"From Smiths to Smithereens" fundraiser has most successful year yet

S2S_assets_2018-08.png

Pete is the music curator, co-founder and one of the organizers for “From Smiths to Smithereens: A Tribute to 80s College Rock”, an annual fundraiser for Portland non-profit p:ear. To date, the fundraiser has raised $85,000 for p:ear. This year’s event was the most successful yet and featured 8 great bands at the Alberta St. Pub in Portland, including Pete’s band Wild Bells.

AM Clouds featured in Central Oregon Upcoming Releases story

AMClouds_upcomng_releaase.jpg

AM Clouds were featured in a Bend Bulletin article on upcoming releases from Central Oregon bands.

AM Clouds
Title: “Rainmaker”
Release date: spring, TBA

This Bend power-pop supergroup made an auspicious live debut at the 2017 Bend Roots Revival and spent 2018 shoring up its fan base with gigs at Volcanic Theatre Pub, Spoken Moto, a headlining slot at the 2018 Powder Palooza and more. Between gigs, the band worked on a full-length follow-up to 2017’s three-song EP “War of Love.”

Basic tracks for “Rainmaker” were recorded live with engineer Dayne Wood at The Firing Room (where Larry and His Flask, Cosmonautical, The Roof Rabbits and more recorded recent releases), with vocals and other bells and whistles overdubbed later.

“We’ve been playing together for over a year now, and we tend to really rehearse a lot before we play live,” Moon said. “And going into the studio, we definitely did a lot of preproduction. We went in prepared, and it was almost like a pleasant surprise to all of us — like, wow, we just did that in two takes, OK, perfect. It’s not gonna get any better than that.”

A single, “Headlong,” dropped in December. Moon and the rest of the band — bassist Pete Ficht, drummer Dan Paggi and guitarist Graham Boostrom — will play their next gig opening for The Mother Hips at Volcanic Theatre Pub on Jan. 30.

- Brian McElheny, 1/10/19

Pete joins acclaimed Beatles cover band Juju Eyeball

JujuEyeball_square_72dpi.jpg

A mention of Juju Eyeball in the Bend Bulletin’s GO! Magazine on November 28th.

“Bend’s favorite Beatles cover band just got a little more authentic. After founding guitarist Paul Eddy departed to focus on his band Long Tall Eddy, Juju Eyeball welcomed lead guitarist/vocalist Andy Jacobs (Goodbye Dyna, The Color Study) and guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Pete Ficht (AM Clouds, Wild Bells) to the fold. Though the band’s garage-y, three-piece arrangements were part of its initial charm, the expanded lineup of course matches the original Fab Four and allows the band to tackle more material (a press released teased new versions of “A Day in the Life,” “Something,” “Hello Goodbye” and more). Judge for yourself at McMenamins Old St. Francis School on Wednesday.”

Pete is featured in the Bend Bulletin’s “Anatomy of a Song”

Pete is featured in the Bend Bulletin’s Anatomy of a Song.

“Bend singer-songwriter Pete Ficht plays bass in indie rock/pop band AM Clouds and guitar in the local Beatles cover band Juju Eyeball. A native of rural Ohio, Ficht studied directing and theater at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he formed the band House Levelers with songwriter Grayson Capps. Ficht moved to Bend in 2015 after spending 20 years in Portland, where he was a member of bands such as King Black Acid and also fronted his own band, Wild Bells. In addition to music, Ficht writes screenplays — his script “The Doll House” won Best Teleplay at the Oregon Independent Film Festival last month. This song, “Based on a True Story,” comes from a rock musical, “Senioritis,” that Ficht co-wrote with Chicago-based writer and director Joe Janes, about the yearlong robbery spree perpetrated by two Grant High School students, Tom Curtis and Ethan Thrower, in the Portland area in the mid-1990s. (Visit senioritisthemusical.com for more information.)”