Joe's Rat's Nest ...and other tales from the road.

We woke up today with a hangover. Not a hangover from being drunk, mind you, but a collective hangover of getting the very short end of a very big stick. Also - being beaten with said stick.
It all started when we went to find something to eat. Coming from the Josh Ritter show, which was the saving grace of the night, we found ourselves without many options to choose from, food wise. So we decide to drive a bit and find food near our hotel, rather than the venue.
Long story short - it turns out the place where we parked didn't take to kindly to us parking there, and booted us. In fact, it was a ticket to the tune of 200 bucks. However, the kicker is - this wasn't the city of Atlanta, this was some private douchebag who SITS in the parking lot, and waits for people to park and walk away.
Kicker number 2 comes in the fact that the parking lot was for the Ruby Tuesday's we WERE going to - but when we got to the door, we found that the restaurant closed, so we just walked across the street to a seafood places that was open.
Kicker number three is that debate had raged in the van on whether or not we should move the van - I won't say who was on what side of the debate, to protect the guilty....(ahem, *cough*Isaidweshouldmove*cough*) but I digress....
We are now getting amped up for the show - we also decided to put a little jar out at our merch table, to help pay for the 200 dollar ass fucking we got last night. Perhaps people will donate to our "We can't possible afford this" cause. We'll let you know how it goes.


SXSW went wonderfully, by the way - it was quite an experience, we got to see some killer shows, St. Vincent, Dirty Projectors, Kevin Devine, Angus and Julia Stone, more more more that I can't even remember. A BIG thank you to my friends Meaghan and Sean for letting us stay with them for the whole time we were there. Thought I do like to think we are considerate house guests, dealing with 6 smelly guys on your floor is no easy task. Also - they gave us beer. Sweet.

We also went to New Orleans, we'll post a new video of that soon. Oh! By the way, did you see the new video we posted on our page? The one where we are on the side of this rural interstate. Cool, eh?
Yes, if you are wondering, I did purposely change the subject of New Orleans. A fun time was had. That's all I'll say. Unless you buy me a beer, then I'll tell you stories - otherwise, my lips are sealed.


Last but not least - Joe woke up today with a rat's nest on his head. See? Didn't think I'd ever make it back to the title of the post, did you?
More to come.

xoxoxo,
C

Flatstock @ SXSW (PotW #2)

I can't begin to explain how incredible Flatstock 20 was. I got to meet several of my favorite designers as well as some new ones I'd never heard of before. Choosing just one for Poster of the Week #2? Nearly impossible. But I did walk away with a few so perhaps when I make it back to life with a computer I'll be able to post some of those.

-eli

Alive and well

Hey y'all. Only a quick blog today- still in Austin having fun, lots to do.
We wanted to let you all know that the show went off without a hitch last night, and I think it's safe to say peoples minds were blown. So just know your boys from Boston (nh) are doing well- and we'll see you soon!

-Christopher

Greetings from the heartland

On the way to Austin. Apparently, Christ is on tour as well.

Poster of the Week #1

Hello everyone. Eli here. I've never been much of a blogger, but this week, an idea occurred to me that seemed like it might just fit on our shiny new blog here.

For a long time, I've followed an online column in Seattle's The Stranger called "Poster of the Week". It's written by a one Aaron Huffman (a personal musical influence, as well) and each week does pretty much what you'd expect, based on the title: showcases a poster. For years I've loved rock posters. People often treat them in general as something of an expendable, temporary art. They are this, in some ways, as they dive into obsolescence the moment the event being advertised is over. But I think this can also be a little bit of an unfair write-off of something that more often than not has many layers of thought, meaning, politics, and imagery. Plus, they just look cool. I can't explain exactly why, but there's something about the freedom, style, and attitude of rock and roll, mixed with some nice typography and solid design...

My idea, then, begins with this post. It's the first in a series I'm going to try to keep up with to showcase posters (and their artists) from the Boston and New England scene - a sort of east coast equivalent to Huffman's Seattle based column. I'm certainly no expert, it's just something that I spend so much time looking at on my own that perhaps I can a) bring the art to others, b) bring some exposure to other poster designers, or c) have an excuse to indulge even more of my time in this. This is also inspired, in part, by the fact that next week, while we're down in Austin, TX for SXSW, I'll surely be paying a visit to Flatstock 20 - the poster show to end all poster shows.

So, I guess that's that. The setup. I'm aiming to write up a new poster every week. Check back next week for a special, SXSW edition.

PotW #1 is a nice screenprinted poster by Phaedra Brucato. I love the simplicity of it, the hand drawn type, and the accidental or on purpose off-setting of the red print. Good stuff.

The hardest part

Among the many irritating things about the music business - the one I find the most irritating is the 'foot in the door' part. When ever people actually come to the shows we find them to catch on pretty quick to what were doing. We have never been nervous about playing in front of anyone - because we've always known that the hardest part is already over: getting them to the show in the first place.
I have been inviting random people to our SXSW show - bands that we're fans of mostly, people that we would really appreciate coming out, people who make music that we are really into, thusly we would hope they would be into us. With this task of emailing and stuff, I found that it is the most difficult thing to say: "Sir or madam, of whom I have the upmost musical respect for - I know you get these emails all the time; but THIS ONE is different."
How do we know we are different? How do I explain to someone how much I love this band, The Everyday Visuals, and how much i believe in it without coming across like a self serving ass? How do I explain to them that, just like them, since I was a little kid, I've wanted to do nothing else with my life but play music without it sounding like a desperate plea from a nobody do nothing.
I've never been good at 'working a room' - sure, I feel like I am a funny guy, and I can be very personable, and affectionate, but what I am NOT is someone who can network and give the "hey..." finger snap that helps make those 'connections'.
I was told a story about this artist who went to SXSW last year, and bumped into the guy from spoon - they shared a beer, and by the end of the night the dude from spoon asked him to open a freaking tour for them. And the guy did.
I can't do that - I would meet the guy from spoon and for some reason or another, couldn't convince him, or could pitch us in the the right way to make that happen.
So that is the hardest part - if we opened for spoon, or anyone like that, we'd kill. I know it. But to get our foot in the door, to get that chance to be great...hmmm.
What can I say in an email that will make you listen - when I don't have music, I just have my words?

-C

Kyle Blogs Too!

Greetings folks, Kyle here... Just a quick thank you to all who came
out to the two shows this weekend. What a blast! We even got asked
to play in Alaska!!! Kyle out...

Our artistic whims....

We had a lot of fun this weekend playing acoustically with FOW. Perhaps a little too much fun - now that we have our sights set on SXSW, we have struck a quandary: To go acoustic, or not?
We have always been a band with sort of a split personality, we love getting as loud as we can, but we also enjoy getting as quiet as we can - sometimes performing with no amplification at all. Both feel like home to us, so when it comes to shows like SXSW showcases where you are suppose to play a set that accurately depicts your band - we always have the same problem...which Visuals do we present? Acoustic, or electric...?
The other tricky thing is the question of context - that is, do people react so well to our acoustic show because they have seen the electric one, and the stark contrast impresses them? If that were true, would people who have never seen us before just think of our acoustic set as average - could the acoustic set only be good in the context of the difference of our electric leanings?

This is a problem that has haunted us for some time now, when you only have one shot to 'wow' someone - what would you do if you were us? The answer would be simple if we enjoyed one set more than the other, but we love them both equally, and whats more - we feel they both accurately represent us.

Oh - to be a rich headlining act. That would solve all our problems, because we could do both: travel with two kits, acoustic drum kit, electric one...play an 'acoustic set' in the middle of a rock set. Hmmm. To have that luxury, the luxury to fully satisfy every artistic whim - now THAT'S success, in my eyes.

What do you all think?
Christopher

Paradise

Awesome time at the Paradise tonight. See you tomorrow in Northampton.