Recording Week 3 (Guitar)

Hello and welcome to the third installment of the Algernon Cadwallader studio journal. We'd like to thank you for keeping an interest while we take care of the boring "behind the scenes" part of the band. Think of it as though we are open during renovation. I assure you we are doing all that we can to make things as entertaining as possible for you. We're especially fond of the feedback that you leave in our comments. It's nice to keep in touch with the outside world. Without further ado, Joe Reinhart on the guitar.

Things began quite like they did for bass tracking with three premium amps standing at attention to prove their sonic worth. These three were the Orange AD 30 with Mesa 2X12 cabinet, the Vox AC 30, and the Fender Twin Reverb. Though all fierce and unique we managed to weed out the Twin fairly quickly and began focusing on the remaining soldiers. Joe fell in love with Vox when we toured in Europe and he played a rental every night for a month straight. The way it breaks up like earth under a bulldozer causes the soul to cringe with pleasure. He bought one almost immediately after we returned home and just finished paying it off the other day. It's little brother, the AC 15, can be heard on our Fun 7". For anyone who has ever played out of an Orange I need not try to sell this one at all. In touring band terms, it is the Mercedes Sprinter of guitar amps. It is the brightest (looking too) and heaviest sound you can ever expect to hear and the knobs are even labeled with goofy little cartoon icons! It doesn't take much to get this pair singing like Hall and Oates in the boys room. We start putting some stuff down but soon get a suspicious feeling that maybe that was too easy. Everything sounds great but maybe a little to great? With a bit of A-B'ing it becomes evident that the offensive tones of teenage rebellion and 20-something frustrations we are looking for in a lead guitar are coming by and large from the AC 30. Rather than cluttering tape with multiple tracks of each guitar take we decide to use the Vox for the dirty stuff and have the Orange provide us with very intimidating clean parts. So with the easy stuff out of the way, on to the hard stuff.

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And so it was, in the honor of great sound, that Joe escalated the gauge of his strings to 12's. His finger tips would soon look like deep canyons of dried super glue. His care-free temperament would follow. As we entered the month of December it was getting quite cold in Philadelphia as it usually does. We are no strangers to winter here in the warehouse. The big open warehouse with 12 foot tall windows, skylights, brick walls, and concrete floors. In fact we are like bitter, scornful brothers of the bastard season as we are forced to live in immediate proximity to it day and in and day out for 4 to 5 months out of the year. We played the game of balancing the quantity and intensity of space heaters in the studio with the frequency of breakers we were tripping in our fuse box. The morning routine includes rolling out of bed and quickly snuggling into a winter coat before leaving the bedroom. The studio was still warmer than the common area and so that was incentive to stay in there and keep working. Joe's writes parts that are no less than miniature guitar solos that he sometimes repeats and to watch him play them is to be very confused. Now, to watch him write them, alter them, and/or add to them is to be completely dumfounded, aggravated, and/or slipping in and out of consciousness. We could basically measure the time it took to finish a song in days. Somewhere around this time Tank and I found it best to leave Joe in the studio and pop our heads in now and then to see how things were going. A lot of times things were going like Joe bouncing up and down and playing jangly Operation Ivy songs on guitar and other times things were going like Joe curled up on a coat in the middle of the floor sleeping. And in between that recording Algernon Cadwallader songs. With the extra time on my hands I adopted a big puppy named Drake. He has proved to be very helpful around the studio. Say hi Drake. Moving onto the clean guitars was a welcomed milemarker and soon enough they were done.

At this point we were ready to take what we had on tape and dump it into the computer. Joe utilized connections he made when going to college to get us into Drexell University's studio to do this since they had a bigger and better digital interface which would save a lot of time and trouble. I could tell I was coming down with something flu-like so we went to our favorite nearby bar and got really really drunk. We celebrated how far we'd come and got the courage to think about how far we had to go. I had nightmares that night and woke up feeling like a trash can. We would have to put off doing vocals and move on to editing or adding axillary instruments. I wondered for the first time if we'd finish this recording before we left for tour.

Ladies and gentleman, and unexpected gift from old man winter; trash soup!

Shirt

I just came across this blog on which our friend Duncan from Louisville spurts a little history about band shirts he has acquired over the years. A really neat idea since the best part of crappy DIY band-printed shirts is obviously the memories that follow them home from the show. Algernon Cadwallader made the top 12! I found the origins of our shirt particularly moving. Maybe because I was there to experience them too. Cool!

Recording Week 2 (Bass)

Obviously Thanksgiving is the most deceptive of American holidays but I'll be darn'ed if I don't enjoy myself back at my mom's warm house cooking, drinking, eating, and watching movies all day. There is still the lingering feeling that we could be celebrating something better and honest.
And so there is Hanksgiving, where we give thanks to one of the greatest actors whose mug has ever graced the silver screen, Tom Hanks. This tradition started several years ago by friends of mine and we've been carrying the torch ever since. After a grueling week and a half of tracking drums we felt well deserved to relax, laugh, and get fat.

Feeling rejuvenated and anxious to move this recording along and comforted that we still had enough Dogfish Head 90 Minute to last us at least a few more days we entered the studio bright and early to attack the bass tracks. With plenty of heads and cabs to choose and not really being any good at reaching any sort of decision we set them all up at once to let them duel it out in the battle of the bass amps. At the end of the battle the winners were 2 mics on the Ampeg SVT through the Acoustic 405 2x15 for the punk rock high end as well as the doomy low end and a close mic'd Acoustic 450 head through a Peavey 2x15 to pick up the slack with it's punchy low-mids. We also learned to re-cone a speaker at this time. There's nothing like brand new strings on a freshly set-up bass to make you feel like your holding god's dick in your hands. And so we began knocking out tracks, backing up a few times for missed notes or fucked up rhythms. There's alway things that pop out of a song once you record it for the first time that you've never noticed while writing and practicing it. Moving at an increasingly fast pace the golden brew poured freely in and out of our pint glasses. By 1AM we had finished all the main tracks and the last couple were done in single takes, including a scorching Elvis Costello cover. That night we celebrated the virtual half way point.


The next morning or afternoon we found the studio and put bass on all the "B takes" of the songs just so we had options of which to use later on and then that was that. Bass done. Our beaming accomplishment was transient though as we all knew that the next peak we had to climb would be the most treacherous.

How to Write a Song with Peter & Craig

Recording Week 1 (Drums)

After a summer of writing, months of practicing, years of procrastinating and weeks of aggressive facial hair growth Algernon Cadwallader is finally back in the studio working on our 2nd full length album. I will be documenting this process here. This will be the first Algernon Cadwallader recording done from start to finish in our warehouse studio. More info on the studio and it's engineers can be found at headroomphiladelphia.blogspot.com. The studio is very comfortable and familiar to us which should ensure relaxed sessions and plenty of time to experiment (with drugs) but there is a looming fear of our sense of timing entering a black hole and the record taking way too long to record. We've set a mastering date we aim to keep it. Just about everything will be tracked to a 24 channel 2" tape machine and then dumped into the computer to mix and touch up.

First things first, the drums. We begin with brand new heads on everything, WD-40'ing and cleaning all the lugs along the way. The kit is a 60's Slingerland that Tank bought and restored. He then called every drummer he knew in the city asking to borrow their snare drums so we have options. Meanwhile Joe took his Guitar Center credit card to get us a nice pair of overhead microphones. Conveniently Guitar Center has an awesome return policy that allowed us 11 days with our new toys before we could return them without paying a dime. We have our first deadline. 11 days to track drums. With 13 or 14 songs to record we are confident this will be an ample amount of time. Drums are up and mic'ed and sounding great as ever. We got the fattest snare sound of all time. Like Fat Albert's stomach after doing crunches for a week straight and beat with a small child's arm. We track a song and agree that it doesn't exactly fit the style of the new jams. This decision turned into 3 long grueling full days of of hunting the perfect snare sound. Admittedly we panicked. We tried snare after snare with every combination of microphones we could think of. Hours and days passed and we weren't getting any closer. Our roommates who are an earshot away were giving us dirty looks and wouldn't give us any of their cookies. We took 1 step forward and 2 steps back until we finally made it all the way back to square one. Tank's Rogers snare with the almighty Shure SM-57 aimed for the center.


At this point Tank is sick as a dog and also under pressure to study for 2 nursing exams. We drink to relieve the stress which brightens our moods but hinders our productivity. Tracking is slow but we're happy with the results. It's the 5th or 6th day of recording, we've finally got things underway and we run out of tape. We get our tapes used from the infamous "The Studio" a few blocks away but they aren't picking up our phone calls. We lose another day and a half because we are tapeless. Eventually we get in touch and take a field trip over there. It's a comically amazing studio. Joe was drooling over their outboard gear that we've only seen replicas of in programs like Logic and ProTools. There is a 30 foot long hallway covered in platinum records that were cut there by some of our favorite artists like R Kelly and Boys II Men. The people there are super nice and it chronically reeks of weed smoke. Montez is on and off of the phone arranging a midnight session for Sean Kingston and Justin Beiber who are in town for the night. We buy 3 more tapes and get back to the warehouse. We finish all the songs for the record in the next day and a half as well as a couple other jams and a cover since we have everything set up. We wake up around noon the following afternoon and give everything a listen with fresh ears. It sounds good but brutal honestly prevails. Joe has sonic issues. I think tempos are off. Tank vents about school and taking his dogs out. We have about 5 hours left to return the overhead mics before we get charged for them. In less than high spirits we proceed to re-record just about every song. We fill up the last of the tapes with worthwhile takes, Joe returns the microphones in time, we sleep well and hard. Until next time...

Fest 9 Feelin' Fine

Photo: Chris Teti
The Fest is kind of like the bus from Speed. Once it's started there is no stopping or getting off until the end of the ride. It's always seems like it's on the verge of exploding and killing everyone in Gainesville. That's why we get there bright and early on the first day to soak up the November sun in the Fest pool at Holiday Inn. We all want to have a healthy smile and a little color on our face when we go out. Fest 9, our third Fest, was no exception. At the pool we were reunited with our buddies 1994! and Big Kids who left from Philly two weeks prior as well as a bunch of other awesome bands and people from around the globe we'd not seen for much longer. Around dusk we split up and wandered off to see some shows. We hopped on a warehouse show that started about 2 am and at 5 in the morning scrambled to the last unsanitary motel in town with a vacancy. Check out was at 11 so our rest was merely a necessity. We headed to Common Grounds where our real fest show was and where we would drink for free today. I liked seeing bands at the venue in previous years but I was not as stoked to be playing there. The stage is pretty big and there's less of the DIY vibe than at the Kickstand where we had played the last 2 years. Fortunately Annabel played before us, borrowed all of our stuff, and sounded amazing so I felt better about the lack lustre sound on stage. At the end of the night Joe was elated to hear he had drunk more band beer than anyone else at the show. We started our Sunday at the holy Reggae Shack with a delicious meal for 11. Joe went back to the pool and got wasted on cheap craft beers for 8 hours. Needless to say he was difficult to find when we finally were ready to make the drive back to Philadelphia after the last of the shows had ended. Some other sick band I was able to catch this year were the Max Levine Ensemble, Chinese Telephones, the Underground Railroad to Candyland, and the Catalyst. 18 hours later we pulled into the driveway and walked inside only to find a tapped keg and a group of friends gathering for our roommate Greg's birthday. The party never fucking stops.

The holiday season is here once again when satan makes his way down your chimney shoot at night to leave you choclate and other treats and only asks for your worthless soul in return. Hazzah! Overcome by the holiday spirit fellow heathen, Greg Labold, and I created a soundtrack for your most desirable nightmares. It is horrific fun for all ages. Play it on your porch for trick-or-treaters or in your diy haunted house to scare the jeans off your hip to death friends. Hand screened and assembled packaging available for a limited time only. Get your copy today before they are OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP! Only $4 postage paid via paypal to burntfoot@gmail.com or concealed cash to 1310 North 5th Street 2B Philadelphia, PA 19122. Don't be a scaredy cat!

The Fest Cometh!

Right on time! Hope you will be joining us in Gainesville for Fest 9. There is a slew of great bands playing. Not to mention this is also in general just the funnest weekend of the year. Check Thefestfl.com for the list. Seriously, don't miss this shit. You will regret it for the rest of your short life. We'll be playing a couple shows on the way down the coast as well with some friends in DC and ATL. Sadly, we couldn't find the time to do more and we are hustling home afterwards to begin recording a new full length which will be finished come the new year. Then we will be back to playing shows on the regular. Keep an eye out for dates, especially if you're on the west coast!

Virginia Is For Lovers & So Is Ohio

All you need is love... and Algernon Cadwallader. Pouncing at the opportunity to expand our maturing highbrow resume we accepeted our friends' surprising invitation to provide the live music for their wedding. With utmost respect we spent weeks whittling our raw energy into classy pop instrumentals for the event. We hand picked a few of our favorite love songs to cover and learned the Peanuts theme song which was to be the bride's music. With our best t-shirts on we headed to Virginia to create the soundtrack to the joining of Cory & Courtney Bise. These two sure know how to party and we are happy and thankful we were there to celebrate with them. We also couldn't help but throw up a few mics during our wedding band rehearsals to document these re-workings of our songs and some of them turned out alright. We had our friend Francis Quinlan of Hop Along come over to sing on one of them and it will be on a cassette compilation put together by the Long Island kids at Lifeonanisland.org sometime this summer.

We were also privileged enough to be invited to play this year's Berea Fest along with the likes of Delay, The Sidekicks, Good Luck, Tin Armor, Pink Houses, New Creases, and tons of other really amazing bands. Berea Fest was started 5 years ago by the Eilbeck brothers from Delay and friends to celebrate the vibrant scene going on in Berea, OH, a suburb of Cleveland. They no doubt inspired and captured the hearts of everyone who grew up in the scene there with them and when they made the move to Columbus unsurprisingly just about everyone followed. While the excitement continues in Columbus they still return to Berea each year to pay homage to the place where it all began. I shouldn't expect anything less from these guys but I was still overwhelmed at the amount of positivity at this fest. Everyone here was friends even if you'd just met. There were plenty of volunteers helping the fest run smoothly. Free food not only for the bands but for everyone at the show. Wholly a very fun, inspiring, and encouraging get together. Thanks to Ryan, Austin, and Pat!

Last night Tank made a special appearance on stage with one of our favorite bands from Texas. With Fergus & Geronimo already booked to play Philadelphia, and Chris and Daniel visiting for the weekend, it only made sense that we would force Teenage Cool Kids to play a short set as well. Sadly, Bradley couldn't make it but Tank stood up the plate and channeled his energy to give the kids what they want.

This weekend we are looking forward to being in Richmond for the 8th annual Best Friends Day. From what I've heard over the years it's about the closest you can get to being at Camp Nowhere... for punks. We are playing the Saturday afternoon show at Hadad's Palisades Waterpark with Off With Their Heads and Negative Approach. The rest of the weekend we'll be seeing Field Day, Propagandhi, Andrew WK and enjoying the company of best friends. Cool!

Some Thing Last A Long Time

Since this 7" was released in April of 2008, righteously re-born later that year and repressed again in 2009 I have screenprinted the front and back of about 1,300 of these. Not to mention the hundreds of spray painted CDRs that also wore screenprinted armor. There was the occasional helping hand from Be Happy Records CEO Craig Woods, fellow bandmates, and EJ, Scumhand of Grizzly Records. I am more than excited to say announce that the very last cover has been finally been printed. We now have the remaining 200 of these available for mailorder. This will be the final pressing of this old old record.

While we're on the subject of 7"s, here are a couple that also have branches on the Cadwallader family tree. The first, a split between Tank's solo project, Matt = Tank, and good buddies, J. Fox. When Tank broke his foot in the winter of 2008 he was limited in movement and unable to play drums for about 6 months. His dad bought him a ukulele so he could still play music during his recovery. He took to it like a little girl in a field of diamonds and pumped out about 20 catchy tunes before anyone could even ask him how it was going. Included on the record are a couple that I produced with him in the studio along with the help of plenty of friends. The J. Fox numbers are the best yet from this Philadlephia 3 piece. Bouncy indie rock jams that bring the party vibe.

There is a guy called Pat Fortenbaugh who comes from the most interesting and nightmarishly eclectic family I have ever met. He also happens to be one of the nicest people I've ever met and has a superior taste in music. He has led me to discover some of my favorite bands today. So one day he decides he will start to play the guitar and write songs too. What soon came out were wheel-barrels of the most honest and fun songs I've ever heard in my life. He has literally brought me to tears almost every time I have seen him play live. Tears of laughter and joy. I wanted to be a part of his music as much as I wanted everyone else to hear it so I convinced him to let me record a bunch of his songs and put out a split 7" with me. Here are 2 from each of us recorded in my mom's attic on 4 track back in 2005.

All of these are now available for $5 each, postage paid. See instructions to the right on how to order. You can also download the tracks here:

Algernon Cadwallader Demo
J. Fox/Matt = Tank
Peter the Pianoeater/The Pat Fortenbaugh One

Finally, we will be playing one of our only shows this summer (yea, it's hot so it's fucking summer) tomorrow with Snowing, Boyfriends, and For Serious This Time. It's going to be a scorcher!

Get Tazza'd!

Our buddy Nick, original drummer of Algernon Cadwallader and current member of Ape Up, has been posting his own personal discography on Tumblr. The recordings range from officially released albums to demos, fun recordings, and practice tapes. There are some interesting projects you probably never heard of and some that never even saw the light of day. Some good, some bad, all worth stretching your ear hole at and getting a glimpse inside the mind of the man himself. Go ahead... get Tazza'd.

tazzography.tumblr.com

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!