Click here to view the embedded video.

In the third of our Video Spotlight series, we feature Bishop Allen, a band that formed back in 2003 and have since found success through a lot of elbow grease and a little luck. Constant songwriting and touring–plus a marketing effort that spanned DIY and more traditional means–endeared them to the blogosphere and a loyal base of fans. Last year they even played two sold out shows on consecutive nights in Utah, no small feat for a performer not named Glenn Beck or Brian Regan.

Bishop Allen’s Justin Rice and Christian Rudder sat down with us to talk about how the Internet has affected their musical careers, how they got involved with Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and how they crossed paths with a cat they call “hellbeast.” And yes, there is actual footage of the hellbeast.

Yes...I am always this creepy. Image courtesy of Tyler Dixon

I know it’s been a while since our last video spotlight went up. Let’s just say that while some people spend their  summers riding beach cruisers, eating otter pops, and pouring into music blogs, others are digging out piles of rocks from an otherwise great yard and then dealing with back problems that are usually reserved for men 40 years my senior.  I’m just saying…

But instead of making excuses, I’ll just mention that we have a handful of great videos on the horizon–15 to be exact. In the next couple of weeks we’ll have Crystal Antlers and Dear and the Headlights video spotlights up (special thanks to Nate for being a soldier and helping me edit my footage/interview from the DATH show).

Here is the complete list of videos you can expect to see soon on motorcademag.com/motorcade.tv (the video arm of this site). After Crystal Antlers & Dear and the Headlights, this list is in no particular order:

1. Crystal Antlers (within 2 weeks)
2. Dear and the Headlights (within 2 weeks)
3. Bishop Allen
4. Neon Trees
5. Shark Speed (sorry for the wait NT & SS; we ran into some crazy technical difficulties with your Velour footage due to our hard drive dropping frames)
6. Ponytail
7. Miniature Tigers
8. Cub Country
9. The Black Lips
10. Drew Danburry
11. Love Like Fire
12. Awesome Color
13. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
14. The Depreciation Guild
15. Cymbals Eat Guitars.

In the meantime, I’ll be getting up some still frames of the upcoming videos to wet your palette.

All these artists have been amazing to interview, have put on incredible shows, and have all had great things to say about some of the issues confronting musical artists in this day and age. For me, meeting these artists is truly one of the finest parts of this job.