Tea & Cakes

Cross Bookmark

2010-03-31T14:43:00.001+01:00

Swimming Turtle/Flying Beast

2010-03-30T20:29:00.001+01:00

Blow Up Bunny

2010-03-29T11:22:00.000+01:00

Milkshake

2010-03-28T14:54:00.000+01:00

Mushroom

2010-03-27T10:40:00.000Z

Owl

2010-03-26T14:56:00.000Z

Moving Dinosaur

2010-03-25T09:23:00.000Z

Sun Fish

2010-03-24T12:16:00.001Z

Dustpan

2010-03-23T09:23:00.000Z

Dog In A Boat

2010-03-22T16:44:00.002Z

Double-doored Garage

2010-03-21T16:43:00.000Z

Crab

2010-03-20T12:12:00.000Z

Tower Block

2010-03-19T10:42:00.000Z

Little Bunny

2010-03-18T20:45:00.000Z

Little Penguin

2010-03-17T16:37:00.000Z

Whale

2010-03-16T11:30:00.000Z

Pope's Hat

2010-03-15T15:45:00.000Z

Dart

2010-03-14T11:56:00.000Z

Flower

2010-03-13T10:34:00.000Z

Grass Stalks

2010-03-12T11:23:00.001Z

Sumo Wrestler

2010-03-11T16:42:00.000Z

Helicopter

2010-03-10T13:41:00.000Z

Chinese Hat

2010-03-09T14:40:00.000Z

Rocking Pigeon

2010-03-08T18:20:00.000Z

Toucan

2010-03-07T14:37:00.000Z

Windmill

2010-03-06T10:48:00.000Z

Star Box

2010-03-05T12:48:00.001Z

Oblique Letter Fold

2010-03-04T10:45:00.001Z

Sitting Bird

2010-03-03T21:15:00.000Z

Persimmon

2010-03-02T20:39:00.000Z

Chubby Tortoise

2010-03-01T22:38:00.000Z

Little Duck

2010-02-28T12:20:00.000Z

Samurai Hat

2010-02-27T15:36:00.002Z

Open Box

2010-02-26T20:26:00.001Z

Mouse Face

2010-02-25T20:23:00.004Z

Sitting Fox

2010-02-24T10:17:00.000Z

Minnow

2010-02-23T18:24:00.000Z

Painted Butterfly

2010-02-22T12:08:00.001Z

Heart Bookmark

2010-02-21T14:13:00.001Z

BIG Arrow

2010-02-20T15:56:00.000Z

Masu Box

2010-02-19T15:50:00.000Z

Blow Up Pyramid

2010-02-18T15:55:00.002Z

Steam Ship

2010-02-17T09:56:00.002Z

Waterbomb

2010-02-17T00:30:00.001Z

George's Boat (Should have been a $1 bill you guys)

2010-02-15T09:25:00.000Z

Heart-Shaped Note Holder

2010-02-14T19:42:00.000Z

Snake

2010-02-13T14:40:00.001Z

Heart-Shaped Bowl

2010-02-12T14:39:00.000Z

The Letter T

2010-02-11T11:40:00.002Z

Valentines V

2010-02-10T09:20:00.001Z

Jet Plane

2010-02-09T19:37:00.000Z

Heart-Shaped Photo Holder

2010-02-08T13:36:00.000Z

Cloud

2010-02-07T15:20:00.001Z

Note Wallet

2010-02-06T10:54:00.001Z

Pop-Up Heart

2010-02-05T12:51:00.004Z

Plant Starter

2010-02-04T14:28:00.001Z

Pelican

2010-02-03T16:13:00.000Z

Horse

2010-02-02T15:54:00.000Z

Fox

2010-02-01T17:34:00.000Z

Simple Star

2010-01-31T13:56:00.000Z

Diving Duck

2010-01-30T10:23:00.000Z

Tropical Fish

2010-01-29T14:23:00.000Z

Swan

2010-01-28T11:38:00.003Z

Peacock

2010-01-27T19:30:00.003Z

One Piece Of Paper, One Cut - Cool

2010-01-26T10:30:00.000Z

Sled II

2010-01-25T16:24:00.001Z

Tie

2010-01-24T13:45:00.000Z

Strawberry

2010-01-23T10:32:00.000Z

Hummingbird

2010-01-22T17:53:00.002Z

Snappy Puppet

2010-01-21T17:51:00.000Z

Puppy Finger Puppet

2010-01-20T12:23:00.002Z

Cat Finger Puppet

2010-01-20T02:08:00.000Z

Love Letter

2010-01-18T10:48:00.002Z

Sparrow

2010-01-17T20:32:00.002Z

Penguin Boat Ride

2010-01-16T12:51:00.002Z

Squirrel

2010-01-15T13:18:00.001Z

Envelope

2010-01-14T16:27:00.000Z

Bench

2010-01-13T16:28:00.000Z

Canoe

2010-01-12T16:30:00.001Z

Paper Aeroplane

2010-01-11T16:47:00.002Z

Pigeon

2010-01-10T16:46:00.001Z

Piano

2010-01-09T16:42:00.002Z

Big Penguin

2010-01-08T13:05:00.001Z

Parakeet

2010-01-07T08:16:00.003Z

Raincoat

2010-01-06T21:07:00.002Z

Dove

2010-01-05T10:37:00.002Z

Sled

2010-01-04T10:34:00.000Z

Penguin

2010-01-03T10:33:00.000Z

Dog

2010-01-02T10:32:00.000Z

Nightingale

2010-01-01T10:29:00.000Z

Fested out.

2008-11-07T02:39:00.004Z

Man, the fest was insane. In a thoroughly good way, of course. Saw a metric buttload of bands, including Paint It Black, The Holy Mountain, The Ergs (double set!), Leatherface, This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, The Copyrights etc etc etc. My biggest worry about the whole affair was that like larger festivals in Britain it would be so crowded you couldn't see as much as you would like, but for the most parts it was easy to get in anywhere. Oh, yeah and we played. Pretty chaotic but I think it came off well. Most of the people there had seen us earlier on tour so had a good few singing along. Nice feeling.

Some photos:

Alex, Sheena and myself listen to The Used Kids from the queue outside:

Our show at the Fest:
Some idiots:
We play the pre-fest show at Tampa:

Anyway, tour must go on. Today we finally got our LPs, straight from the pressing plant in Nashville. Also got our own personal tour of the process, pretty strange to see all the major label pressing happening in the same place as ours. The Guns and Roses album 'Chinese Democracy,' which has been 17 years in the making, and was at one point never going to happen, was coming off the presses as we walked round. No interest in hearing it, but could have made a tidy profit if we'd managed to snaffle some.

Lalalala.

More photo's:

2008-10-29T06:40:00.008Z

We discovered the Niagara Falls (with some help):

Some rock and roll happened:
This is Alex's housemate, Pat. Pat is awesome and cooks you food:We packed all our lovely new t-shirts:
Finally, tour started. On the first day we were on college radio. Russ only swore twice:
Lemuria's homecoming show in Buffalo was crazy:
On the drive somewhere, some dude gave us pizza:
Some were overjoyed:

Others, less so:
At some point we saw Lake Michigan:
And had a photoshoot for our new shoegaze band:
Also in Michigan, some kind soul made us breakfast. We repaid them by fucking around with table decorations and breaking a glass:
We were very sorry:
Lemuria played a packed out show in Chicago:
Gordon Gano's Army got down to business:
And Jay and I blended in effortlessly with local fashions at a random gas station:
The advantage of being an international super-star is you get to meet washed out celebrities:
And amazing dogs:
Last night we stayed in a lovely house and told stories:
And had a fire:
The end?

Photo Dump in Birmingham, Alabama

2008-10-29T06:31:00.005Z

So we've played some more shows and that's been pretty good. We've been moving further south, but for some reason getting colder, at least for now. We have ALL been sick, which I guess is inevitable when you live within a metre of five people for pretty much 24 hours a day.

Tonight's show was in a book shop (you realise how happy this makes me?) and that's where we are staying tonight. Not only am I surrounded by reading material but the owner has given me his laptop for the night. Here, then, is an incredibly abridged story of the tour so far told by photos from Rich's camera.

The first week we spent in Buffalo at Alex's house. It was pretty hectic:

We went out to the countryside and stayed with Sheena's dad. He has quad bikes:

Some people enjoyed it, while others had reservations:

Continued in following post...

St. Louis and Springfield

2008-10-25T17:29:00.002+01:00

St. Louis was the first show we've had so far that the police showed up... Turns out they really didn't want to be there so they just told us to turn it down and wandered off. By the time they came back, all the bands had been able to play at least, and even then they just hung around chatting to people for a bit. Before they left (with a Lemuria CD) they just told the people who lived there to try and chat to the neighbours next time because (and I quote) "it's a really sweet party spot you've got here."

Stayed at an amazing house and finally washed all my clothes, and myself.

Last night was Springfield, which had a bad feeling to it when we first turned up, but then was one of the best shows so far. Went for pizza afterwards at the Pizza Machine, which is a warehouse that some kid has turned into a pizza shop and welded all of this amazing furniture and toys into the structure. It also had two slides and a smoke gun.

Too many shows...

2008-10-23T18:33:00.003+01:00

To count in my current state.

Still haven't really stopped to take a breath since we got going, playing shows every night then moving on the next day. Played Fargo a few days ago, which is the furthest north and west we go on tour, now working our way south for Florida. Fargo was weird with a capital W, hard to describe why but just had a strange atmosphere. After the most lack-lustre show we've done so far, we went to the Cinema then decided to drive through the night to Lincoln. Arrived about 8 am and booked into a two person motel room. Lincoln was quite the opposite from Fargo, welcoming and friendly. Played a basement show and went back to our motel to sleep - it worked out as a nice break having somewhere to stay which wasn't someone else's house.

Last night was Kansas City, I guess you'd describe it as a basement show but they've really gone to town with the sound setup, there's a little stage (with a curtain) and a "bar" so it was a bit more than a simple basement. First time I've got properly drunk this tour, but it's hard not to when people are feeding you whisky when you play. Feeling a little delicate now to say the least. Oats are good.

5 Shows, 4 Days, Columbus, Ohio

2008-10-13T09:03:00.003+01:00

Yes, you could say that I am tired.

Buffalo show was huge - I never thought I'd see a pit for Lemuria. Ninja Gun are seriously nice guys, they have a second hand church van which apparently stops them getting hassled by the cops. Anyway, show went really well, yes. Next night it was a Community church, yes, strange but ok. Plenty of free food but mainly very rich cakes etc, I still feel awful from them a bit.

Today's two shows were basement shows, so pretty rad. Unfortunately the drive between the shows (only two hours) infuriated me for no good reason. Missed the first band to have a little walk and cool down. Really did not want to go back and play, or talk to anyone. Of course, as soon as we started to play, felt amazing. We're also sleeping at the same house tonight and the sound of the keyboard is SO loud, i best go as everyone here is trying to sleep.

Rah.

Day Two of Tour Proper

2008-10-10T17:41:00.002+01:00

Well, Russ only swore twice on the radio yesterday so I think we got off ok. Seriously though, it was pretty fun - we were interviewed all together with Lemuria which meant there was a slightly more serious element present. After that it was pretty much straight on to the show, held at a mexican restaurant, which could have been weird, but it wasn't. Healthy attendance, and people seemed pretty into it. We played as well as could be hoped for the first night of tour (ie. we messed up once, but in such a way that no one could have noticed,) and people bought stuff. They also wanted stuff signing which I still feel uncomfortable about, but it's more awkward to argue I guess. Rich did put his foot down when it came to signing t-shirts so we signed set-lists and 7 inches. Yeah, people are strange.

Buffalo show tonight should be massive as it's the Lemuria home crowd and a much larger city. After last night I am definately excited, not nervous.

tata

2.44 AM, 9/08/08 STILL in Buffalo

2008-10-09T07:40:00.002+01:00

Fairly uneventful day today, but we did record an interview for the Art Of The Underground podcast. You will be able to get it here on friday if silly people talking about silly things is what you are looking for. Tomorrow we will be playing our first show, and apparently we have a radio 'appearance' first, alongside Lemuria, which I suspect will be a similar level of maturity.

I am getting almost desperate to play now, which I am sure I will regret saying a week into tour, but for now nothing appeals more.

To bed? To bed.

Day Several

2008-10-08T09:06:00.003+01:00

4.34 AM, Buffalo, NY

Cor blimey, it's another update!

So today's gig was cancelled as the venue was shut down yesterday, but no-one is really fussed as it was never really attached to the rest of the tour. Really it feels like we're still on holiday. Since my last post we have: been out to the country and driven quad bikes round at breakneck speeds, had a haunted hay-ride, been to Canada to see the Niagara Falls, and another haunted expedition, this time a house. We've had a few practices at Alex's house, talked a lot of shit and drunk a lot of coffee. The cafe below the house has seen us at least once a day, if not more, they do breakfast for two dollars, and have a huge veggie selection. Tonight we went to see Mirrors, a horror film with Keifer Sutherland in it, that was worth the three dollars it cost to see it just because it is laugh out loud hilarious but if it was full price would have been annoying as hell.

I am slightly in love with America currently, mainly because we're having such a great time, the people are so friendly and easy going and Buffalo has so many nice areas with local shops and food places. One thing we have noticed is that they don't seem to talk nearly as much rubbish as we do, or spend nearly as much time dancing around like idiots. Their loss I suppose.

The test pressing of our LP arrived today so we should have that available within a week or so, fortunately the CD version is ready to go. They look lush, cannot wait to give them to people. We also wrapped our t-shirts in preparation, they also look pretty good, especially the limited run of six pinks ones.

Probably should go to bed.

Day One

2008-10-03T21:07:00.003+01:00

4:13pm, Buffalo NY

No-one, least of all I would have suspected I would be updating so soon (after all, look at my previous track record of updating my blog with ready access the internet at home,) but here we all are.

The journey was suspiciously easy, from flight to bus to other bus, to walking the width of Buffalo to drinking tea and watching Terminator 2, but I guess one shouldn't complain. The flight was suspiciously empty, so that I ended up having a row of three seats to myself, which I could almost lie down on comfortably. I even watched the latest Indiana Jones film, which as a veteran of EasyJet and Ryanair was shockingly luxurious. Then the buses through the night which were as uncomfortable as you would think but I slept pretty much the entire ten hours of Greyhound travel, waking occasionally to gaze vacantly around at the sleeping dead travelling with us.

Rolled into Buffalo at 6.30 am, got coffee and bagels, and decided to walk to Alex's (Lemuria, Art Of The Underground, and Tour booker extraordinaire) house, which as mentioned, is on the other side of the city. Didn't really mind as we got to see a lot of it, and it was a beautiful fresh morning.

Jealous much? Alex lives in a five bedroom house, total rent approx 850 dollars, with a large roof accessed via a window, and no attached neighbours. Passed the day happily cooking, eating, looking round a thriftstore - not just a charity shop, but a full-on warehouse of cheap stuff, and driving about. I didn't realise before quite how far away everything is from everthing else over here....

Looks like we'll be spending quite a few days here before tour, and quite a few once we start, so hopefully be updating quite a lot for now. Already I'm remembering lots more interesting stuff like the crazy man at the bus stop who told us in a James-Brown-preacher-from-Blues-Brothers style about the evils of modern capitalism and how Jive-ass-motherfuckers wanted cheap labour, but it will have to wait.