Busy Bees

It is officially sunny in Philadelphia and there is a lot going on as we crawl out of our caves and shed our winter blankets. For one, it is time again for the spring music festivals. We spent last weekend in Harrisonburg, VA at MACRoCk. The fest is officially in its 13th year but was born again last year as it became autonomous from James Madison University giving it a new breath and humbleness. This year's line-up was regional to the surrounding states and focused on up-and-coming talent which made it full of surprises. Many bands came from Philadelphia, Richmond, Washington DC, and the Midwest. My favorite moments were with Monument, Field Day, Antlers, Boys & Sex (house show), and Cloud Nothings. Let me not forget to mention that MACRoCk is strategically plotted to go down on the single nicest weekend of the year. We love you MACRoCk.

Yesterday was the 32nd annual Human BBQ at the Pi Lam in West Philadelphia. The Pi Lam is a University of Pennsylvania "indie frat" that hosts awesome shows year-round including 2 Piece Fest. The Human BBQ offers an all day celebration of the arrival of spring with nearly 20 of Philadelphia's greatest bands, front yard grilling, and 18 kegs of delicious libations. You read that correctly. And we are not talking about Pabst or High Life. Dogfish Head, Dock St., Philadelphia Brewing Company, Sam Adams... the list goes on a needless to say we were excited to be a part of this. In addition to superior beer selection, the bands gathered to play this year's BBQ were a perfect compliment. Dangerous Ponies, Netherfriends, the Extraordinaries, Double Dagger, My Mind, and Amateur Party to name a few.

No reason to rub it in now except to turn you green and make you move to Philadelphia but, a few weeks ago we played a secret Paint It Black house show at the Terrordome. It was especially surprising since just a couple weeks prior the Terrordome had announced it's closing due to increasing publicity and police presence. Somehow this went off without a stitch and everyone who got there in time to fit into the house had an amazing experience. We are glad this house is still around.

While not playing shows or doing school work Tank has been restoring vintage drums that keep falling into his lap. This is a 60's Slingerland snare that I got a hold of years ago but never had parts for. He also did a similar 4 piece kit recently. Pictures soon. note: Sriracha was not used in the restoration.

Joe just finished recording the Boyfriends/Boys & Sex split has just begun the Snowing album. I am very excited about these as I am sure you are too. Ticklebutt is putting out the split towards the end of summer and the Snowing record will be released by Count Your Lucky Stars later in the year. I recently recorded a couple songs for Towers including a GG Allin cover. Won't tell you which one but they will be on a cassette single and you can pick it up on their July tour. Prepare to be offended. Band Name stopped by my bedroom to record a couple tracks on 4 track that will be on a split tape released by Eat A Book Records in the United Kingdom. They turned out very neat and feature the debut of Cat singing. Cool!

We had a very special blood sucking visitor in the warehouse the other day. I heard the excitement and high pitched shrieks of Danny from my room. When i came out to see what the hoopla was I found myself mimicking my roommates, darting our heads from side to side with our eyes fixed on this little vampire flying all over the place. We clapped and whistled and ducked every time this creature of the night made a pass at us. He terrorized our house for about 20 minutes until he found the open window. "I miss him already" Danny said.

Listening to Alex Kerns' Demo. A lot.

Mailgoat

Got a big old package of goodies from our Japanese buddies today! Is that a CD of new recordings in there? I think so. You are jealous.

myspace.com/malegoat

Harvest of Hope

Fire ants! Probably the only thing resembling a bummer on our brief trip to paradise. St. Augustine in March is about as perfect as it gets. Nevermind the heavy rain and acres of mud on Friday. We were just glad to be out of Danny's station wagon after 17 hours. Joe was barefoot nearly all weekend. Tons of beer and whiskey helped too. That night I was making an emergency exit from the main stage where Dr. Dog set was cut short when I heard the sounds of Japanther coming from a nearby stage. They came late and were bumped to a late night slot. I remember stage diving and lots of mud and then waking up in our tent soaking wet and shivering in the middle of the night. As my drunk wore off and I could no longer stay asleep I prayed for sun. When prayers are answered it is customary to celebrate so we got right on that. Since Harvest of Hope Fest is a benefit we were basically paid in food and beer tickets. Thanks to everyone who came out to our show and made it worthwhile. Other highlights for us on Saturday were the Mercury Program, Good Luck, Anvil, and Billy Bragg who owned his audience and could have played much longer without anyone noticing. We left early Sunday morning so Joe could make it to work on Monday. Wouldn't have minded spending a couple more days or a week down there but the time we had was wonderful. Beats being locked up in this pharmaceutical laboratory!

Wild Wild Midwest Part 2

Our second winter voyage to the midwest began agonizingly like the first one had ended; at the Philadelphia airport car rental lot at 5 in the morning. We have still not found a reliable van worth our hard earned band money and so with this tour already booked and all called favors fallen short, we were forced to rent. Of course our reservations were screwed up and instead of the minivan we expected we ended up with the brand new 2010 luxury SUV you see pictured above. Fully loaded, we were equipped with On Star, a camera for backing up, and a keychain that could start the car from 100 yards away. An hour on the road and a food-poisoned Joe had already spit up out the window and all over the side of it. By the time we reached the first show we had already doubled the miles on this beauty. First up was Ferndale, Michigan at the No Bummer Zone on Leroy Street; headquarters of the aptly named Leroy St. Records. We received a friendly greeting from the most instantaneous of instant friends, Scott. The line-up was almost identical to our show in Michigan last month so I was aware the music was going to be top-notch but halfway through the show came the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed in DIY house show history. The back door swung open and in between the crashing waves of drunken boys and girls rode a knight in shining black polo shirt armor to deliver 20 pizzas! These were gone in a matter of minutes but the benevolent act of god bestowed an unprecedented sense of bliss that would send this show soaring into house show hall of fame.

TGIF and we are hanging out at the Monster House in Columbus, OH with Ryan and Austin from Delay and about 50 other awesome residents. This is a place that you visit and turn green with envy of everything they are accomplishing unless, of course, you are the type who is inspired and encouraged by that kind of scene. I desperately subscribe to the latter. The energy soared as the bands played beginning with the Ground Is Lava who were added as they arrived to enjoy the show and played on borrowed equipment. Steve from the Sidekicks killed it by himself while the rest of the band were held hostage in other parts of Ohio. The twins from Delay formed a 2 piece band called Lightning Yin-Yang to create unprejudiced music amplified through the guitars and drums they play. The result is an energetic and eclectic mix of pop punk, hardcore, and rock & roll. Carefully selected tape samples also enlightened their audience to a number of important topics. Lots of great conversation followed. In the morning we toured the town and ate falafel. I dearly missed this place as soon as we got on the highway.

It's pronounced loo-a-vill Kentucky or something like that. The important thing is that this is a home away from home and I was feeling awfully homesick. Rolling into town presented us with the problem of who to call first. We first located Jake Philly from Mountain Asleep who leaped into our moving 2 week old car and spilled coffee all over himself and the interior. Our show was at Skull Alley which is definitely the coolest venue in this part of the country. Jamie from Bright Skull Records opened this place and has been running it for about 2 years in memory of his younger brother. It has done wonders for a scene that definitely deserves it. This was our third show at the Alley and Wise Blood's first show. They sounded great and their Smashing Pumpkins cover of Zero sounded more like Ink & Dagger song. Mountain Asleep has gained a reputation and seeing them in their hometown was awesome. Rowdy sing-a-longs and crowd surfing were no stranger this room. They also played a number of new songs that were short and super sweet. And afterwards, you know there was pizza and you know there was beer. For the first time at Spinelli's, a local Philly style pizza place, we traded a CD for a pizza which is an offer open to all touring bands. Why did no one tell us this before! Alarm clocks woke us up much earlier than we would've liked from our drunken hibernation so we could make the 7 hour drive back to Pennsylvania.

We arrived in Johnstown just in time to load in and start playing. 709 Railroad is a cool community arts center that open a couple of years ago. Unfortunately we missed most of the bands and our visit was short but it was nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs before the last 3 hour drive home. The town has some creepy vibes and a guy in a gas station parking lot offered me to come "party" with him but I explained that we were on a tight schedule. Then I explained I didn't have 2 dollars for him either. We made it home safe and sadly waved goodbye to our favorite touring vehicle. Tank got some sleep before class and Joe blinked before he hopped on the train to go to work. No matter where our bodies ended up our minds would be elsewhere.

Algernon Comic & Thank God Jeremy Is Alive

Comic book artist, close friend, housemate, and drummer of Band Name Gregory Labold recently illustrated our likeness' during a 24 hour comic project (which he does every Monday). You may recognize his style. He also created the 8 page coloring book that comes inside our Fun 7". Hop on over to his blog Bald Spot Comics to see more rad comics. It's updated bi-weekly. By the way, this was done at the Little Lungs show at the Terrordome on February 1st if anyone's interested. See yourself in the crowd?

In other Band Name news, close friend, housemate, artist, and singer/guitarist of Band Name Jeremy Gecker was in an accident late Monday night. He suffered 3 broken ribs, damaged a few vertabrae, and punctured his lungs and liver. He is finally out of the Intensive Care Unit and on the slow track to a complete recovery. For those who know Jeremy, you know he is as good a dude as there ever was. If you want to send him get well wishes I'm sure they will be delightfully recieved at jeremyjams@gmail.com. To spare him the burden and avoid going into too much detail here if you have any further questions about the accident get in touch with me and I'll fill you in.

Jeremy's Blog: jeremyjams.blogspot.com
Band Name Myspace: myspace.com/bandnameb4tv

On the Road with 1994 & Welcome to this Blog

A great man once said "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". He was of course referring to when Algernon Cadwallader leaves home for any amount of time to go on tour.

We recently went on a 4 day graduated weekend with our Pennsylvania buddies, 1994 from Lancaster. Boy, was it a blast and boy, did we run into some trouble. The shows we made it to, which were Cleveland, Chicago, and Kalamazoo were basement stuffed sweaty good times. Even during this modern ice age and in the heart of the midwest. The Strangelight in Chicago, where we played with Grown Ups and Castavet, somehow welcomed hundreds of people into it's bowels. This is definitely one of the most impressive and well organized house venues I've had the pleasure of visiting in my years of touring. Unfortunately I woke up the next morning and found myself wondering why Milwaukee Ave looked different then it had the night before. It was because our 4 passenger mini-van with turtle-top had been towed off of it. Our host overheard our lament and graciously leapt to action to get our buggy back. Thanks Matt. Pizza!

Onward to Kalamazoo where Chris from '94 said he knew the moment we walked through the door at the Deer Blood House that we would not be falling asleep sober that night. He was right. I think. It seemed that way in the morning anyhow. Slowly we maneuvered our bodies out of the crevices of couches and into a nearby diner to replenish ourselves on glorified garbage plates. Feeling 80% we started driving towards Pittsburgh. 10 minutes into the drive it was clear the Grand Voyager was still hungover. It shat and pissed liquids, smoked, and sputtered to a hault in a Shell station parking lot. On Super Bowl Sunday. Luckily we had made friends with the boys from The Reptilian who generously put us up and made us feel very comfortable in their house. Yes, we drank our worries away but no amount of 90 Minutes or Breakfast Stouts was going to resurrect our once golden chariot. With the transmission shot amongst other things we cut our losses, scrapped the motherfucker, and rented a van for our 12 hour drive home. We arrived to the 27 inches of white snow we heard Philadelphia had landed while we were away.

I really can't stress enough how much fun we had and how successful we all felt the weekend had still been. You can't let a little rain get you down. Only a couple of weeks prior in upstate New York we'd had our van cavity searched by 5 police officers and 1 dog for 2 hours (nothing found) and hydroplaned into a concrete highway median. So I guess we are used to these kinds of bumps in the road. Thanks to everyone who helps make them bearable! We can't wait to get our new car and continue speeding into disaster.

So, we are starting this blog to document our adventures and keep you up to date on what the band is doing. Our website expired and was bought by crazy porn distributors and myspace is an eye sore. You can consider this the our official internet identity. I hope that it will be informative and enjoyable. Thanks for reading!