Thursday, March 22, 2012

DAY 6-15 sxswendies to los angeles

DAY 6- HOUSTON TX superhappyfunland – a giant painted warehouse filled with clothes and murals, and raggity anne doll installations, and homemade chilli & poopy longstuffing and brian, and loracks of magic marker & always all bands no outside people, great stage loud sound system, and trains running out back in the middle of nowhere Houston. We never make money, but always have fun. Well, we made money one time.

DAY 7,8,9,10- SXSWENDIEEEESSSS
Sxsw is easy to explain, but one cannot really know what sxsw is like, unless one is actually there. Throngs of hipsters, the most densely concentrated epicenter of neon tank tops, flowy sheer skirts & shirts, stripes, black combat boots, 80’s exercise jackets, tattoos, more tattoos, tattoos, and more tattoos. And some more tattoos. Half buzzed heads, long bleached locks, paper wristbands crawling up tanned arms, badges hanging in clumps around low v-necked collarbone exposed chests, tall socks, 70s shades, pierced noses, lips, eyebrows, tongues, mint green nail polish, ciggarettes, more ciggerettes, backpacks in plaids, and tapestry, and grandma laura Ashley, fannypacks in blacks, browns, bright orange & green, and a low din of several hundred bands playing at all times all on top of each other all around the city, ebbing in flowing in intensity & loudness as you walk or drive by this place or that. We played 2 shows a day (a very moderate amount compared to last years 9 or maybe it was 11 shows? In 2 days) We left Houston after we played and got to austin at like 6am. We parked our bus at SXSWENDIES a diy guerilla generator run show spot, hosted by our friends tyler & Charlie from Murfreesboro TN of owl head collective (http://www.owlheadcollective.com/), blastoids, dark sister, meth dad all christopher’s homies! They had their bus (the rad bus). Neil Fridd & Greg Ferris of Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt (http://theterrorpigeondancerevolt.com/) & Cats in the Basement had their bus (the lisa tank) and we had ours (cloud 9) at least for the first night. SXSWENDIES (http://www.owlheadcollective.com/2012/sxswendys-2012/) was on the corner of brushy & 6th, or maybe it was 5th, cant remember..right on the edge of mayhem. 6th st is where everything is, the streets are closed off and shows rage up and down at every establishment and corner. People (hipsters) fill every square inch of the pavement, black & grey. All the shows we played went well for the most part, the overwhelming common thread was the sound guys/systems sucked ass, but whatever, we did the best we could.
We wore face paint, we screamed, we danced, we go-pro’d like anything and everything (fans, tents, drumsticks, water bowls, drums, cymbol stands, ) again see all this action on our youtube channel ((http://www.youtube.com/ears4eyes)) We stayed up till 4am and partyed hard, it was amazing & exhausting. I got to see marshall, one of my top 5 favorite people, and his band played darkdarkdark at a place called the frontier bar. We walked a mile to get there and dance our bootys off to awesome djs in the yard. I told nona that “hear me” was one of my top all time favorite songs, and that I listened to it really loud in my apartment full blast on repeat all the time & everyone in my apartment building probably knew the song REALLY well by now.
Here is another song by them, because i cant find the "hear me" on the webs

Before we left Austin we got to swing by gaybygaygay which is the queer sxsw, where lam was interviewing people, (christeene)
for his queer thesis for school. It was like way the fuck out there in the boonies outside Austin in a giant bonnoroo festival style field, we had to follow little wooden signs nailed to telephone poles to find the place. We met Vermin from philly in the parking lot, who everyone in my band knew, but I had no idea who he was. (http://www.verminsupreme.com/) I guess he’s an internet sensation and ran for president and promised everyone ponies or something. We took lots of pictures of him next to the bus with all of us, they are super awesome fish eye lens viewpoint. His “campaign manger offered us a 2nd show in philly & a place to crash, super exciting! After we scooped lam up (one of his roller skate shows had broken in the grassy fileds of gbgg, nooo!) we drove to our last show in a recording studio run by lucy the poodle productions. We met an awesome girl named Lauren in a band called les rav and got in trouble for climbing up on the walls (theater). David gets dropped off at airport & we head to fort worth.

DAY 11- FORT WORTH TX wherehouse w/ sam’s band & rusty maples from las vegas
We play music until wee hours of morning, we make new friends from vegas, we play a “7 deadly sin set” 7 songs matched by theater with each of the 7 deadlies.


DAY 12- ROSWELL NM – shot abduction scene in desert at night, we camped out at the bottomless lakes, saw tumble weeds, winding desert roads, sand dunes, canyon cliffs, watering holes…pictures to come *kris & kelly leave us to go home (http://instagr.am/p/IZoL-uDrE0/)

DAY 13- TUSCON AZ – dry river w/ netherfriends & terror pigeon!!!!)We rocked faces off with our best band buddies Sean from Netherfriends & Neil from Terror Pigeon. AND ZACH BURBA WAS THERE! Yes! We were playing at a diy anarchist collective place that was soon to be shutting down (sad!) but had been running for 6 years!! (cool!) I got pins from neil that say “cool butt” and “party time” and one that said “butt power with a triangle. We slept at a drummers compound house place that looked like a squatter house kind of (also a diy show space) and I met with my friends bill in the morning, er rather afternoon. It was on “the # 10” and it couldn’t have been more perfect timing! I came back to my band mates relaxed and nicer.
(NETHERFRIENDS)


*(written yesterday on bus)*
Driving down highway sunset, the mountains silhouettes on the skyline, endless, mountains. Trains running with mustard, rusty red, black brown & grey cars, racing against us & the wind, The wind, oh the wind! So strong and constant, buffeting its paws against the thin blue walls of our cloud bus. We decided its name was cloud 9 :) Phyllis the psychic said 9 was a good # anyways and there are exactly 9 of us on the bus now, we count down every time we leave to go somewhere, im 8. Right now I am sitting at the bus table, Orion across from me, braids & a yellow flower in his hair, rainbow shiny confetti spirit gummed all over his face, and is currently spirit gumming/confetting Stephs face. She’s making little kid noises of protest and scuinching her noise up a lot- confetti is totally everywhere. She lost her camera in a graveyard today, and spilled Christopher's almonds everywhere on bus. The way I see it, pickin your battles is the steady theme of this tour, we got a long time to go before we get off this bus and I would like to remain friends with everyone., so spilt almonds- no biggee. Bill has his headphones on and his laptop out, most likely editing film like a madman, Earlier today he put cactus all over his face. He was sunburnt, and it was a real deal aloe cactus! It looked like he was spreading an alien claw all over his cheeks
Jared’s hair is down, long and dark, very beautiful. We visited his mom & aunt in Tuscon today. His Mom works for delta & gets to fly free and stuff, and she came out to our show last night along with a flock of jared’s relatives! She made us burritos, when we walked into the house there were two bags full of burritos, one said back pockets, and one said cartel. (Jared’s brother is is cartel, they were playin Tuscon the same night as us!) Jared’s mom is a super band momma :)

Tonight we play in Phoenix, at a house owned by the oldest gay canadian rapper. His name is Donald.

DAY 14- PHOENIX AZ – funny world home of oldest gay Canadian rapper alien, & Jason, of hug of war- super sweet band where he plays beats from a boom box & raps sweet songs about being yourself & aliens & his gay dad. Ryan Avery also played, a very akward and funny dude..but I think he was making fun of everyone..like to our faces while we watched him.


AAAAAAAAAAAND
DAY 15- onwards to cali
Today we drive to L.A., where we will party, go to beach, shop, hang out, relax for 4 days!!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

DAY 5 - BEAUMONT TX




lam on roller skates
yes.

everyone sang funk & motown until the wee hours of the morning
we all ate family dinner
i was on internet for hours booking happily

seattle chicago fairfield iowa


ah yes, life is good

VIDEOS GALORE - SEE WHAT WE ARE UP TO!!!















SO MANY VIDEOS EVERYDAY!!!! subscribe to our youtube to watch what we are doing
http://www.youtube.com/user/ears4eyes
http://www.youtube.com/user/ears4eyes
http://www.youtube.com/user/ears4eyes
http://www.youtube.com/user/ears4eyes
http://www.youtube.com/user/ears4eyes
http://www.youtube.com/user/ears4eyes
http://www.youtube.com/user/ears4eyes

DAY 4- MURCHISON TX Kickin it in the pines

“Everything I need today shall be provided-everything”
Sitting on a stump covered in pine needles in a deep pine forest full of symmetrical rows of trees. The air smells of sweet pine, the ground is soft like a mattress, thick with needles. Sounds of distant machines can be heard humming lazily through the air. The wind is like a gentle tunnel above the trees, whirling with softness above my head, the sound waves making their way from the edges of my small pink ear, through my head and out the other, my mind a conch shell, holding the breath of the forest like an ocean. Voices in conversation, birds of all kinds with the wings of bugs all layering & weaving through the trees, punctuated only by an occasional muffled hammer. The sun is hitting my knees, my shoulders, my face as I sit and read my meditation books, straight kickin it in the pines.

We filmed pieces of our movie in the woods today. Everyone wearing colorful face paint & tutus on their heads & hips, Ryan had a shield & a sword. The boys were shirtless, the girls barefoot. We ran throught the pines, some people on other people’s shoulders, we hugged eachother, we made silly noises, and we filmed it all. It was magical. We were staying on the property of Joey, who used to run diy shows outta Grapevine Tx at a place pause play. Joey Kendel & his wife Kendal (yes) are the most amazing awesome people. She has a vintage website (http://www.yeahvintage.com.) and he makes music in a barn all day :)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

MISSISSIPPI MURAL





DAY 3 -STARKVILLE MS

We pull into a hotel motel parking lot, the bar exists here..somewhere. Christopher drove the whole way today, he gets out of car & collapses like a noodle on the sidewalk. I park the bus (im really good at parking things) and we all venture inside to find our free pizza & sniff out our new surroundings. The bar is large & old and totally a dive, packed full of Mississippi spring breakers, all drinking or already smashed excited about being at bar & being on spring break. Lam is scared to go inside and to the bathroom because he’s gay and apparently in some parts of this lovely country of ours, he is not appreciated for his uber awesomeness, and gets roughed up in men’s room sometimes. We told him to bring a knife in, and that we would all beat the crap out of anyone who dared lay a grubby hand on his beautiful exterior. I was in period blues land for the beginning of the evening as we struggled with the feedback screaming out from the pa, no one was around to help really, but we eventually figured it all out. Lily & the Tigers play another magical set, Casey, again even more beautiful than the last time. The bar told us we had to play from 12-1am and no stops especially in that time, as it was their busiest time. So we started at about 11:30 and by midnight had basically completed all our songs. We improved for an hour after thant, members of lily tigers came up & we jazz noised out the room. Haley & I were wearing beautiful sparkly glitter dresses, I had flowers in my hair & face paint under my eyes. I was in a very dark & gloomy place during our whole set but snapped out of it by the middle of the noise jazz jam. I held a mic up to Peter’s sax while playing with my delay pedal. Adam brought out his upright bass, and casey. Lam, Christopher, & alternated vocals. Lam was wearing a leotard with tights, his roller skate sneakers, and his awesome electronic cigarette (which he charges on the bus form the inverter my dad put on bus! Yea dad! At the end of the noise jam, I played a couple solo songs - sorrows, cannibal erotica, my demise. Someone asked for covers, and I responded, “I don’t do covers, im sure if you ask the 80% of other musicians who do, they will be happy to acquiesce. One guy told me I was the female kurt cobain which made me feel super cool. We made lots of money and shared with Lily Tigers and all was awesome! Bill TOTALLY ABSOLUTELY made a viral video of a guy named lee Jeffries (I think) spinning around with his hoola hoop (he attached a go-pro to it, and its TOTALLY UNREAL AND AMAZING AND I KNOW YOU WILL AGREE WITH ME WHEN YOU SEEEEEEE IT!!!) again to view go to our tour tube: www.youtube.com/ears4eyes.
We drove the bus full of both bands, everyone singing & playing instruments, to the sleep spot, a recording studio down the street. We unfurled ourselves into the low ceiling rooms and continued jamming until early morning, with our new friends Miles & James. Christopher, Orion, Haley, & I drew a beautiful chalk drawing mural spanning an entire wall. Pictures to come, internet spotty, on bus now..at table with orion & bill - laptop city up in here!! Tonight- we rest at Joey kendel’s place in Murchison TX. I hear there’s a treehouse…

Saturday, March 10, 2012

DAY 2 -NASHVILLE TN

Lam is playing a plastic recorder (so badly) in the bus as Christopher drives for his first time (not so badly) Haley & I are both sitting at table (built by dad, of course yay daaad!!!) typing away at our laptops, bloggeristas for sure.
We just finished our first Kroger band shopping for groceries together experience. I had to consult the pharmecist about a nasty cold sore which has been setting up a homeland colony on my mouth (GROSS!) more later….
OK! We played an awesome short set in a record store called Grimey’s , to a small crowd of folk. Mr. Mike Grimey himself loved us, and wants us back! My amp broke during the set and we didn’t pass drumsticks at end of set out due to respect for the retail environment we were in. I chugged a can of chicken noodle soup (per doctors orders!) before we played as well as coconut water.

OK so we finished the show at Grimey’s and then headed to Christopher’s friends house (the noa noa house!!) where tommy & trey live. Tommy’s in a band called squarepeople. They played a set as well as trey. Trey had a bunch of pedals & a guitar & crazy moog. His music was very honest & sweet & dazey. Like meditative noise jam layers. Square people’s music was fast & complicated & noisey & jazzy. The lead singer alternated sing-talk & raspy screaming. It was awesome. Lily & the Tigers played a beautiful set bathed in red lights. I swear Casey’s voice gets more beautiful every time I hear her sing.

Next morning, we backed the bus out of Tommy’s yard and hit both mirrors in separate attempts to get the sucker out onto the road. We drove to an amp repair store & the magical man there fixed my amp & derek’s bass (which had started to break during our Chattanooga set) We met a guy named Wallie in the shop who was an “infamous writer” for the Nashville scene, and had been for many many years. He was really nice, they both were. They nicknamed me “bandma”.
The rest of band was across street in a playground having a ball & playing with bills cameras. You can view this footage on our tour tube http://www.youtube.com/ears4eyes

Sorry my writing is kindo of boring and reportive like. I haven’t written in a while, it feels really rusty. And im writing from inside a shaky bus full of people.
Right now I am dj in the front, playing kettle, cat power, jimi Hendrix, the knife… Christopher is driving again (he LOVES driving- go figure!). We are on the way to Mississippi to playa show in Starkville at a place called Dave’s Dark Horse, where I hear they will feed us for free if we get there in time :)!! Yea! Orion is discussing theater options, projector, shadow play, mad scientist. someone keeps farting and it smells like dog farts. really really long consistent flow of dog farts.

Love you mom! Love you dad! Miss you robin! Hi parker :)

DAY 1 CHATTANOOGA TN

We have a bus, it runs, its big its blue its covered in small fluffy white clouds. My dad built bunkbeds inside, 2 double lovebirds on one side, and 3 single lady kickin it on other side. I named the single bunks accordingly: the summer camp catacomb, the harry potter lair, and the crows nest. Haley (back vox) is in the Harry Potter middle bunk and has already sewn a totally cute butterfly plushy toy and pinned it to her inside curtain. It has music notes for wings. Jared & Derek (drums & bass) are sharing the bottom bunk (the summer camp catacomb) I painted it a happy yellow color on the inside, but its on the bottom and slightly resembles a pine wood coffin. Lam (violin) has the crows nest, and his curtains I fashioned from an old hippie blanket with giant pockets on the sides! Its super awesome & super efficient. Christopher (guitar) & I share the top double bunk on the other side of bus, while Orion (theater king) and Steph (theater queen) share the bunk below us. Everything is painted & beautiful and looks like the inside of a really creative kindergardners head on a happy acid trip

The drive to Tennessee was short but semi exhausting. I drove the whole first leg. I was tired from a day of packing & running errands & making sure everything was in order for me & 8 other people. When it got dark & rainy I was nervous, but only had to drive about an hour in that condition. When we arrived to the collective warehouse, we were ushered in by a heavy downpour, sheets of rain rushing across road in front of us. We all wandered inside dripping and waited for the rain to slow. Sondra, the lead singer of a ramones cover band called the whormones (opened the night) also was part owner of the space, a thrift clothing warehouse & music venue. She told us we could all take 2 items for free. I procured some little house on the prairie panteloon ruffle things that look like giant bloomers and are super sweet. Lam scored some super sweet platform sneakers with roller wheels that retract on the bottom!!!! Anyways the night was awesome, the room was lit by little round bulb string lights, the floor giant wooden planks & steel plating, which moved slighty when we rocked out. Lily & the Tigers played a beautiful set, Caseys voice like velvet swimming through the room in soft swells. Her velvet was backed by Ryan Gregory’s violin, jared pepper’s twangy southern butter guitar, adam minceys heavy romantic standup bass, & Peters delicate drums. Bill swooped around with his new camera (lent by the magical conor) and thus began the epic movie.

We drove to murfreeboro TN after the show in the dark , and in the stormyness- bill drove this time (his second time ever driving the bus). We made it to Mike & mitch’s house & fell fast asleep in our bunks, the lily tigers sprawled on floor inside. J

Monday, November 15, 2010

Tuesday, September 21, 2010