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.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
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
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