16.07.09......Nothing is Fucked Here

Where, oh where to begin. I am sitting here in an apartment in Echo Park in sweltering Los Angeles, waiting to head over to the Knitting Factory for tonight's show with Skeletonwitch and Saviours. It's kind of an important day. Tomorrow something will finally be anounced that has been in the works for quite some time.
Re-cap time? Sure. Why not.

Flew into Boston. Drove twelve straight hours to Pittsburgh to pick up Scuba, followed by five more hours to end up in Indianapolis. Spent fourth of July setting off fireworks. I, unfortunately, didn't get to blow anything major up.
The first two shows on the way back to Seattle were not mindblowingly amazing. They were, however, shows. I can't complain. We then found ourselves in Denver at the Blast-o-mat, a fantastically run DIY space. I was able to see my friend Morgan and chat for a little bit. The show itself turned out to be great. After two lackluster responses, it felt very redeeming to play a place we hadn't been to and have a reaction that we got from the onset.

And then came the drive.
Denver to Seattle.
Theoretically, it is only a nineteen hour drive. No big deal for a band that somehow finds itself with more than a handful of 20-35 hour drives tucked in our distorted belts.
Theoretically.
What we didn't account for, is to have a coolant pipe burst at 7 a.m. in the middle of Wyoming.
Hello, setback! My, how I've missed you.
In the grand scheme, it could have been WAY worse, but considering we had no money and had just driven cross country in this behemoth gas guzzler, it was not exactly what we wanted to happen. To make it worse, we WERE headed straight back to Seattle. You know....home. You know.....wife and dog and close friends.
All in all....we only got delayed about ten hours. This was after fixing the initial problem and then focusing our concern on a transmission light that turned on.
We made it to Seattle, though, early in the day. I spent some time with my wonderful wife who, even after being gone only seven days, is a sight for sore eyes. I wrestled with my basket case of a dog.
We met up with Skeletonwitch and Saviours that night to initiate our two week excursion down and around the absolute hottest areas the country has to offer in the dead of summer.
First three shows of this tour:
Seattle - awesome. drank too much. very fun night.
Portland - very fucking awesome. got to hang with the Toxic Holocaust dudes. drank too much. the show sounded amazing.
Berkely - gilman. awesome. The show was great. I did, however, drink too much way to early and wandered away from the venue before we played.

After that, shit got heavy again. The van broke down for a second time in a week. After a day and a half, it was fixed, forcing us to only miss one show. We now live in constant fear of our Big Ben, our green machine that has taken our asses around the country so many times.

The rest of the shows have been a good time. We've met some very good people and things seem to be looking up. Plus, throw into the equation being able to watch Saviours every night is awesome. Skeletonwitch? Probably the tightest playing band I have ever seen. Everyone's having a good time.
This is our first tour with a major roadie / tour manager, and it is incredible how much it helps out. The dude does so much work and he's so down for the cause, I feel lucky we were able to have him give up on real life and become a road ready motherfucker.

I guess that's it for now. We've got another ten or so shows before we go our seperate ways.
So, to wrap up.....Trap Them will be able to anounce news very soon.
One off show in Seattle on August 5th with SUNNO))), The Accused and Black Breath. It's part of a Southern Lord showcase. Hmmmm......

Full U.S. tour starting in October and going into November. Details soon. We are very happy with it.

Europe? UK? We're working on it.

Oh, and Australia.....prepare to be invaded. And, yes, to keep with tradition.....details soon.

If you live in an area that feels like a heatbox, chances are we'll be near you in the next week. Come out and rage. Scars align.

01.07.09.....filth rations

I leave tomorrow for another tour. I will fly from Seattle to Boston to play four shows across the country and then start the actual tour back here in Seattle. Yeah. Trap Them will be out for the following two weeks with Skeletonwitch and Saviours. West coast and then heading towards Texas. In July. The only question in my head is not IF I will get heatstroke, but when.

I've been home for three weeks and have basically torn apart Seattle.....and it kind of felt pretty fucking awesome.

I don't know if this statement will make sense to anyone, but I'm at a point where personal safety is not a concern, especially when I am on tour playing shows. My wife hates hearing me say things like this, and I can't blame her. I tried remaining somewhat calm for a very long time, but the dam finally burst. Fuck it. I was supposed to be dead by thirty....at least, that's what I figured would happen while I was in my twenties. I had a very vivid dream a few weeks ago that the blonde bombshell I sleep next to had passed away and left me to be on my own, and it was one of the worst nightmares I'll ever have. I made her promise that I get to die before her. She looked at me with such sad, loving eyes, knowing I was being very serious. This is what it's like living an imbalanced lifestyle. You cause hurt and fear without even trying. Trouble finds you.

Where am I going with this?

So, I guess where I'm going with this is to say that I'll see you all soon and I'm sorry if bad things happen to you while we're playing as a result of my increasing disregard. Just show up and let's open our wounds together. When you mix blood and sweat, it actually smells very nice.

And, if any of you ever meet my wife, tell her she's a saint in a sinner's body for wanting to spend the rest of her life with me. It still boggles my mind that two sick people can find each other.

Let's fucking rage.