DON'T SHOOT DON'T SHOW

 no gigs to announce here just updating my blog to talk about screamo. 

the other night 6/20 i played one of the best sets of my life at left bank books with foxglove but i'll talk about that in a sec. 

on 6/8 i got to do guest vocals with miscomings at the 2nd night of portraits of past at black lodge. power strip also played and it was so nuts that those two bands were chosen for that night. shit rocked. it's insane to me that portraits in 20-30 years older than most of the kids in bands right now and put on a better and more energetic show than most. truly like a set full of love. one of those bands that reunited this year that i don't think is a cash grab unlike many. lots of love on that stage. was actually so special to get to see them live. 

I joined my friend josh's band special moves on bass recently which I am pretty excited about - think like westerbergy pop punk through a pollard 4 track filter with some twee bedroom shit going on. very fun. i had been into special moves before I even knew josh so it is an honor to play all these songs with him and cecelia. we are playing a few shows with neutral shirt in august if all goes well.

my tomatoes are doing pretty well. not overwatering this year. already seeing some flowers and fruit but obv its pretty early so i'm not getting my hopes up. 

my cat is worm free. 

foxglove has a cool tacoma gig 8/10 that's not announced yet. I'm supposed to make a flyer and should do so soon. 

anyway

foxglove got to play left bank books in seattle on friday with ...anditsnamewasepyon (LA/BOS), rosemarynodsuponthegrave (savannah) and the names of our friends (pdx). it was so so sick. absolutely beautiful cool night in seattle, grey. was crazy playing in pike place and seeing all these tourists and passersby look in and watch the gig bewildered. what was more crazy was the fact that sofia from AINWE was in the first screamo band i ever saw (she dreamt;she was the sea) and here we both were doing the same shit NINE years later. here is that flyer from the old show. it was also my first time playing in boston (in nick owen's band). 

also present at the gig was alex from infant island, the first screamo band i ever booked back in 2018 w/ soul glo. insane. i also played that gig, filling in on bass for razorwire bouquet. hellena (senza, tnoof, tolls, southtowne lanes) was also obv there and she was in the first screamo band i ever saw on the west coast (senza). also my friend erik was there who was the bassist in my very first ill-fated screamo band. meant a lot. just a very full circle and meaningful night for me, even if it was on the eve of the united states dropping bombs on iran. 

here's the footage of our set:

see u on the next one brothers and sisters.

AIN'T IT FUN WHEN YR TAKIN CARE OF NUMBER ONE

 Hey all! 

Took a couple month break from booking because this summer is about to be fucking insane for me gig-wise. really trying to cut back on booking shows I think in general. I'm playing ten shows this summer in june/july in  tacoma/seattle +  recording the hidden driver LP + going on an 11 day tour in august/september. I do this to myself but to be honest its going to be a LOT. 

have been feeling p bad and generally melancholic recently but at the end of the day can't really complain considering my position in the imperial core. idk man. shit is very very bad worldwide right now - like israel is about to blow up greta thunberg for daring to deliver food to starving people. and people from liberal parties across europe and america cheer this on. pigs are rounding up people all over the country. my belief that most people are good has really gone through the fucking ringer these past few months to the point that I'm not really even sure if I believe that at all anymore. so it goes? but it shouldn't?

listening to a lot of music from cleveland ohio these days thanks to Aaron Lange's excellent book "ain't it fun" which is a graphic esoteric and musical history of cleveland centered around peter laughner from Rocket From the Tombs and Pere Ubu. highly recommend - it's edgy in a p classic white guy alt comics way but I grew up reading my dad's issues of RAW and Amy and Jordan so I'm not really phased by it. Some Ohio standouts: Damnation (of adam blessing), Tin Huey, Pere Ubu, and John Bassette, to name a few.

Re-read Slaughterhouse Five and started Breakfast of Champions in an attempt to get myself reading more - I finished Ursula K Le Guin's The Dispossessed late last month and thought it was excellent if a slow start. 

Was trying to start dating again but I don't know any single people really and the apps make me horribly depressed so putting a pause on that. one of these days love will find me (cue daniel johnston) although truthfully i am starting to doubt the likelihood of this happening in tacoma washington. it's okay.

any way - that's not why yr here. Collective Groan is throwing these shows this summer:

7/12: a porchfest miracle with starbird and dunce on my front lawn in tacoma. 

7/24: star 99 (san jose) / supercrush / sons of ferdinand / hidden driver @ manifesto coffee

7/31 jousting (pdx) / bobby soxxer / ket cat / 14g @ headquarters

8/7: Grolixes (pdx) / Wendell @ new frontier lounge, more tba