26.08.09.....None more connection

Above is a picture of me from a year and a half ago. I had a box of 38 vegan donuts. It was a magical couple of hours.

I broke my phone.

Well, not really. Wait....yes, I did. But, it was the result of my tazmanian devil of a rat terrier, who thoroughly enjoys running between my legs when I walk around the house. One quick dash from his skinny getaway sticks caused him to dart underneath me, which , in turn, caused me to trip, drop my phone and consequently step on it.

Because of this, I am now part of the iphone generation. I am partially disgusted with myself for submitting so easily. The other part of me is proud to know I was willing to join modern technology and accept it. The iphone is.....pretty fun, to be honest.

I have found it very, very entertaining. I got drunk and got a twitter account ( I will not tell you what my name is on there....my mother occasionally reads this, and, mom...you don't need to know how much shit I talk when I'm drunk. I'm doing this for your benefit...)

I have eliminated any way to contact me on the internets besides my email address. I have no online connection anymore, and I find it exhilaratingly liberating.

That's enough about the iphone.

I went outside and sat on my front steps this morning, breathing in deeply. Fall is almost here. That magical time where nature rubs my belly and I wag my leg uncontrollably like a dog. That beautiful scent of leaves dying, of crisp, cool air filling my lungs. The only thing better than knowing fall is coming, is knowing that I'll be on tour during my favorite season. Not just any tour, mind you.....a tour that will be FUN. A tour where everyone in the van is fucking awesome. Oh, by the way....we fired another drummer. He sucked. Bad. He will be talked about forever....that's how epically bad he sucked.

Anyways, back to the tour. I can't say who our new drummer is. All I can say is that he is one of the best dudes I've ever met, and he's an absolutely amazing drummer. I hope this works out. Shit, after six drummers in the last two and a half years, I'd almost sacrifice a couple fingers to make sure of it.

The tour is stacked. The Black Dahlia Murder, Skeletonwitch and Toxic Holocaust. Basically, it's a big party. It's a bunch of great guys all on tour together. I seriously want to do nothing but go insane for the month long trek. Toxic tea for everyone.

I fly back east in two weeks to do the vocals for our new EP, which should be out before the end of the year. The plans have changed. Three new songs, one remake of an old song, and one cover that will be very kvlt and unexpected. I'd never heard the song before Brian sent it to me.....mostly because I'm not a metal dude. I can say, however, it's a punk as fuck cover and it will be really, really fun.

Lyric writing for the next full length is in full swing. I kind of feel like I dug my own grave by making Seizures... so extensive. The next LP will follow the formula.....three sets of lyrics, etc. It is going to be thematically, very heavy and very, very dark. I don't really feel there's any other option. When you create a fictional ghost town, you can't really make anything very positive. I have about six songs done so far, which, when I look at the length of each piece, could easily be a double LP for most bands. The major trick with the next record is to actually convince people I'm not trying to be as pretentious as it may seem. Let's face it.....these are punk songs put through the metal grinder. I'm better than no one. What it burns down to, is that it's one hundred percent necessary to make each effort this band does absolutely devestating. You're not going to leave in impact rehashing everything that's been done a billion time before. You create art. You make it dangerous. You take risks, knowing full well that most of the collective public will not embrace it the way you do. Fuck it. Make enemies.

I just finished Neil Gaiman's "American Gods". Thank you Ryan, from VA Beach. I know it took me forever to find the time, but I'm glad I did. That novel is great. I've gone off about Roberto Bolano's "2666" many times on here....I almost feel as if Gaiman's novel could be considered a distant cousin. Epic, haunting, and beautiful.....all wrapped up into one little package.

That's it. Signing off. I need to go blow something up.

15.08.09......

I feel as though I should update this. Maybe tell you a little more of what I've done since I got home? Nah. Boring.
I did a few good things.
On my wife and I's anniversary, Trap Them played a show with SUNNO))) down the street from our house. The show went very well....for anyone who was there, you know that we made our mark....I especially left many marks all over the stage.
The next morning, I took Smashley Jean Coffins McKenney away to a beach house in western Washington. It was, hands down, the best three days our relationship has ever had. I've never seen someone become so enthralled in their surroundings, but from the moment we were within the scent of the ocean, it was as if the lady was unable to frown.
It was very refreshing.

I'm now home until October, rolling burritos and saving money to afford to go back out on tour.

This seriously has to be the dumbest update ever.

current playlist includes:
masakari
torch runner
vaccine - demo
burning love - demo
coliseum - true quiet / last wave 7"
royal monsters 7"
the sounds - crossing the rubicon
GDP - realistic expectations
saviours - into abaddon LP
Run With the Hunted

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.

14.06.09.....and rage you did

I never put show pictures up or anything, but this is the exception. I don't know if anyone reads this that was there, but for all of you that came to the scion show with Municipal Waste last wednesday.....thank you. I can honestly say I've never had such an insane show. Sold out crowd of 600. Chaos from the moment feedback was brought. Blood. Endless stage dives. BALCONY dives. Trap Them doesn't usually garner that type of reaction. That night, Hollywood made four angry young men very very happy.

I'll have a tour recap sometime soon, but this show deserved it's own post.

west coasters.....come rage

21.05.09.....a futile attempt at recapping

So, I'm hermited away up in Salem, NH at a cheap little hotel, where I've been for the last two days. We leave tomorrow morning for Baltimore, en route to the one and only Maryland Deathfest. This weekend will begin a tour with our Swedish brothers in Victims and Seattle's finest...also known as Black Breath. I'm incredibly excited about this tour for too many reasons to list. Plain and simple? It's going to be fucking fun....two bands I really enjoy watching and listening to, and to have the opportunity to watch them every night for a few weeks is exactly my cup of tea.

Where do I begin to document the last six weeks of touring? I sat here and thought about it and have no definitive answer. Most important is that I made some great new friends....the type I rarely make, which means I actually can't wait to see them again, can't wait to have more conversations and do a bunch of dumb shit. Things were blown up, laughter was in high gear and I survived my first successful blackout.
My battle wounds from this tour are rather large. My legs look likeI stuck them in meat grinders, my torso full of odd colored bruises and small lacerations. About halfway through the tour, my contempt for playing in front of barriers caused me to leave the stage by any means necessary as much as possible, including a stint in Montreal where I climbed into the balcony before realizing the mic cord had no more give.
After most of the shows there were a few diehards that would come to the merch table where I was usually stationed and would apologize for the small attendance. I had to explain to them that there's nothing to worry about. When you're the first band on a five band package, odds are people aren't going to show up at 7pm, which was around the time we played every night on this. It meant nothing to me. We were on tour with incredible bands and just playing every night was enough. I don't go into these tours expecting legions of people to attend early. It's just not the way it works. Instead, I made sure the ones that were there, the few that were familiar with us, were given every ounce of rage and intensity we had within us, and I think that was accomplished. Sure, small clubs are ideal...basements, halls, etc., but when it comes down to it, you have 20-30 minutes a night to do what you do. Be it a kitchen, a warehouse or a football field, I just don't give a fuck. I love doing this and as long as there are any witnesses, at the end of the set, there should be no confusion as to how serious we take our art.
I got to see many familiar faces during this stint, the ones that saw us play to five people. They'd ask me whether I could believe I was on tour with Napalm Death or not. Honestly, it still blows me away. I watched them almost every night without fail. I would spend the hours before the shows talking with Barney about everything random. There is a reason some bands become icons at their respective genres, and ND proved that to me night after night. Have you heard the new record? No? Go buy it. Now. No bias needed, it is absolutely fantastic. Some of the best songs they have ever done are on it....I'd go as far as to say it's my favorite album they've done, especially after hearing so many of the new songs played live.
And.....Toxic Holocaust and Coliseum. Fuck yes. I'm going to have a hard time putting into words how much fun I had with these guys on this tour. I was able to appreciate them as people, for who they are as opposed to just the music they write. It was just......fucking fun, you know? I looked forward to showing up to the venue every day, seeing Joel stagger out of the Toxic van, playing air guitar and headbanging. I looked forward to Chris from Coliseum riding his bike around, hopped up on caffiene, cackling like a maniac. I had great talks with Ryan about why we do this shit we do.
Yeah.....the drives killed me a bit. There were some tough ones on this tour, which caused many a brain cell in all of us to get a little fried from time to time. But, every drive had a purpose, and that purpose was to get to another stage where we could take our 20 to 30 minutes and fucking go down in a blaze of glory.

I guess that's it......I'm no good at daily journal stuff. I can't break down what was done every moment of the tour.

Many other things happened during this time that I really wish I could blab about right now, but, sadly, I can't quite yet. Trap Them will have TONS of news very soon. Tours, recordings, lives, etc. All go, no fucking slow.

I can say that we are doing one of Scion's free metal shows on June 10th. It will be in Los Angeles at the Knitting Factory with Municipal Waste. So fucking awesome. We are flying out from the middle of the Victims tour for this show. Come rage. Hard.

After the Victims tour is complete, I will fly home for three whole weeks (!). I then fly back to Boston where we will do six days across the country before arriving in Seattle on July 9th, where we start tour with Skeletonwitch and Saviours. This tour is heavy on the west coast and midwest...we also get to go back to Austin, which makes us very happy. Dear Texas, we're sorry it took us almost two years to come back and visit you before the Napalm tour. We'll make sure to drop in more often...it seems as if you like us....you really, really like us.

After that tour, there's a little time off. The fall season looks very.....interesting. There is this tour that we're crossing our fingers for. IF it happens, you will hear me scream bloody distortion from the hills. I don't want to get my hopes up.

We will be recording in August. Again.....information on this on hush hush right now. I can tell you it will be an EP with three new songs and three covers. And I can tell you that it will be heavy as catholic guilt. Everything else will find it's way to the information booths very, very soon.

In life news: my wife still loves me even though I'm never home, which is amazing. When I saw her in Portland, I brought her roses. She brought me donuts.....we understand each other.
My dog probably thinks I'm a deadbeat dad, which sucks. That's okay....when I get home, I'm going to spoil the shit out of him.

Also, the Corridor album, "Redux Doze" is out now on Manimal Vinyl records. Do NOT sleep on this record.

Current listening loves:

Gallows "Grey Britain"
Stax 50th anniversary box set
The Temptations "Definitive collection"
Kylesa "Static Tensions"
Hail of Bullets
Duffy "Rockferry"
all The Who we have in the van
Ceremony - all
I don't know....lots of heavy shit, fast shit, creepy shit....there's been a lot of driving hours


and, some of you may shake your head in shame for me, but I don't care.....does anyone watch Grey's Anatomy? Did ANY of you see that twist ending for the season finale coming? I, for one, did not and it kind of blew me away. I don't know why I love a show that depresses me so much, but I do. Call me a masochist.

Done.