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Scott
near Abiquiu, New Mexico
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MARCH:
Scott Ritcher wrote Metroschifter's first album in a 200-year-old
adobe in the middle of the New Mexico desert in 7 days. This demo
cassette was released as "New Mexico Demos."
New Mexico Demos
"Forward"
4:14 / 4.9MB |
The
Metroschifter Capsule
"Marker"
3:55 / 4.5 MB |
Acoustic |
For
the Love of Basic Cable |
MAY:
We went on our first tour after practicing together only twice.
The tour was booked before we had ever played together. The original
line up was Mario Rubalcaba on drums (ex-411, ex-Clikatat
Ikatowi, Blackheart Procession, now in Rocket from the Crypt), Patrick
McClimans on bass (ex-Falling Forward, ex-Tramlaw, now in the
M.T. Rhoades Band), Scott
Ritcher on guitar and vocals (ex-Sunspring, ex-LG&E), and
Chad Castetter on second guitar (ex-Endpoint, ex-Wino).
JUNE:
Our first album is recorded two weeks after the band formed.
We didn't have enough money to mix and release the album. We passed
out flyers advertising the record and 400 kids sent in $6 each to
pre-order a personalized LP. Scott's label, Slamdek,
handled the pressing.
SUMMER:
After touring and recording an album in our first two weeks together,
we took the rest of the summer off.
SEPT:
Pat and Scott recorded some acoustic songs in Lafayette, Indiana.
Two of them were released the following spring on the "Acoustic"
split 7" with Falling Forward on Initial
Records.
| 
Dave
Mason, Pat McClimans and Scott Ritcher on tour in Washington
near the Idaho border.
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NOV/DEC:
Pat and Scott went on tour with substitute drummer Dave Mason.
The five-week trip with New York's Die 116 covered the United States.
DEC:
All four original members got together to play some shows and recorded
a seven inch. The record was released the following month as "For
The Love Of Basic Cable" on Foresight Records. |
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1995
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Chad
Castetter, Mario Rubalcaba, Scott Ritcher, Pat McClimans
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JAN:
The first Metroschifter album was one of Jawbox's
top five favorites of 1994 in CMJ.
Fort Saint Metroschifter
"Equation"
2:40 / 3.7 MB |
Number
One For a Second |
APRIL:
Scott and Chad wrote the second album in about ten days in Louisville.
APRIL:
Pat, Chad, and Scott played several shows with drummer Kevin
Coultas (Rodan).
MAY:
We got together to play some shows and record more music. This time
we enlisted Bob Weston to record it. This session produced the "Fort
Saint Metroschifter" 12-inch and the "Number One For A
Second" 45 for Doghouse Records.
SEPT:
"The Metroschifter Capsule" was reissued on LP, cassette,
and CD on Conversion Records. |
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| 1996
SUMMER:
Metroschifter joined the Rachel's on a Midwestern US tour that included
film projections by Greg King.
SUMMER:
Pat, Scott, and Chad recorded the third Metroschifter album, "Generation
Rx," at Scott's house in Louisville. It is completely acoustic,
has no drums, and leans heavily toward country music. It received
a mix of reviews and reactions. People either love it or hate it.
DEC:
Metroschifter's first tour of Europe was a 22-date adventure with
the Toledo band Omaha. Drummer Chris Reinstatler joined the
group as Chad and Mario departed on good terms toward other projects.
Scott's brother Mark Ritcher filled in on bass as Pat was
unable to go on the trip. (Read the Tour
Diary, published in Hard Times Magazine in 1997) |
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| 1997
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Pat and Scott at the Clifton Theatre in Louisville
|
JAN:
The band's studio efforts returned to the world of full-throttle
electric rock music with the recording of three new songs. Christian
Frederickson of the Rachel's accompanied us with his viola mastery.
APRIL:
We offered two new songs on a pre-order-only basis as a limited
edition personalized 7". This time 1,102 kids in America and
Europe answered our call by pre-ordering the record. The personalized
seven inches were delivered in June.
JUNE:
We returned to the studio to record our first rock album in over
two years. The 12-song "Metroschifter 4" was released
on Doghouse the following month. Its artwork contains 651 photographs.
JULY/AUG:
We embark on a 34-date tour that included shows in America, a return
to Europe, and our first trip to England. |
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| 1998
| 
After
burritos in Madison, Wisconsin
Louisville
Thunderdome
|
Metroschifter
& Shipping News |
Limited Edition European Tour CD |
MARCH:
Metroschifter took a spring tour with Elliott during which we vowed
to eat burritos every day of the trip.
MAY:
Work begins on the "Encapsulated" record, a new Metroschifter
album on which the songs are performed by other bands we picked.
In other words, the new Metroschifter album would be recorded one
song at a time by other bands.
SUMMER:
A split CD is released on Initial featuring Metroschifter and Shipping
News. Plus, the Metroschifter home page debuts on the internet.
DEC:
We recorded several new songs at Red House Studios in Eudora, Kansas.
We started a record label and released a limited edition CD for
our European tour. The new label is called I Can't Believe It's
A Record Company.
DEC/JAN:
Our third tour of Europe became the first for which all three of
us were able to go together. The tour was with our friends Coach
from Frankfurt. The trip took us to many new places. Adding France,
Denmark and Sweden, the list of countries in which Metroschifter
has performed expanded to eleven. |
| |
| 1999
| 
Pat
and Chris with Daniel Jude of Coach
University
of Louisville
|
FEB:
Scott stayed in Europe after the Metroschifter tour and embarked
on a solo acoustic tour. The tour included shows in Denmark, Sweden
and Germany, mostly with the International Noise Conspiracy.
MAY:
The 6-song "Strawberries" is released on Doghouse. Many
reviews call it Metroschifter's best and in only a month it quickly
outsells all of our previous releases.
JULY:
"Metroschifter 4" is released in Japan. This version on
the Doghouse Japan label includes different masters of 4 songs from
"Strawberries" as bonus tracks. These tracks from "Strawberries"
and aren't tied together like on the US version.
SUMMER:
We completed two tours of the eastern US, the second of which was
with our friends Coach from Germany. We experimented again with
a 4-piece lineup, adding bassist Ryan Patterson and moving
current bassist Pat McClimans to guitar. We returned to being a
3-piece at the end of the summer.
SEPT:
Scott Ritcher solo acoustic CD became the second release from our
label, I Can't Believe It's A Record Company.
NOV/DEC:
Metroschifter traveled back overseas for our fourth European tour.
The trip consisted of 31 shows in 12 countries with two days off.
Curtis Mead filled in on bass. We covered some new territory
by performing in Norway, Switzerland and Slovenia for the first
time. |
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| 2000
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Interview
in Thrasher Magazine
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AUGUST:
After over two years in the works, Metroschifter's fifth full length
album "Encapsulated" is released on Doghouse in the US,
Europe and Japan. The album features other bands performing new
and unreleased Metroschifter songs. Artists include Burning Airlines,
Cooler, Elliott, the Enkindels, the Get Up Kids, Ink & Dagger,
Joan of Arc, Music Group, MT Rhoades & His Lonesome Woods Band,
the Promise Ring, Refused, Rye Coalition, and Kyle Crabtree &
Jason Noble.
OCTOBER:
Our own label, I Can't Believe It's a Record
Company, signed a deal with emusic.com to have our releases
for sale as licensed downloadable files on the internet. An online-only
release, "Encapsulated
Demos" was created to help kick it off. This album contains
the original demo versions of the songs from which the bands on
"Encapsulated" learned the new songs. Several songs that
appear on "Encapsulated Demos" did not make it to the
final release and can be heard only online.
NOVEMBER:
We announced our plans to replace all the members of the band with
new people. The new version of the group will be called Metroschifter,
Too! and will debut by opening for us at our last show. |
| |
| 2001
APRIL:
The Metroschifter homepage moved to metroschifter.com after the
domain name was wrangled from the hands of from some punk who thought
it would be funny to register it and try to sell it to us. We didn't
fall for it.
SEPTEMBER:
Ten months after our first announcement of Metroschifter,
Too!, the complete lineup of the new band was announced.
Grace Sinclair (guitar/vocal), Matthew Show (bass), Josh Dawkins
(drums) and Jeff Tucker (guitar).
OCTOBER:
Scott Ritcher's "Nashville Geographic" CD was released
on Doghouse and coincided with a 5-week US tour opening for Favez
and Time Spent Driving.
|
| |
| 2004
Department of Energy |
FEBRUARY:
Pat McClimans and Scott Ritcher release a CD with a new band under
the name Department of Energy. The release is the
8th on Metroschifter's label I Can't Believe
It's a Record Company.
|
| |
| 2005
Scott,
Pat, and Chris, with Pat's daughter Liv |
MARCH:
After several years of doing other things, Pat McClimans, Chris
Reinstatler and Scott Ritcher begin practicing again as Metroschifter.
DECEMBER:The
band plays to a packed house at the Rudyard Kipling on December
30th, their first show since 1999.
|
| |
2007
Chris,
Scott, and Pat. |
JULY:
Metroschifter returns again and performs at the Freedom Haters'
Ball on July 21st, the band's 202nd performance.
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2008
Louisvillians in Prague: Stan Doll, Sam Sneed, Scott Ritcher, Matt Odenweller, and James Case.
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY: Drummer Stan Doll and bassist Sam "Sneed" Lyons join Scott Ritcher to take the
Metroschifter sound back to Europe. The three-week tour covers five countries, with performances in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
APRIL: The 2008 European Tour lineup plays back-to-back shows in Louisville; the first at the Pink Door benefiting Scott's campaign for state senate and the next afternoon a free in-store show helps ear X-tacy Records celebrate National Record Store Day. |
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2009
 JANUARY: Pat McClimans, Chris Reinstatler, and Scott Ritcher team up again as The Metroschifter to record their sixth long-playing release and the group's first since 2000. The record goes on sale several months prior to its release in order to personalize each copy.
MAY: The band marks the fifteenth anniversary of their first show by announcing a European tour for fall 2009.
JUNE/JULY: Personalized CDs of Metroschifter's first record in nearly nine years are home-delivered around the world to fans who pre-ordered them. Carbonistas also is available in record stores (if there's still one in your home town) and on iTunes.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER: Pat McClimans, Chris Reinstatler, and Scott Ritcher embark on the band's sixth tour of Europe. Three weeks of shows are completed across Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy and Austria.
|
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| The
critics agree:
"There
are very few bands that are putting out such challenging albums.
It's incredible. Three cheers for the Metroschifter!"
-Punk Planet
"After
this record, Metroschifter should rename their band to something
more suiting, like for instance, Crap!"
-Second
Nature
"Contained,
planned out, and all ready to kick your ass. A really talented dynamic."
-Heartattack
"They
totally rock in their untypical, indescribable, unique way. A melodic,
screaming, grooving, offbeat and talented offering."
-Very
"The
most distinctive Louisville album since Slint's Spiderland."
-US Rocker
"Super
heavy, it rocks. Get this record."
-Pageboy
"Nearly
unbearable."
-Magnet
"One
of the most unique and interesting bands I've heard."
-Outback Magazine
"This
is a good goddamn record!"
-Heartattack
"I
love this band."
-No Labels
"Post-hardcore
heroes Metroschifter and Shipping News are so musically compatible
that it's about time these Louisville, Kentucky outfits shared the
same CD space."
-CMJ |
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