hey all - we're approaching the end of the year and i just wanted to thank everyone for coming to shows and hanging out. I realize i did less this year booking-wise than in past years but in my defense i also played like 45 shows this year. thats like a show a week the entire year - in addition to the six shows i booked this year that i didn't play. I also attended 31 additional shows.
the best show i booked this year was for the band jousting from portland at headquarters. not nearly enough people attended for whatever reason but the summer garage backyard hangout vibes were great and the bands were all fucking phenomenal.
the best show i played this year with hidden driver was in san jose california. it was in a dim sum restaurant and my friends in the band yipee were there and my friend chris was there. it ruled
the best show i played this year with foxglove was at left bank books in seattle. very full circle but i've already written about it on here.
I spent so much of my year at shows, all in all i spent close to 80 days this year at shows (and i'm probably forgetting some), with so many additional days recording and practicing. every time i think this shit is starting to wear on me i play a show that just reaffirms everything i love about doing this with my life. i have met so many amazing and beautiful and interesting and kind people playing underground music I genuinely cannot imagine getting this same level of connection out of any other interest. it's the little conversations with people you meet once and maybe never see ever again - they stick with you. it's about the off putting performance artist you meet in nyc, the blackout drunk old women who wander into the gig off the street, the weird garage rock guys who won't make eye contact with you, your freshman year roommate who you havent seen in four years coming to the gig in an entirely different state. these people are all main characters in their own lives and it is such a blessing to know them, however briefly.
as artists (especially people who make indie/emo shit) we spend a lot of time navel gazing and diy touring is a great way to get the fuck out of that mindset while still singing songs that posit that it is important that other people know yr bummed out.
i did spend more of this year pretty sad than maybe any other year but perhaps thats recency bias and actually being able to talk about it with people without feeling intense shame. nothing particularly awful happened to me this year either its really just a general malaise/feeling of loneliness that's been getting to me. not really sure what to do about that but it was a pretty defining feature of this year for me unfortunately.
I went on four little tours this year, three weekenders and one full west coast. I am so fucking happy to have done this and hoping for more next year if I can swing it. hidden driver remains the best feeling band i have ever been in and i hope we can keep it together for years to come. foxglove is such a blast to be in even if those weird guys drive me nuts, and it was an honor ripping two gigs with special moves band. i am sad josh moved to rva but such is the way of indie rockers.
this year i started reading again in earnest. here's what i read
- the disposessed - ursula k le guin
- slaughterhouse five (re-read) - vonnegut
- breakfast of champions - vonnegut
- east of eden - steinbeck
- lord of light - zelazny
- nightwood - djuna barnes
- v - thomas pynchon
- a bunch of the stories in "homeland" by barbarba kingsolver
my new years resolutions are thus:
- stop watching tv shows entirely (includes anime)
- read fifteen-plus books
- write a couple songs that mean something to someone else
- become more emotionally available and better equipped to deal with conflict
things i hope happen this year but aren't up to me
- i win a significant amount of money on scratchers
- i fall in love and it works out however it's meant to
- i finally connect with house music
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