News Archive

Thanks To All Checkgauge's Fans

Hey guys! This time it's Vic...

So, if you are not one of Checkgauge's MySpace friends or just simply didn't read Checkgauge's last MySpace bulletin, here it is:

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! It was really awesome to get to see some of our fans, and also get to chat with a lot of them. It means a lot to us to see you guys at our shows supporting the ministry. I want to encourage you guys to keep coming and don't forget to bring your friends and family. We understand that God has a calling for us, and it's awesome to see more and more people praising God with us each time. As for the show ate the Sterling Hotel, we all felt really good to see the band getting tighter. We've heard very good feedback that made us even more confident that God is blessing us. Heyyyyy talking about being blessed, we even got FREE DINNER! LOL! Thanks, John!

Again, thank you all so much, keep us in your prayers, and keep checking our website and MySpace page for more updates and show dates.

God bless you....

ViChecktor

Our First Show Was So Much Fun!

Hey everyone! So, we had our very first show last night at Alex's church. It was so great to be able to go out there and worship with all of those cool Portugese speaking people! We played 3 original songs and 6 worship songs and it was sweet! Thank you to everyone at the church who worshiped along with us and gave us all of those encouraging words! We hope we'll get the chance to play there again someday!

Speaking of playing again... if you know of a place that we could play, we'll be very glad to speak to you about booking us. Give us a shout on our booking line - 908-320-4202. We're available for shows and for retreats to lead worship and we would love to partner in ministry with you.

Show on Friday in Allentown with Jonah 33!

And don't forget to come out and support Checkgauge on Friday night as we are one of the opening bands for Jonah 33 at the Sterlng Hotel in Allentown, PA! It's going to be a great night and we can't wait to see all of our old friends again! See ya there!

~ Jai, Scott, Alex and Victor

Come out to the Sterling Hotel show, Nov. 2nd!

Well, I know it's difficult to believe it, but Checkgauge is one of the opening acts for the Jonah 33 show at the Sterling Hotel in Allentown, PA. The show is on November 2nd and we've already been getting a bunch of ticket requests! Thanks so much for all of the support, guys. We totally appreciate it. Let me (Jai) know if you want tickets (they're $10 apeice) by filling out the contact page. As soon as I receive them (they're being mailed to me), I'll let everyone who asked about them know that tickets are availble and how to obtain them.

It's gonna be a rockin' show. We can't wait to see everyone there.

- Jai

Checkgauge.net Launched!

Well, here it is, complete with a bunch of "Coming soon" pages, no actual tour dates, no photos, no music, no videos, no buddy icons, or anything yet! BUT, I still think it looks pretty cool. The community forums, or the Checker Boards as we call them, are up and running. Stop in and say hi! Eventually all of the pages will be filled in and we'll certainly have tour dates up soon!

Speaking of booking Checkgauge...

We are beginning to book shows for 2008 (maybe even late 2007, we'll see), so head on over to the Booking Form and inquire about bringing Checkgauge in for your event!

We hope you guys all enjoy the new website. Hey, I just noticed something... you can join the Checkgauge Email List by signing up in the box on the right side of the homepage! Go for it!

Pray for us...

We're starting our journey as Checkgauge this week, with practice on Friday at 7pm. Jump on the prayer bandwagon and support us as we look to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ through music.
While we are on the subject of prayer, please send any prayer requests to us by using the prayer box (on the right side of the page) or the community prayer forum. We will be praying for you guys each time we practice.
Well... that's it for now. See ya soon!
- Jai

We found a bassist!

Unbelievably fast, might I add, because he was already in the band...

Yeah, so here's the scoop, and we're going to have to attribute all of this to God's amazing and mysterious ways:

So, the story starts back in the Kurios days.

There was a time, that you all were completely unaware of, that Chad (drummer of Kurios) was contemplating whether or not he wanted to be in Kurios. During that time, we said (and Chad agreed) that we needed to audition drummers just in case Chad decided to leave. Well, we auditioned 3 drummers. Two of them were definitely good enough and had great auditions and great hearts for Christ, and both of them happened to be from Brazil. Weird, right? Also, one of them (Alex Nunes) had also auditioned against Chad when Keith McGonigle (another former Kurios drummer) was leaving.

Well, Chad decided to stay with Kurios, so we had to tell these 2 amazing Brazilian drummers (Alex and Victor Ladoano) that the position was unavailable... but then it gets nuts...

See, you guys may have noticed Alex was one of those drummers who auditioned...

But Alex also plays bass, and sings, and plays guitar, and stands about 6'4"... So...Craziness now starts to really happen.

Jeremy Rochford (former fat kid and former Kurios bassist) had decided that he was leaving Kurios to pursue a calling to write a book and do public speaking about how Jesus changed his life and also helped him lose more weight than I've ever been. I just saw Jeremy yesterday, and he says he hasn't lost any more weight since the last time I saw him, but I think he's lying... ok, enough about Jeremy's ex-weight... Anyway, when Jeremy was leaving, Kurios decided to audition Alex again on bass, and he was so prepared for the audition that I think we could have played a show with him the next day if we had to.

Ok... so... Alex can play bass right? And he's good at it too... so...

I talked to Alex about a week ago and said something along the line of "Hey, here's just a crazy thought... but would you consider playing bass if we found a good drummer?"... He's like "Sure man, that'd be cool."... and then I was like... "what about Victor"? He's like "You mean that other guy who auditioned when I did. I saw him on YouTube, he's good".

So I started to wonder...

And then Scott called me the next day and said "Hey... what if we called Victor? If he would like to do this, we could move Alex to bass."... I said... "Let me ask Alex." and Alex said "Oh man, I just sold my bass, but I can buy a new one". So I contacted Victor... and he said this:

Um... OK!... so we now have a bassist. He name is Alex Nunes. We also have a drummer, his name is Victor Ladoano. Isn't this nuts? One step closer to playing shows and leading you guys in worship.

God Bless guys.

Jai from Checkgauge

Checkgauge needs a bassist! Here's the Ad:

Primary Instrument: bass
Secondary Instrument: guitar/bgvs
Years of experience: 1-5 years

A new Christian rock band, Checkgauge, is forming. If you fit pretty well into this list:

• Heart for ministry and worship and loves rock
  
• At least 2 years experience playing in band situations
  
• Should look like is somewhere between 20 -30 years old.
  
• Musical influences should be somewhere in this range (Foo Fighters, Anberlin, The Starting Line, Relient K, Switchfoot, Kurios, My Chemical Romance)
  
• Spiritual/Worship musical influences should be somewhere in this range (Starfield, David Crowder Band, Kutless, Kurios, Chris Tomlin, Third Day) --> not necessarily the musical style, but the HEART behind the music here
  
• Able to practice at least once a week in the Phillipsburg area
  

Vocal ability/Keyboard ability a plus (not necessary)Ability to play shows on Friday nights (localish), Saturdays and Sundays.

Please provide us with clips, links, pictures, whatever might help us get a better grasp on what you do and who you are.

Send an e-mail to jai@brinkofski.com
This band will:

• Write and perform originals
  
• Writes and perform original worship songs
  
• Practice at least once a week
  
• Sound like... well, we really don't know yet. Check the influences above for the basic idea.
  
• Play at least 1/3 of each show as corporate rock worship
  
• Play relevant covers (like secular songs that are safe and currently on the radio) that can thematically fit into a set designed to glorify Christ.
  
• Play with excellence, have fun, and lead worship by being lead worshipers.
  
• Study the Bible together at least once a week (probably before practice).
  
• Serve the venue/promoter by being above and beyond what they would expect (when possible, help clean up, move chairs back, etc.)
  
• Pray about a bunch of stuff
  
• Respond to people via our MySpace page/Website whenever possible, especially when questions about Christ arise.
  
• Try to get into festivals, battle of the bands, etc.

At the heart of it, we'll be a rock worship band with originals. We want to be part of a completely genuine servanthood ministry.

This is about the ministry and the worship... and the rock.

Contact me (jai@brinkofski.com) if you are interested.

Checkgauge Forms

Checkgauge is a brand spankin' new band, but it has roots steeped in a long history. Simply, Kurios disbanded and we are the leftovers... sort of. Kurios held a longstanding tradition of ending each show in the worship and adoration of Jesus Christ through popular worship songs in an authentic rock style. Checkgauge will be taking that tradition and turning into a full blown worship experience. Checkgauge currently consists of former Kurios guitarist and backing vocalist Jai Brinkofski singing lead and playing guitar, former Kurios road manager Scott Valenza on guitar and vocals, former short-term Kurios bassist Alex Nunes on bass and vocals, and a guy who almost made Kurios when we auditioned drummers, Victor Ladoano on drums and vocals.