Live: Trail of Dead + The Damn Low, Midnight Masses
I got to the [...and You Will Know Us by the] Trail of Dead show way too early and as a result, caught the entirety of the first band's set. The Damn Low are a duo who may not actually be a real band - the whole thing seemed to be some sort of inside joke I didn't care enough about to figure out.
The duo play a minimalist blues punk, a la the White Stripes (though I have a sneaking suspicious they might resent the comparison). It's easy material to play, but they were pretty ok at it and it all might have been good except for one thing - the whole thing was cloaked in some sort of "irony." Folks, irony is dead. This sort of thing has got to stop. The guy sang a song about his "two favorite things," as he put it: "guns and dogs." Har har, get it, cause that's so redneck, har har. I'm over it.
-friend, it aint irony.. my 2 favorite things ARE guns and dogs. Thanks for the ink tho, squirt.
http://radioflyerreview.blogspot.com/2010/03/upcoming-shows-drunkdriver-place-to.html
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Hallie Sellasse, Up Your Ass
I remember one afternoon where April and I were on this damned Black Horse tour where I opted to dredge up this beautiful mountain outside of Salt Lake City going to Bozeman Montana. We got to this crest... it was blowing snow and flurries etc all over the car. Visibility zero. It seemed it seemed like we were at the top of North America. Spring time.
There was no radio signal. No nothing. Just everyone below us. There. Clean.
It was spring time then. The road winded down and then down some more. i didnt mind. We were enrout to Seattle from this little show we had booked in Bozeman we were to play on this night. It was all the same to me. I guess it still is man.
So, anyway we got to this point on the mountain where this Bozeman college/free radio station registered on the radio in our van. April is all stoked, and rightfully so because we are geting closer to her old home. This song by "Propogandhi" entitled "Haillie Sellasse" comes on.
You probably are`nt familiar with this song or event this band, but its a really really great song. "youre deed is that gun in your hand" is a great lyric from this song. The most hearty lyric from this song that will probably stick with you from this song is the lyric "FUCK RELIGION" , which is repeated tons.
i remember days of being really strung out with some old friends in a place where I dont want to tell you about, because I want to protect all that were involved back then. This song was kind of the sound track of those old times. very very sad old times where many a friend was taken down by meth.
Getting that feeling this moment, on this mountain is something to me.
There is a mountain of empty PBR beer cans in front of me. I just re-found this song on my rhapsody.
Fuck man.
There was no radio signal. No nothing. Just everyone below us. There. Clean.
It was spring time then. The road winded down and then down some more. i didnt mind. We were enrout to Seattle from this little show we had booked in Bozeman we were to play on this night. It was all the same to me. I guess it still is man.
So, anyway we got to this point on the mountain where this Bozeman college/free radio station registered on the radio in our van. April is all stoked, and rightfully so because we are geting closer to her old home. This song by "Propogandhi" entitled "Haillie Sellasse" comes on.
You probably are`nt familiar with this song or event this band, but its a really really great song. "youre deed is that gun in your hand" is a great lyric from this song. The most hearty lyric from this song that will probably stick with you from this song is the lyric "FUCK RELIGION" , which is repeated tons.
i remember days of being really strung out with some old friends in a place where I dont want to tell you about, because I want to protect all that were involved back then. This song was kind of the sound track of those old times. very very sad old times where many a friend was taken down by meth.
Getting that feeling this moment, on this mountain is something to me.
There is a mountain of empty PBR beer cans in front of me. I just re-found this song on my rhapsody.
Fuck man.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Worst Hard Time
I woke up at 9 and felt ok. like I had escaped the hangover from being social with old friends and coworkers and this cycle that i am about to describe to you. I usually wake up about an hour or so before the alarm goes off always because thats when my brain starts going over things like money, rent and money. then i feed the cats. table 1. my favorite table.
Lately I have been listening to the 60 minutes podcast on my walk to work. It seems to help. Somehow. These stories are so random to me, and honestly, a third of them I really dont care about but I probably should. maybe they make me seem more grounded to the people i dont have anything to talk to about.
instantly when i get to work its slammed and everyone is ready for me to take their order and to complain to me about the most trivial shit... you wouldnt even be able to imagine these things. most of them are hung over and are coning down from a very late night in nyc filled with "just one more" and "i dont usually do coke, but il take a little" ..sometimes even more that i cant even begin to explain or imagine. I guess thats the magic of this place.
Lately i have been arguing with people about the most random shit while the restaurant is incredibly busy. The truth of it all is that I only want to expedite everyone, equally, quickly, so we can all move on with our day. My day just happens to be dealing with all of these ill, and generally dissatisfied (in most cases to no fault of the restaurant), people.
Baby strollers are everywhere and the store is packed. You can barely get around because of it. I watch my coworkers try to find a place to grab a bite to eat as there is no place that is unoccupied in the busy little space we occupy from 9am to 5pm. its a long day. always. something ALWAYS happens in this time. Like: this guy yelled "FUCK" to me today as he felt that he got sick from the chicken he had just ate. he ate all of it by the way, before he told me it was not good. Yes. Yes. Yes. Fuck. im the asshole, yeah, i know, everything is my fault. etc etc. at this point i decide to change my decision of "not drinking today" to "ill wait until 4pm, an hour before we close". The count down continues.
Turn after turn everybody, for the most part, says the same exact things to each other, as do we to each other. for some reason i cant find comfort in this action. That has always been odd to me.
The clock reads 2pm and there is a line out the door. Im thinking about my wife last night tending bar in a very very trendy manhattan night club the night before. she works from 5pm to 6am approx. I feel bad for her but envious that she is at home sleeping in our lovely bed next to our cats that i fed (table number 1), and they are purring. She needs this and im hoping she is dreaming dreams of very very calm meadows where she is with her horse and the air is blowing through her amazing hair, jumping over craters of once sunken ships and clapping fans. I love her the most.
jumping ahead, so to speak, it seems now to be 4pm and most of the staff is non chellantly (sp?) nudging me about knocking off early for one reason or another. I am weak this way and always throw myself on top of the grenade and say "hey, yeah man, just go...ill get the rest"..thoug I feel like imploding. I like them a lot.
The beer comes. its only an hour left b4 we close. I cue up jimmy hendrix`s "angel". the soft caress of alcohol gets to the remainder of the staff and for a short moment, comparedly, all is ok. i turn up my ipod on the restaurants stereo and lay out random music that i think my bros back in the midwest are listening to on the radio. it kind of calms me.
i get this text from my dad, way way way far away back HOME (iowa). It reads: "son, im going to be taking care of your yard. all the mowing, fertilizing etc, until you and April get moved back". This takes me away. I think about our new home that we just bought and the reason why I am doing this in the first place. I exhale. there is only one girl in the restaurant sipping on a diet coke. my pocket is FULL of money that is mine. I will need this.
i put myself up on the counter and count my money. the house ALWAYS gets way more than me and thats ok with me. I understand that this is not my business. I play some crosby stils and nash and thik about this bird dog i want when i get moved.
i call a cab. my hands hold a big wad of money that consists of 10`s and 20`s. I tip the cab driver a few more than I probably should because Im feeling his pain of working for the people all the damn time.
I open my apt door, and my cats are all smarmy and rubbing against all my furniture. I call their names. It intensifies all of his. time for table 1 again.
l like table1.
Lately I have been listening to the 60 minutes podcast on my walk to work. It seems to help. Somehow. These stories are so random to me, and honestly, a third of them I really dont care about but I probably should. maybe they make me seem more grounded to the people i dont have anything to talk to about.
instantly when i get to work its slammed and everyone is ready for me to take their order and to complain to me about the most trivial shit... you wouldnt even be able to imagine these things. most of them are hung over and are coning down from a very late night in nyc filled with "just one more" and "i dont usually do coke, but il take a little" ..sometimes even more that i cant even begin to explain or imagine. I guess thats the magic of this place.
Lately i have been arguing with people about the most random shit while the restaurant is incredibly busy. The truth of it all is that I only want to expedite everyone, equally, quickly, so we can all move on with our day. My day just happens to be dealing with all of these ill, and generally dissatisfied (in most cases to no fault of the restaurant), people.
Baby strollers are everywhere and the store is packed. You can barely get around because of it. I watch my coworkers try to find a place to grab a bite to eat as there is no place that is unoccupied in the busy little space we occupy from 9am to 5pm. its a long day. always. something ALWAYS happens in this time. Like: this guy yelled "FUCK" to me today as he felt that he got sick from the chicken he had just ate. he ate all of it by the way, before he told me it was not good. Yes. Yes. Yes. Fuck. im the asshole, yeah, i know, everything is my fault. etc etc. at this point i decide to change my decision of "not drinking today" to "ill wait until 4pm, an hour before we close". The count down continues.
Turn after turn everybody, for the most part, says the same exact things to each other, as do we to each other. for some reason i cant find comfort in this action. That has always been odd to me.
The clock reads 2pm and there is a line out the door. Im thinking about my wife last night tending bar in a very very trendy manhattan night club the night before. she works from 5pm to 6am approx. I feel bad for her but envious that she is at home sleeping in our lovely bed next to our cats that i fed (table number 1), and they are purring. She needs this and im hoping she is dreaming dreams of very very calm meadows where she is with her horse and the air is blowing through her amazing hair, jumping over craters of once sunken ships and clapping fans. I love her the most.
jumping ahead, so to speak, it seems now to be 4pm and most of the staff is non chellantly (sp?) nudging me about knocking off early for one reason or another. I am weak this way and always throw myself on top of the grenade and say "hey, yeah man, just go...ill get the rest"..thoug I feel like imploding. I like them a lot.
The beer comes. its only an hour left b4 we close. I cue up jimmy hendrix`s "angel". the soft caress of alcohol gets to the remainder of the staff and for a short moment, comparedly, all is ok. i turn up my ipod on the restaurants stereo and lay out random music that i think my bros back in the midwest are listening to on the radio. it kind of calms me.
i get this text from my dad, way way way far away back HOME (iowa). It reads: "son, im going to be taking care of your yard. all the mowing, fertilizing etc, until you and April get moved back". This takes me away. I think about our new home that we just bought and the reason why I am doing this in the first place. I exhale. there is only one girl in the restaurant sipping on a diet coke. my pocket is FULL of money that is mine. I will need this.
i put myself up on the counter and count my money. the house ALWAYS gets way more than me and thats ok with me. I understand that this is not my business. I play some crosby stils and nash and thik about this bird dog i want when i get moved.
i call a cab. my hands hold a big wad of money that consists of 10`s and 20`s. I tip the cab driver a few more than I probably should because Im feeling his pain of working for the people all the damn time.
I open my apt door, and my cats are all smarmy and rubbing against all my furniture. I call their names. It intensifies all of his. time for table 1 again.
l like table1.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
THE DAMN LOW 2
EVERYBODY keeps asking us to do another THE DAMN LOW show. Fuck off!
Ok, here is how to make it happen:
1. find a venue in williamsburg brooklyn nyc. NOT bushwick. Greenpoint ok.
2. smoking must be allowed
3. only THE DAMN LOW can play, unless you can talk CHEESEBURGER into playing.
4. there must be an extra large sheet cake, vanilla and chocolate frosting, cut into many bite sized pieces for everyone there.
5. blue ribbon keg. steve and i will throw in on this item.
6. no cover. only a $3 cup charge to take a crack at the keg.
7. the show starts at 8pm. no exceptions.
8. must be b4 june 28.
Ok, here is how to make it happen:
1. find a venue in williamsburg brooklyn nyc. NOT bushwick. Greenpoint ok.
2. smoking must be allowed
3. only THE DAMN LOW can play, unless you can talk CHEESEBURGER into playing.
4. there must be an extra large sheet cake, vanilla and chocolate frosting, cut into many bite sized pieces for everyone there.
5. blue ribbon keg. steve and i will throw in on this item.
6. no cover. only a $3 cup charge to take a crack at the keg.
7. the show starts at 8pm. no exceptions.
8. must be b4 june 28.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
MATH ROCK
Lately I have been hearing this word come up and also bands that are doing it. As you may know i was really into this whole thing years back.
On one hand I think its cool to see it again (maybe i havent been looking), as if you ask any of my old bros from the left coast i have said "math is over". That is to say that it had even begun. I mean, come on, jay z didnt do it. suck it.
anyway, there are still bands doing this and lately i have discovered some that i like. i kind of stand proud and un ashamed when these songs play. much different than before. im getting old i guess...or even better, maybe less jaded. this not going to band practice is working i guess. suck it.
i think back to days past where eroc, jefferey and i were sleeping in the van behind that fucking venue in lansing michigan...drunk on pbr and complimenting each other on how well we played for 15 people at best. it seemed to mean something back then. there was broken glass underneath the van as i remember almost slipping on it at a very early and hazy 6am with a parliament light, a full tank of gas and an almost always positive jeffery (the tbp bassist) egging the whole thing on. i got in the van a drove off to the next disaster that wouldnt be realized until we knew more about the "music business". suck it.
it all seems to makes sense that these bands tread on. i mean, it is the future. i always knew that, man. i always knew that whole lost genre of "math rock" was way the fuck ahead of its time, that is to say if there is a time that would accept it. who knows? someone gave me a cd that had the band "the screamers" playing like 2 live shows and some demo takes way back in the 80`s. someone obviously liked it enough to make a lp for them with all of this extra stuff. it ended up in my cd graveyard. the screamers btw was one of the first "electro punk" bands. thick, cheap, analog synth. nice stuff. if you are anything like me you wont go find them, event tho they rule, and one day in the futre of conversation you will say "yeah, ive heard of them", as if you know them. suck it.
this is why i love music so much.
the thing that i have seemed to forget over the touring touring touring is that someone likes it. even maybe a few. way back then i gave a fuck about all of that and thats why i started in the first place. way back when i only knew how to do barr chords with my amp turned way loud. go figure. suck it.
i spend most of my days, now, working more than i thought i could ever do. most nights i just come home, make some little "quick fire" thing for dinner, maybe drop an advil PM and wait until my alarm goes off to repeat the whole process. its really not so bad. I have spent my whole life, this far, doing things i said i would never do. i suspect this pattern will never change and after all these years this whole idea seems comfortable.
yours truely,
AP schroder (nyc)
On one hand I think its cool to see it again (maybe i havent been looking), as if you ask any of my old bros from the left coast i have said "math is over". That is to say that it had even begun. I mean, come on, jay z didnt do it. suck it.
anyway, there are still bands doing this and lately i have discovered some that i like. i kind of stand proud and un ashamed when these songs play. much different than before. im getting old i guess...or even better, maybe less jaded. this not going to band practice is working i guess. suck it.
i think back to days past where eroc, jefferey and i were sleeping in the van behind that fucking venue in lansing michigan...drunk on pbr and complimenting each other on how well we played for 15 people at best. it seemed to mean something back then. there was broken glass underneath the van as i remember almost slipping on it at a very early and hazy 6am with a parliament light, a full tank of gas and an almost always positive jeffery (the tbp bassist) egging the whole thing on. i got in the van a drove off to the next disaster that wouldnt be realized until we knew more about the "music business". suck it.
it all seems to makes sense that these bands tread on. i mean, it is the future. i always knew that, man. i always knew that whole lost genre of "math rock" was way the fuck ahead of its time, that is to say if there is a time that would accept it. who knows? someone gave me a cd that had the band "the screamers" playing like 2 live shows and some demo takes way back in the 80`s. someone obviously liked it enough to make a lp for them with all of this extra stuff. it ended up in my cd graveyard. the screamers btw was one of the first "electro punk" bands. thick, cheap, analog synth. nice stuff. if you are anything like me you wont go find them, event tho they rule, and one day in the futre of conversation you will say "yeah, ive heard of them", as if you know them. suck it.
this is why i love music so much.
the thing that i have seemed to forget over the touring touring touring is that someone likes it. even maybe a few. way back then i gave a fuck about all of that and thats why i started in the first place. way back when i only knew how to do barr chords with my amp turned way loud. go figure. suck it.
i spend most of my days, now, working more than i thought i could ever do. most nights i just come home, make some little "quick fire" thing for dinner, maybe drop an advil PM and wait until my alarm goes off to repeat the whole process. its really not so bad. I have spent my whole life, this far, doing things i said i would never do. i suspect this pattern will never change and after all these years this whole idea seems comfortable.
yours truely,
AP schroder (nyc)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The End Of Days
Friends. It is the end of the road for me, publicly speaking. We pulled off the FIRST and LAST "THE DAMN LOW" show here in bklyn w ...Trail of dead and it was a smashing success. Ive got my fill. Special thanks to my drummer and new found bro Steve Hash for all the times we had building up to this point, although sometimes blue, it was all TOTALLY worth it for me. I could tell by the end of the night of THE DAMN LOW show it was for you too. Cheers brother.
April and I have recently purchased a nice acreage in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the country. It felt good the day when the realtor called and confirmed this. All grown up.?! (look at my bank account sometime)
I think fondly to the future of weekend adventures (i was and am getting back into being an AVID outdoorsman), 4th of july cook outs, and playing all of my guitars and amps at the same time in the loft of our barn at full volume just to fucking do it.
Even as I announce all of this, folk have come up to me and told me i will never last or i will soon get back into "the game". Maybe so. Right now it feels so right to go away into the wilderness (literally) and explore new/old passions. That kind of feeling is what led me to playing all of those tours, in all those bands, in all those studios for all those years. It has been so much fucking fun, but the thought of going to ANY band practice tonight, or signing into a myspace page makes my neck hurt.
Maybe, and BIG maybe ill start a new blog about my new adventures moving to the country, buying and training a german short haired pointer, re-loading my own ammo, and making sausage. Thats if we can figure out how to install some sort of satellite-internet set up for the new house. TOTALLY NOT JOKING..its that remote.
ill leave you, fair reader/listener with a MOUNTAIN of unsold BLX cds, a few TBP cds, a few BLX LP`s ( i always knew you all were cool enough to buy the vinyl..even back when cds were king), and a quote from Mr. Bob Hughes, criminal, drug addict, and noted author. ... " Hey, I only know how to recognize the signs, and how to follow them to where Im supposed to be from one moment to the next". Hell yeah brother.
****i encourage you to go back and take a look at some of the older posts I have put up about all of this touring band moving to NYC stuff. It seemed to get more personal and less tactical as the posts matured. My favorite is the last one. AP
April and I have recently purchased a nice acreage in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the country. It felt good the day when the realtor called and confirmed this. All grown up.?! (look at my bank account sometime)
I think fondly to the future of weekend adventures (i was and am getting back into being an AVID outdoorsman), 4th of july cook outs, and playing all of my guitars and amps at the same time in the loft of our barn at full volume just to fucking do it.
Even as I announce all of this, folk have come up to me and told me i will never last or i will soon get back into "the game". Maybe so. Right now it feels so right to go away into the wilderness (literally) and explore new/old passions. That kind of feeling is what led me to playing all of those tours, in all those bands, in all those studios for all those years. It has been so much fucking fun, but the thought of going to ANY band practice tonight, or signing into a myspace page makes my neck hurt.
Maybe, and BIG maybe ill start a new blog about my new adventures moving to the country, buying and training a german short haired pointer, re-loading my own ammo, and making sausage. Thats if we can figure out how to install some sort of satellite-internet set up for the new house. TOTALLY NOT JOKING..its that remote.
ill leave you, fair reader/listener with a MOUNTAIN of unsold BLX cds, a few TBP cds, a few BLX LP`s ( i always knew you all were cool enough to buy the vinyl..even back when cds were king), and a quote from Mr. Bob Hughes, criminal, drug addict, and noted author. ... " Hey, I only know how to recognize the signs, and how to follow them to where Im supposed to be from one moment to the next". Hell yeah brother.
****i encourage you to go back and take a look at some of the older posts I have put up about all of this touring band moving to NYC stuff. It seemed to get more personal and less tactical as the posts matured. My favorite is the last one. AP
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
winter update
Friends, sorry for the inactivity here. As you may know, APril is hard at work at Columbia University so BLX is down.
Im slowly working on a new band entitled: THE DAMN LOW. More on that to follow once we get our touring legs etc.
THE DAMN LOW song titles:
Big Intro
Hush Hush Hush
The Devils In The House Tonight
My Shotguns Loaded
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Big Outro
Busted (cover. also done by J. Cash and R. Charles)
THE DAMN LOW:
AP Schroder: Vox and guitar
Steve Hash: Drums and Vox
There is some serious talk about doing the first DL show in Greenpoint Bklyn for new years eve. Once all of this is firm ill surely post it and move on to more formal promotional avenues.
Doing touring and recording bands is some weird business. Ive personally got about a half dozen releases under my belt, and roughly 3 worn the fuck out vans in the grave yard somewhere that got me to this point. I guess the cool point of my lineage so far is that I have never had to put a down payment on any of the vans that I have travelled in. Ha. Fuck it. AND all the people that did put the payment in on the van(s) are now retired of touring bands. Go figure.
I take a moment to say thanks to you guys. Thanks for putting up with my stilted optamistic late night drives and and my persuasive booking endeavours... all be it super fucking risky and rambunctious, we had a rad time, and some of us got out alive. (there is stuff here i wont type b/c of the code of the road).
Looking on tho, fair reader, I tread much lighter in my musical quest lately. If we show up late to a rehearsal i wont fret out loud. I may even cancel a rehearsal b/c i got a case of camo high life at my feet.
Lately I am not the once militant young man band leader i once was. This is a new approach. It will be fun, in fact it already is fun as hell.
FOR THE FANS OF BLX: I AM GOING TO KEEP WRITING HERE, MEMOIRS OF LIFE IN NYC AND NEW BANDS... there will however, be a THE DAMN LOW BLOG ETC going up but with little to no text, so keep coming back here if you care about my late night rants etc.
BLAH BLAH BLAH i might know of a few people that read this blog, and a few subscribers. Thanks. It is a late night here in BKLYN and I am all alone w nothing but a 30 pack of beer. Its really not so bad.
Moving on...
APril and I had a great career as BLX. We recently got a letter from Jello Biafra telling us to "not give up". Ha. That says it all I think. One of the first great shows I remember with April was at Devils Point in Portland where we opened for some strippers. It was funny b/c at the time i wasnt involved romantically with her and honestly having strippers flaunt in front of us, as band members, was kind of strange. At that point I wouldnt let myself think of April that way. This show happened at the end of a west coast tour and we were on our way back up to Seattle. Back then we toured the west coast every 3 months or so. It was pretty ambitious.
Back in those days it was super fun to do BLX b/c to me, i was just practicing for all of The Building Press tours that were happening. I really enjoyed those early days with BLX. Also, APril was so focused on the songs she had written for BLX that I couldnt refuse any idea she had. It was pretty special.
The spirit that April has about her music is the only thing that keeps me moving in the whole BLX realm. I have always loved to watch her sing, especially when I am playing guitar.
I remember answering an ad she put up in the stranger (a seattle weekly paper) asking for a 2nd guitarist.
Well, I made contact with her and met her for the first time at a little coffee shop out in front of the old BLX rehersal space, the named "the chop house". She was sitting outside, all golden and glowing..with a coffee and her guitar case propped up against the buillding waiting for me. Nice.
Im slowly working on a new band entitled: THE DAMN LOW. More on that to follow once we get our touring legs etc.
THE DAMN LOW song titles:
Big Intro
Hush Hush Hush
The Devils In The House Tonight
My Shotguns Loaded
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Big Outro
Busted (cover. also done by J. Cash and R. Charles)
THE DAMN LOW:
AP Schroder: Vox and guitar
Steve Hash: Drums and Vox
There is some serious talk about doing the first DL show in Greenpoint Bklyn for new years eve. Once all of this is firm ill surely post it and move on to more formal promotional avenues.
Doing touring and recording bands is some weird business. Ive personally got about a half dozen releases under my belt, and roughly 3 worn the fuck out vans in the grave yard somewhere that got me to this point. I guess the cool point of my lineage so far is that I have never had to put a down payment on any of the vans that I have travelled in. Ha. Fuck it. AND all the people that did put the payment in on the van(s) are now retired of touring bands. Go figure.
I take a moment to say thanks to you guys. Thanks for putting up with my stilted optamistic late night drives and and my persuasive booking endeavours... all be it super fucking risky and rambunctious, we had a rad time, and some of us got out alive. (there is stuff here i wont type b/c of the code of the road).
Looking on tho, fair reader, I tread much lighter in my musical quest lately. If we show up late to a rehearsal i wont fret out loud. I may even cancel a rehearsal b/c i got a case of camo high life at my feet.
Lately I am not the once militant young man band leader i once was. This is a new approach. It will be fun, in fact it already is fun as hell.
FOR THE FANS OF BLX: I AM GOING TO KEEP WRITING HERE, MEMOIRS OF LIFE IN NYC AND NEW BANDS... there will however, be a THE DAMN LOW BLOG ETC going up but with little to no text, so keep coming back here if you care about my late night rants etc.
BLAH BLAH BLAH i might know of a few people that read this blog, and a few subscribers. Thanks. It is a late night here in BKLYN and I am all alone w nothing but a 30 pack of beer. Its really not so bad.
Moving on...
APril and I had a great career as BLX. We recently got a letter from Jello Biafra telling us to "not give up". Ha. That says it all I think. One of the first great shows I remember with April was at Devils Point in Portland where we opened for some strippers. It was funny b/c at the time i wasnt involved romantically with her and honestly having strippers flaunt in front of us, as band members, was kind of strange. At that point I wouldnt let myself think of April that way. This show happened at the end of a west coast tour and we were on our way back up to Seattle. Back then we toured the west coast every 3 months or so. It was pretty ambitious.
Back in those days it was super fun to do BLX b/c to me, i was just practicing for all of The Building Press tours that were happening. I really enjoyed those early days with BLX. Also, APril was so focused on the songs she had written for BLX that I couldnt refuse any idea she had. It was pretty special.
The spirit that April has about her music is the only thing that keeps me moving in the whole BLX realm. I have always loved to watch her sing, especially when I am playing guitar.
I remember answering an ad she put up in the stranger (a seattle weekly paper) asking for a 2nd guitarist.
Well, I made contact with her and met her for the first time at a little coffee shop out in front of the old BLX rehersal space, the named "the chop house". She was sitting outside, all golden and glowing..with a coffee and her guitar case propped up against the buillding waiting for me. Nice.
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