Garage Bands and Garbage Cans

Basura. That's how I feel right now. But only because we just loaded back into the house and I'm weak and a little queasy. Maybe a little dehydrated, too.

Last night was pretty cool, let me tell you. We played in this tiny garage in Temecula for a meager crowd of people who seemed timid, but still exerted a good vibe. The Daisycutters were fun, and I can totally see a Q and Not U influence in Devin's drumming. Ryan pushed me into the middle to dance, but since I don't know how, I just kept walking and ended up hugging some random kid I don't know who was much better at dancing than I. The police showed up right before we started playing and said "We got a noise complaint that the drums were too loud and obnoxious and seemed out of tune." And then they drove away. Interesting? Oui.

(Ryan was still sober at this point)

I think we need to have more fun performing. That will make other people have fun. We played well, but the performance was definitely lacking. The California flag I taped above my head fell down on me at one point. I wore it like a cape until gravity collapsed it's final attempts at waving. Apparently you're supposed to burn the CA flag if it touches the ground. I wouldn't do that though. Throughout the whole set, there was this little dog that looked like a bear circling the drumset and dancing with EJ. Her name was Zeppelin.

(Ryan remained sober)

Afterwards we left and went to this fucking gorgeous house on a lake, and began consuming. Soup, bread, beer and vodka... blegh. The cops showed up again and broke up the party, unfortunately, which made me feel old, being legal and all. Everybody else was freaking out. So we hung out for a bit and the kid's mom came home and told us about how her neighbor is a crazy bitch and murdered her husband by poisoning him. I wish we got that one on tape.

(Ryan is wasted and is punching me telling me to punch him back, to which I refuse)

So then we left and went to another house in Temecula, on this big horseshoe street called Del Ray. Confusing as hell... This house was just as amazing in it's own right. It was on a ranch, with a giant backyard and horses right beyond the fence. There were tons of cats hanging around, three of them kittens who wrestled in the grass and climbed through the tire spokes of bikes with flat tires. Their names were Parsley, Sage and Rosejerry (previously Rosemary, until they found out it was a boy). Parsley perched on my shoulder for a good while, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The inside was a mix between brand new kitchen/dining room/living area and a hippie den where there were multiple couches, a hammock hanging from the ceiling that attracted a lot of drunken attention and Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii playing in the background. I thought of Kemp, an ex-bear of a giant's stature, with an appetite for Pink Floyd to match. There was a hookah, and it was damn heavy. Burning my throat and making me cough, though not unpleasantly.

(Ryan is legally insane, attempting handstands to the point of shattering glass tables and running into stationary objects)

I decided to sleep in the van for the evening. We need curtains... or something. I felt like a taquito in my sleeping bag once the sun started baking the van. This morning was spent drinking water and pondering the distance relative to a human that the ants ravaging the garbage can would have to travel to bring their bits of food back home. I said four miles.

So today we're going to do a silly but potentially sweet photo shoot up at this house that some people decided to move. Literally. They cut the house in half, and drove it away on a truck. But they left a couple couches behind, and the back half of the kitchen, so we might go set up our equipment there and pretend to play. I need to get directions for the whole country tomorrow or Monday. Other than that, I'm playing the waiting game.

Paper and Papers

The band (partially) is en route to Guitar Center today to try and stock up on some necessities, and maybe indulge ourselves a little in equipment heaven. $100 for sticks? I guess I'll see if they can cut me a deal. Part of coming across as professional, is looking professional, and maybe feeling a bit professional too. I think nice equipment helps. I've never been in a position to spend lots of money on instrumental purchases for a reason, so I'm excited about this trip.

We also spent a sad amount of time in Bank of America today trying to open a few bank accounts.

It seems that keeping organized is a learned skill. In a sense, the paperwork continues piling up, and I don't want to be responsible for losing anything of value. Maps and directions, names and phone numbers. Ah!

Bed and Breakslow

It takes me forever to get up and get moving. My stomach has been yelling at me for an hour, and still I lay here, enthralled in my powerbook and trying to think of things to do. We had a little mini-show on my birthday where it was basically like a live practice. It really exposed our flaws, and shows we are not nearly ready to head out on the road. It was a good mix of mistakes that we made, none too serious, that reinforced some of the topics I've wanted to discuss with the band. Also keep in mind, that from the beginning of the night to the end, the amount of time between "audience" decided shot-breaks decreased exponentially. It was vodka too... blegh.

I'm not used to having nothing to do. I think it actually makes it harder to get out and do the few things I'm supposed to be taking care of. If I had a car, these tasks would be done immediately. But since B and I are left in the original Binns' Inn all day with nothing but peanut butter, Fatty Klaxon and the Undeclared dvd's, we sit around and let time waste away into the San Diego dusk and dawn. There is plenty of whiskey involved.

Today is a Mexico day, I think. I would like to initiate some practice before we cross the border and hang out with our favorite Tijuana bartender Gloria for the evening, but it seems there's a rift! We will see if this is one more day thrown away or if we/I make some use out of it.

I just heard Fatty whine, and that super chunk honey roasted peanut butter seems to be calling my name. One last thing, "Scent of a Woman" is an incredible movie. I'm glad Ryan wouldn't stop talking about it until I finally watched it. Now I want to see it again.

It's hard to argue that this isn't the fucking life.

Sunday June 24th

The first few days I've spent in San Diego so far have been both exciting and promising. Before I even stepped foot off of the plane we already had a van bought and (almost) ready to go, which was all of our biggest concern. Our first day of practice was the 21st, and as fumbled as it was, it remained fun. I think we all get together with this idea of what tour is going to be in our heads, and we kind of focus on that above all else. It's just this presence in the room, for me at least, that in a week we'll be heading out on the road to play more shows than any of us ever have before. There's so much potential for every emotion you could ever dream of that it's really hard to predict exactly what we're going to be experiencing. Anger, frustration, joy, anxiety, excitement... I think we're all concerned that maybe someone will end up in prison somewhere. As much as I'd hate it at the time, it would do nothing but pump more hot air into our story for when we get back, and for the rest of our lives. It feels incredible to start doing something BIG.

As far as things left to do? We've got plenty! We hit up a swap meet the other day to look for costumes, and instead bought a bunch of trinkets for ourselves instead of cohesive group things. I like the idea of decorating amps and personalizing your part of the stage... it gives people more to look at, and people like to look. I did get an extension cord, and a bundle of 100 of the most amazing incense to ever grace these nostrils (cinnamon!). I also got the tour book started, and as it continues to grow in pages my smile gets bigger and bigger.

Thursday May 1st

Two more dates have been added to the schedule:

7/20 - Oleaver's - Omaha, NE
8/16 - Red Room - San Antonio, TX

Sirens Sister is not interested in playing the SSMA date, due to the lack of a national headliner. I don't know their exact situation, but a one-off in their home town on a Friday night doesn't look like that bad of an opportunity. They could draw a good amount and make some money and really help us out in the process. But oh well. It's disappointing.

Thursday April 26th

Added three more dates to the tour this week:

7/9 - The Hell House - Chico, CA
7/22 - Otto's - Dekalb, IL
7/23 - The Note - Chicago, IL

In addition to these, I really want to add Sirens Sister (Seattle based ex-Vendetta Red pop troup) to the 7/13 show at the SSMA. I think they would be fun to play with, and also benefit the draw through being a well known Seattle local. Waiting on a response from their agent.

Thursday April 19th

Started initiating phone calls this week. It seems that the majority of the booking community, much to my dismay, relies mainly on telephones. I guess it's just one of those things that takes getting used to. Making phone calls isn't that bad after all, and seeing the benefits to the tour that it can bring, I'm much more willing to do it. I think at this point we're entering that 3-month window where buyers really start to book their venues, so we really need to keep moving to make sure we're first on the list for our specific dates.

Thursday April 12th

The past week has been a wait week. Sirens Booking have sent out plenty of emails to people all over the country, and are waiting for either responses or to follow up in due time. The dates we have secured as of today are as follows:

7/6 - Fresno, CA
7/13 - S.S. Marie Antoinette - Seattle, WA
7/14 - Neurolux - Boise, ID
7/16 - Muse Music - Provo, UT
7/21 - The Reverb Bar - Cedar Falls, IA
7/31 - The Cake Shop - New York, NY
8/7 - Spazzatorium Galleria - Greenville, NC
8/13 - Super Happy Fun Land - Houston, TX
8/20 - Hollywood Alley - Mesa, AZ

Da Bears Summer Tour Preliminary

As I was attempting to go to sleep last night, EJ drunkenly stumbled in and we started talking about aspects of the tour, mainly the tour journal. Brandon, EJ and I are required to keep one while we're out on the road in order to receive credit once we get back to Philly. EJ brought up the idea of keeping a blog instead, and making it accessible to everyone. I like it. So I decided to steal it and start posting my stuff up here. I think it'll be fun, because if the three of us do it, you'll get several different perspectives of what's going on out there, and we can all read each others and get in fights over the content and gossip. So keep checking back for updates!