| The information provided below should answer most questions one might have concerning this project and the information provided about TOR on this website. If you haven't already, you might want to begin by reading the history of TOR. If you've already done so, read on or click on a category name to jump ahead: About the Band | All Ages Shows | Ethics | Radio & Press | Recordings | Website 
About the band Q: Who is in The Online Romance?
A: Becky Brosnan, Lauren Carter, Kirsty Hall, Mike Larson, Nick Lawrence and Jack Saturn are the six members that make up TOR. All of the musicians have their primary instruments: Becky plays the electric guitar while Jack strums the acoustic; Kirsty tickles the keys of the electric organ, shakes the tambourine and handles other percussion; Lauren is on the electric piano; Mike plays the electric bass; Nick sits at the drum kit. Everybody lends their voices to sing lead and backup on different songs. Q: How was the band born?
A: Everything you ever wanted to know about the birds and the bees can be found on the main "about" page of this website. Q: Who else has performed with TOR in the past?
A: Jonny Cope played second guitar and keyboards during a few shows in early/mid-2004 (shows #30, #31, #32, #35 and keyboard on "hey Abraham" at #34, if you're keeping score). Jenstar filled the keyboardist role at three shows in October 2005 (shows #66, #67 and #68) where she also added her trumpet flavor in addition to singing lead and backup vocal parts. Niles Armstrong and Meredith Butner played percussion and bass, respectively, from the Summer of 2005 through the winter of the same year. Steve Gevurtz guested on melodica at a few shows in 2006 (shows #72, #73, #74 and #83). Eric Bennes played drums between September and December of 2006. Sean McCormick also played drums at two shows in early 2007 (shows #90 and #92) in addition to guesting on organ and cowbell (show #94). Q: So what's with the stupid name?
A: "The Online Romance" is a recipe for embarrassment as a title for anything, but Jack tripped upon it way back in 2000 when he was trying to come up with the ultimate tongue-in-cheek emo band name. (The singularity of the name and the word "the" are both integral to this "emo-ness," not to mention its acronym.) TOR is obviously not "emo"—whether you mean it in the credible, Rites of Spring / 1985-era sense or in its horrendous present-day application—but the absurdist appeal of having a band name which alluded so strongly to technology and yet was performed (at the time) almost solely on acoustic instruments was too much to pass up. Sometimes it's just fun to screw with people's assumptions. Q: Do you know there are a bunch of "Romance" bands out there right now?
A: Yes. Matchbook Romance and My Chemical Romance have both hit the scene in the last five years, though there is probably enough evidence to prove that The Online Romance was actually the first (or at least the second) among them—even if TOR has less to show for itself in all its years of existence. Q: How can I contact The Online Romance?
A: TOR can be contacted via e-mail sent to
or with postal mail sent c/o Recursive Delete, P.O. Box 3824, Portland, Oregon 97208-3824.
All ages shows Q: Is it true that TOR only plays all ages shows?
A: The members of TOR care very strongly about the idea that the appreciation of music should not be dictated by one's ability to purchase alcoholic beverages. Up until just a few years ago, Jack in particular would have gone to any length to avoid compromising this stance. Sadly, like so many other creative artists before them, The Online Romance have decided to play 21+ shows. Please don't misinterpret this decision as meaning that TOR doesn't care about the kids. Q: Why the change of heart about the age-limit issue?
A: If you grew up in the punk rock scene, hopefully you took something with you from that experience, even if you aren't still listening to Minor Threat and Dead Kennedys every day. The truth is that TOR wants a piece of the proverbial "exposure," just like every band out there on the "market" today. (Note the quotation marks.) We've decided that it made sense to expand the number of venues—primarily local to Portland—where the music could be heard by more people and thus aid in getting some of that vinyl out of all those boxes in the basement. Q: So if I am too young to get into a show TOR is playing, I'm just out of luck?
A: By no means. To show our dedication to the righteousness of age-limitless musical performance, TOR will offer to play a private house show or acoustic set for anyone who is not of age and can prove, via e-mail, that they will not able to get into one of TOR's shows, either in Portland or elsewhere. Send your show requests to
and invite your friends to do the same. TOR might be adults, but we're minors at heart.
Ethics Q: Does TOR plan to sign to a major label once they come calling?
A: No. The band will, however, be open to all the vegan meals the A&R folks would like to buy us while trying in vain to gain our agreement. Q: Your music would fit well on the OC. Would you sell a song to their soundtrack?
A: It's like performing in coffee shops -- it's a pain because people just talk over the music and don't pay attention. On a television show, the actors would only do the same thing. But seriously, isn't there some newer and hipper series that needs a backing track? Q: Would you let a company use one of TOR's songs in a commercial?
A: It is well-recognized that the only way musicians can make money in our modern age is to let their art serve as jingles for other people's products, but even Jesus himself would shed a tear if anyone started associating a TOR song with cars, laundry detergent or fast food. Q: What about ringtones? When can I get one for "(the girl with the) Lily Green eyes"?
A: C'mon, now. Cellphones are so passé. Q: Is The Online Romance a straight edge band?
A: Jack would have once liked to believe so, but it all came tumbling down way back at show #35 when Jonny, performing with TOR, accepted a free beer. If anyone who was there had cared about such things—heck, if there had been more than ten people in the room—TOR's youth crew cred would have been blown in a hot second! Nowadays most of the group has the bartender running in circles and Jack just crosses his fingers that he can trade his drink tickets for french fries. Q: There's a line in "my daydream of urban planning" about the Bible. Ugh! Is TOR a Christian rock band?
A: If you're simple-minded and reactionary, TOR can be anything you want it to be!
Radio and press Q: Can I hear The Online Romance on my local radio station?
A: About 50 stations have the TOR 45 in the United States and Canada, most of them college radio stations. Peruse Recursive Delete's list of stations, complete with request line phone numbers, and call up the station in your area to request "hey Abraham." Q: Is the band on MySpace?
A: Yes, indeed. TOR's MySpace page is maintained in the time that is left between searching for photos of hot dudes posing with their pickup trucks.
Recordings Q: What kind of recording gear does The Online Romance use?
A: Both demo tapes were recorded on a Tascam 488 8-track cassette recorder, the 7" was recorded with a Fostex R8 8-track reel-to-reel machine, and the current album is being recorded primarily on a Sony 2" 24-track. TOR is dedicated to the preservation of all of the analog formats. Q: It's cool that all TOR releases are on cassette or vinyl. Will there ever be a CD?
A: For now you're stuck, but once there is a full-length available, it will be released on CD as well as LP. The singles released only on vinyl will eventually be compiled in a compact disc form as well. On top of that, there's always digital downloads. TOR songs are intended, however, to be heard on a turntable. Q: Someone once claimed that TOR would never have an electric guitar on its recordings. Is this true?
A: The original aim of The Online Romance was to stick to an off-the-grid approach that would involve riding bicycles to shows and using electricity only sparingly—no lie!—but as time passes and these forgotten rules look more and more like well-intentioned flights of fancy, we can't really promise that you won't hear a blazing axe solo from Becky on some future TOR side.
Q: I'd like to pick up a copy of TOR's 45. Is it available in any record stores?
A: The single is currently available at a number of stores in Portland, including Jackpot, Ozone3, Q is for Choir, Anthem Records and Mississippi Records. It can be found in Seattle at Sonic Boom's Fremont & Ballard locations. It can be ordered online through the record label, Recursive Delete.
Website Q: Who took the excellent Polaroid shots on all the pages of this website?
A: That would be none other than Ryan Russell-Christy. Q: On the show listings, the shows are given a number. What's that about?
A: TOR's website is masterminded by an archivist. That's all there really is to say. Q: What is the significance of the "message" that appears on many of the shows pages?
A: For the first 71 shows, Jack taped a hand-written message to his acoustic guitar. Sometimes it was explained in the "thoughts" section, sometimes it was kept a secret only to him. It began with his desire to express an anti-war message at TOR's first show, and then became another one of his sick, obsessive gimmicks. When the current band lineup finally came together in 2006, he put it to rest. Q: There are little icons of cameras on some of the shows pages, and on the records page there is an icon which looks like sound coming out of a speaker. Should I be scared?
A: Fear not—the camera icon is a link to a scanned image of the setlist or message text that is directly above it, and the sound icon is nothing more than a link to an MP3. Q: I found a few MP3s on the records page, but is there any video?
A: There's some video hiding in links from the particular shows pages when the footage was shot. Q: Some of the setlists on the shows pages have songs that are struck through. Why?
A: The songs that are crossed out are songs that were written on the original setlist but were not actually played or stopped halfway through, either due to time constraints, a change in judgement or, in the early days, the song's lead singer forgetting the words. Q: Don't third-person question-and-answer sessions make you uncomfortable?
A: Yeah, sorta.
Do you have a question that isn't answered here? Send it to
. This page was last updated 05/05/08. [news] [shows] [records] [mailing list]
[lyrics] [press] [trivia] [about TOR]  (cc)2008 TOR
|
