Got to Raleigh around 9:30pm on Saturday. It was a really long drive too, something like 8 hours. We listened to soooo much music too. It was crampy, but kinda fun. We knew we were in the South when we passed by a church sign that said: THE TEMPERATURE IN HELL DOESN’T CHANGE. Then a billboard with a faucet pouring out wine that said "Got faith?".

Shortly thereafter, we passed by a place called "Magic Touch: All Girl Staff".

I usually sleep with the TV on, but it was hard getting to sleep last night as AMC was running a Godfather marathon (Godfather II was on). I must’ve fallen asleep at some point, but the thing is, when I woke up this morning the movie was playing again from the same point I started watching it. It was like AMC just refused to accept I passed out shortly after Vito popped one in that dude during the parade in Little Italy. I can take that hint, so long as I don’t have to be subjected to Godfather III.

Spent most of the day today (yesterday?) either playing with the dogs, driving around Raleigh, or hanging about the house with Jen’s folks watching TV. Wedding Singer was on at some point (I forget how awesome that movie is), and later on Jen and I spent a good two hours watching season 6 of King of the Hill.

The show tonight at the Pour House was interesting. It wasn’t until four songs in that we were told the vocals weren’t going through the PA. It’s all good, though. We plowed right through the set after that. Hey, shit happens sometimes, right? There’s a whole area upstairs with a bar and pool tables that still has a clear view of the stage. Everyone who came was real nice, and Jen’s parents got a real kick out of seeing us play again... I think the last time was maybe three years ago(?).

The four of us and Jen’s folks hit up IHOP after the show. We spotted our first mullet of the tour there. I’m not one to make sport of poking fun at the South, so I’ll offer that there were three songs playing at IHOP that I knew way too much about ("The Circle of Life", Elton John, Lion King soundtrack / "Valotte", Julian Lennon, Valotte / "Silly Love Songs", Wings, Wings at the Speed of Sound).

None of this diminished the tastiness of my burger.

Still nursing that cold, but I’m getting better. Been drinking lots of tea. Coughing up a storm right now, but thankfully we’ve been making it through the shows.

Columbia, SC tomorrow night.

So far so good (knock on wood).

Cheers,
Henry

Labels: tourdiary

I’m pretty wrecked right now, but that’s only because I’ve still got this damn cold. Last night’s show went really well. The Shapes were awesome last night too, very tight. I think we may have accidentally taken their keyboard stand, though (and they have taken ours). Nyuck nyuck nyuck.

They were playing Spinal Tap at Crash Mansion on all the flat screens. That pretty much made my night. The sound was muted so me and the boys from Radio America were basically filling in the quotes half the time. Awesome.

Talked to a British girl named Becky, which is notable for two reasons: 1) it made me realize that I slip in and out of British accents without reason, and 2) I’m apparently the first American to tell her that I strongly prefer the original BBC version of The Office as opposed to the US version. In her mind, it more than made up for me choosing Oasis over Blur.

I mean, come on... "Woo-hoo".

Stayed over at Annie’s last night as well. I had to sleep on the floor. Me no likey floor.

Ross and Roy slept on a sofa. I hate them.

Off to Raleigh in a bit. Long drive, but we’ve got the night off (already! haha..).

Cheers,
Henry

Labels: tourdiary

I’m anxious as hell. Still sitting at home, waiting to take off. I haven’t even packed, but that’s mostly because I’m really, really lazy. I don’t know where my clothes are going to fit anyway. It only hit me last night that I’m going to be away from Boston for the next two weeks.

Our iPod FM transmitter is busted, too. Most of the ones I’ve seen really suck, but this one was really fantastic. We’re crashing at Jen’s parents’ place in Raleigh tomorrow, so hopefully we can spend some time trying to salvage it. And if we can’t, well... looks like it’s the Foo Fighters on repeat, at least while Ross is driving.

Since I’ve got the day off from work today, I’m half-watching daytime TV. Maury’s on (is there any other way to watch Maury Povich?). Anyone care to take a guess what the topic du jour is? I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t "Oversexed Teens" or "Infidelity Lie Decetor". Seriously, though, wasn’t this guy a proper reporter in his past life? Or his wife, at least?

Anyhoo, I’ll let you all go. I need to see if the husband is the baby’s daddy or not (potentially, it’s eight other men). I shit you not.

Our internet access will in all likelyhood be limited, but we’ll try to post here as much as possible while we’re away. We’ll see you tonight in New York (or elsewhere later on). Be well.

Cheers,
Henry

Labels: tourdiary

Yes, it was a rather cheap title for a blog. Ham it up while you can.

Indeed we hit the road tomorrow and I am anxious to leave. Weather looks all right. Mostly warm down south and something about flooding in Memphis? Be good to us road gods.

I don’t know how possible this will be, but I’m going to try and post on here during the tour. I will be keep entries in my diary while on tour and I’d like to post those on here, so you can tune in to what we’re up to. Even if I can’t get them up till we get back I’ll get them here.

If you’re a New Yorker, we’ll be in the city tomorrow, Friday March 28 with those lovely folks, The Shapes. This show is FREE if you rsvp now to rsvp@newyorkunderbelly.com. We will be on stage earlier than the 9:30pm announced set time, so get there at 9PM SHARP! During our set there’ll be an open bar.

Then it’s off to Raleigh, Columbia, Gainesville, Murfreesboro, Memphis... and so on.

Cheers,

Jen

Labels: tourdiary

One cannot express enough thanks for Thursday night... but I’m going to try anyway. The album release show at Great Scott was one of the funnest (if not the funnest) times I’ve ever had at one of our shows. For the public record, but mostly for my own frame of reference, if I’m ever asked what my favorite show so far has been, it was this one.

We’re extremely happy and proud we were able to get things off to such a great start in our own home of Allston, and particularly at Great Scott. There’s something special being amongst your clan. I even saw friends of mine that I hadn’t seen in years. It got to a point where it wasn’t even about us anymore and it turned into one giant party. Thank you all for being a part of it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Partied till 4:30am or so... a bad idea on a school night considering I had to drag my ass to work shortly thereafter— but it was worth it. What’s a little sleep debt between friends?

Further (and probably incomplete) thanx:
- Wendy, for a gorgeous violin part both at the show and on the record.
- The Shapes and Radio America for trekking out to Boston, helping out with the last number of the night, and for being our friends.
- Annie for... well, pretty much everything up to this point.
- Beca for being the ever-vigilant merch volunteer lady. Bonus points for the assist during the guitar cable untangling. That could’ve been a disaster!
- Ale for the second string merch assist.
- Hugh for being fucking METAL.
- Joni, Mr. Photog, and Mick for le photos... can’t wait to see ’em!
- Carl, Brenda, Tim, Tim (the soundguy) and everyone at Great Scott. You guys are awesome, not just for accommodating us and always making us feel welcome, but for supporting live music the way you guys do. I cannot thank you enough for this.
- All the fine writers that were kind enough to plug this show.
- Nate and Mike for not heckling us this time.
- Additionally, I’d like to thank Ross’ friends for putting their shirts back on (though I can appreciate the enthusiasm).

Alright, kids. I’m off to sleep for the next 30 hours. Be well.

Cheers,
Henry

It appears that this is it.

Months of songwriting, rehearsing, recording, mixing, re-mixing, mastering, discussions over album art, dealing with CD misprints, more rehearsing, and debt management come to a head tomorrow (well, technically today I suppose).

I don’t know what the hell I’m doing up this late, either. I’m anxious, truth be told (and slightly insomniac).

I feel like I can finally breathe easier. If making Leave Your Light On was like pushing a cart with square wheels up a hill, getting Fan The Fury made can draw parallels to the Apollo 13 mission. In the end, the moments that were supposed to be fun were exceptionally fun, particularly working on these songs. Last summer was absolutely fantastic, and— short of being a kid again and not having to go to work— I’d rank it as one of the best summers of my life.

All in all, I’m pretty goddamn proud with what we’ve got on our hands.

I’d like to do something we probably should do more often and thank Annie, our manager who has the patience of a saint. She’d have to to be busting her ass this hard for us and putting up with our bullshit. A lot of things wouldn’t have happened without her help and (+5,000 points here) her organizational skills. This record is one of many other things that became possible in no small part to her efforts. Annie, you’re the best, and my daily exhortations to the Flying Spaghetti Monster include a wish that you actually start making money off of us soon.

Thanks as well to another unsung hero, Señor Hugh Wyman. He was technically on the sidelines for this album, but he was an enormous help in a lot of ways from the very early stages of the album— before we were even thinking of an album. He recorded and mixed demos for nearly half the songs on the record and a bunch of other shit we didn’t get around to using; he was a voice of reason when it came to listening back to mixes and dissecting a lot of technical aspects; lastly, he has many a time been the provider of BBQ and gallons of vodka. My only regret is that he will leave one kudos for this post, and I’ll feel like that waitress with the bad attitude who acts surprised she got a nickel for a tip.

There are lots of other people deserving of thanks, of course, but I could go on forever and I do need to get some sleep. Gotta be up in a couple of hours, which is unfortunate. Right now, I want nothing more than to sleep in late, then stroll down to Bagel Rising for a bagel and some coffee. But I’ve got work, and I’m fucking broke.

Can’t win ’em all.

We’ll see you all tomorrow, and if we don’t see you then we’ll see you out on the open road.

Cheers,
Henry

A little note to say we will be on Dave Duncan’s New England Product tonight on WFNX. Mr. Dave will be interviewing us and playing tracks from Fan The Fury in anticipation of it’s release and pre-release show at Great Scott on Thursday, March, 20th. In addition, we’ll be giving away copies of Fan The Fury on air.

If you’re in the Boston/Southern New Hampshire area you can tune into 101.7FM/92.1FM. Not in the area? Fear not. You can listen online at www.fnxradio.com which is what I do anyway.

Cheers,

Jen

My mom just called me up and said in her own mom way that she saw our tour dates and it made her dizzy. I had to laugh. We've just added Philly to that list. Check out all the dates and if you have friends in that area (or indeed you are yourself there) please spread the word. You are so great ly appreciated here at Aloud HQ.

Still trying to fill some more dates. We're at a mad dash for 3-29 in the DC/VA/MD area. Also working on 4-5 in either St. Louis, MO or Springfield, IL as well as 4-7 in either Cleveland, OH or Columbus, OH. Got any ideas? Send them my way.

Oh and I was interviewed for my job's newsletter today. Crazy, huh? Ah, the perks of being in a rock n roll band. Nice and fun.

Cheers,

Jen

On a side note, saw the Clash docu London Calling last night. Not bad. Also, watching them play live always gives me fever.

It's an interesting time to be a musician, eh? Ross texted me a link last night to this site called Sell-A-Band whilst I stumbled on an article about Jill Sobule (you know, "I Kissed A Girl") financing for her next record with the same basic premise. I won't get into the nitty gritty... you can do some readin' here and here. It's a pretty interesting concept, anyway. I'm enjoying that the music industry is looking more and more like the fucking Outback in Mad Max right now. Sweet, sweet chaos.

What do you guys think of all this crazy investing business?

(Disclaimer: This is not me soliciting for investments. However, large donations, CD purchases, thongs, and political favors will be accepted at this time).

If you read the last blog (you did read it, right?), Jen may have mentioned we have three new songs up. Well, she was wrong. We now have four songs up. The latest addition: Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire.

If you think it's a long title, you're lucky we didn't call it WHEN THE PAWN hits the conflicts he thinks like a king What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight And he'll win the whole thing before he enters the ring There's no body to batter when your mind is your might So when you go solo, you hold your own hand And remember that depth is the greatest of heights And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land And if you fall it won't matter, cuz you know that you're right like I wanted to (it was taken... go figure).

So go listen, dudes. And if you're fretting about the stuff from Leave Your Light On getting taken down, that's how the game is played, kids. Out with the old. Accept change. Extend the extreme. Max the envelope; and so on. The Akron Convention for Rock Bands clearly states that the latest record you made is automatically the best thing you've ever done, unless (Paragraph 4, Clause C) you're Phil Collins— in which case the latest record you made is automatically the worst thing you've ever done.

Hmm... that's funny.. Paragraph 48 states that I'm supposed to get a pig every month, as well as "two comely lasses of virtue true". I should really pay attention to these things.

Anyhoo...

...is this or is this not the funniest goddamn thing ever?
Cheers,
Henry

Currently listening :
Red Tree Music
By Stereo Soul Future
Release date: 10 January, 2003

Some of you have already noticed the new songs on the player. Thanks for leaving your warm comments on our page. :)

For those of you just tuning in we've added three songs from our upcoming record, Fan The Fury. Those tunes are The Last Time, When The Ants Attack The Queen, and Fan The Fury. Check 'em out. Tell us what you think. (Unless you don't like them. Mama always said if you got nothing nice to say don't say anything at all..ha!).

But yes, check them out. The CD is out on March 25, but if you're in Boston you can actually pick up a copy the week before at our CD Release Party happening at Great Scott on March 20 where we will be joined by two of NYC's finest The Shapes and Radio America.

Perhaps you've noticed the tour dates as well? Yes, we'll be kicking off the Fan The Fury Tour in NYC on March 28 at Crash Mansion with The Shapes and Buck Brothers (UK). The cities follow: Raleigh, NC; Columbia, SC; Gainesville, FL; Memphis, TN; Chicago, IL. If you can help us in D.C., Nashville, Atlanta, Philly, or Cleveland please go on and shoot me a message. All is in process though, so we'll be adding dates up till we leave.

It feels kind of awesome and scary knowing the record will be out so soon. We've been rehearsing for all these shows and we're VERY excited to bring this to you. We can't wait to hang out and play music for you. We can't wait to hear what you think of record. It's going to be a lot of fun. And why would you go through all the not fun stuff if in the end it wasn't lots of fun? Let's have some fun. Remember that? That's what we have at shows, or when you put on that disc. It's going to be good to be back. Smile big when we see each other. I will.

Cheers,

Jen