last week, The Paradigm slipped one spot to #14 yesterday.
Since hitting #1 (and staying there for two weeks) last month, Alone has continued to fluctuate within the top ten. The Active Rock Show is broadcast on Radio Kampus in Warsaw and has been almost single-handedly reponsible for a surge in Polish traffic to our site. Visitors from Poland now account for more than 10% of our guests!
Thus, we are working hard to garner some further attention from additional media in Poland - a list of Polish Radio Stations is on the way - and are taking our first serious looks at planning a tour! (Yes, we're excited, too).
Anyway, enough rambling. We just wanted to extend a(nother) heartfelt thanks to Sebastian and Agnieszka at ActiveRock.pl for their support, as well as Chris and Kuba, two of the most helpful fans a band could have!
Since hitting #1 (and staying there for two weeks) last month, Alone has continued to fluctuate within the top ten. The Active Rock Show is broadcast on Radio Kampus in Warsaw and has been almost single-handedly reponsible for a surge in Polish traffic to our site. Visitors from Poland now account for more than 10% of our guests!
Thus, we are working hard to garner some further attention from additional media in Poland - a list of Polish Radio Stations is on the way - and are taking our first serious looks at planning a tour! (Yes, we're excited, too).
Anyway, enough rambling. We just wanted to extend a(nother) heartfelt thanks to Sebastian and Agnieszka at ActiveRock.pl for their support, as well as Chris and Kuba, two of the most helpful fans a band could have!
Phenomenal Show! - April 1, 2006
In our first public step towards pre-production for Blood Red Tape, our new material could not have been better received, and we were thrilled to have been able to share the experience with all who attended.
A sold-out show, great sets by our good friends S.O.S. and My Sister Ocean, and the generosity of wide eyed and appreciative fans helped elevate our game, and March 31, 2006 will be a night to remember for years to come.
To everyone who was unable to attend, rest assured we are working hard to bring the material to you as soon as possible, online, on CD, and on stage. See you soon!
A sold-out show, great sets by our good friends S.O.S. and My Sister Ocean, and the generosity of wide eyed and appreciative fans helped elevate our game, and March 31, 2006 will be a night to remember for years to come.
To everyone who was unable to attend, rest assured we are working hard to bring the material to you as soon as possible, online, on CD, and on stage. See you soon!
Dr. Wafa Sultan. - March 20, 2006
We have, for the most part, tried to keep the new Portal website fairly apolitical. Anyone who knows us and our music with any depth is aware of how out of character this is for us, but we have nevertheless aimed to reserve our points of view for our music and message boards. The forum is currently down, however, and this story is worth noting, regardless.
As many of you may be aware by now, Dr. Wafa Sultan is a Syrian born psychologist, now residing in the Los Angeles area, who appeared on Al Jazeera Television in Qatar three weeks ago and delivered what might well have been one of the most poignant arguments on contemporary religio-political matters in recent years.
To view the video of her interview, or read the transcript, please click anywhere on this paragraph.
In far too many respects the world and its people have changed painfully little over the last several thousand years. Despite all of our technological innovations, scientific discovery and philosophical realizations, closed mindedness, ignorance, intollerance and greed are as abundant as they were when most of the world's belief systems were beginning to take shape - more than seven thousand years ago.
(It's almost enough to make one wonder what religion has actually achieved in that time, but that's a matter for another day).
If real change and progress is ever to be achieved, it will be because of people like Dr. Sultan - people intelligent enough to see things for what they are, passionate enough to care about changing them, and brave enough to lead through words and example.
You have our respect and admiration, Dr. Sultan, and so indeed do secular and tolerant individuals around the world, for a progressive mindset that is, to this day, a rarity in most corners of the globe.
As many of you may be aware by now, Dr. Wafa Sultan is a Syrian born psychologist, now residing in the Los Angeles area, who appeared on Al Jazeera Television in Qatar three weeks ago and delivered what might well have been one of the most poignant arguments on contemporary religio-political matters in recent years.
To view the video of her interview, or read the transcript, please click anywhere on this paragraph.
In far too many respects the world and its people have changed painfully little over the last several thousand years. Despite all of our technological innovations, scientific discovery and philosophical realizations, closed mindedness, ignorance, intollerance and greed are as abundant as they were when most of the world's belief systems were beginning to take shape - more than seven thousand years ago.
(It's almost enough to make one wonder what religion has actually achieved in that time, but that's a matter for another day).
If real change and progress is ever to be achieved, it will be because of people like Dr. Sultan - people intelligent enough to see things for what they are, passionate enough to care about changing them, and brave enough to lead through words and example.
You have our respect and admiration, Dr. Sultan, and so indeed do secular and tolerant individuals around the world, for a progressive mindset that is, to this day, a rarity in most corners of the globe.
Satellite Radio. - February 27, 2006
Portal's music has been submitted to the major Satellite Radio companies. If you are an XM or Sirius Satellite Radio subscriber, the following stations have Portal's material and are awaiting your requests:
XM 52 - (un)Signed - Emerging Rock
Click here to request Portal.
unsigned@xmradio.com
Sirius 94 - CBC Radio 3 - Indie Music
Click here to request Portal.
Email CBC Radio 3.
XM 51 - XM Music Lab - Progressive Rock
Click here to request Portal.
musiclab@xmradio.com
XM 48 - Squizz - Hard Alternative
Click here to request Portal.
squizz@xmradio.com
866.6.SQUIZZ
Sirius 95 - Iceberg Radio - Adult Alternative
Click here to request Portal.
Email Iceberg Radio.
XM 47 - Ethel - Alternative Rock
Click here to request Portal.
ethel@xmradio.com
XM 43 - XMU - College Rock
Click here to request Portal.
xmu@xmradio.com
XM 41 - Boneyard - Hard Rock
Click here to request Portal.
boneyard@xmradio.com
866.315.BONE
XM 52 - (un)Signed - Emerging Rock
Click here to request Portal.
unsigned@xmradio.com
Sirius 94 - CBC Radio 3 - Indie Music
Click here to request Portal.
Email CBC Radio 3.
XM 51 - XM Music Lab - Progressive Rock
Click here to request Portal.
musiclab@xmradio.com
XM 48 - Squizz - Hard Alternative
Click here to request Portal.
squizz@xmradio.com
866.6.SQUIZZ
Sirius 95 - Iceberg Radio - Adult Alternative
Click here to request Portal.
Email Iceberg Radio.
XM 47 - Ethel - Alternative Rock
Click here to request Portal.
ethel@xmradio.com
XM 43 - XMU - College Rock
Click here to request Portal.
xmu@xmradio.com
XM 41 - Boneyard - Hard Rock
Click here to request Portal.
boneyard@xmradio.com
866.315.BONE
SoundLift Feature. - February 27, 2006
Portal will be featured for the next week on Germany's soundlift.com. Thanks to the SoundLift team for their vote of confidence!