from left to right, phill, byron, solomon, dario.
i've heard (of) them, and i am fortunate enough to know their music quite well. i met these guys at q4 last year, risking what many thought was the damnation of falling into the category of a groupie. then they played a b/earthday party at my loft. next i started doing moving gigs with with a solomon and phill, and as of last month i went on 'tour.' a symbiotic relationship, i might say.
thus, blah blah blog. last month, spur of the moment, i jumped ship to austin, texas. i slept very little the previous week as a result of a frantic push to represent my work in two dimensions. you know what that means, a portfolio. here's me in sixty pages archies; go ahead, make an assessment. the harder you work the luckier you get, eh? high five, dad.
so here's how i got down: by chance, i happened to be on my way down to chicago the night prior to the band's departure for sxsw. as i am sure most of my blogience is aware, this is an enormous indie festival held once a year for talented, upcoming filmmakers and musicians. it is a venue for artists worldwide to step onto a stage and perform.
as a person of minimal tact, i rarely forego any inquiry, even if i feel the question is inappropriate; coupled with my sleep deprivation, and recent sense of accomplishment in finishing the grad school application process, i invited myself to join the band on their trek down to texas.
i figured i had several reasons to not go, and if it didn't pan out, asking couldn't hurt. i texted solomon, and threw the idea out there. could i? should i? well i did, and per usual, it seemed to work out perfectly, just like packing up a four bedroom house into a sixteen foot truck on the first try.
it turned out the sound guy (who was going to occupy the last available seat in the blahburban), wasn't able to make the trip. this left a spot for guess who? i have very little patience, and i get feverishly excited when i don't need to wait to make good on good news. the following morning was st. patrick's day, and i would be driving with the band and their manager jason to sxsw! really?! ha, groupie meets roadie.
AND because they were bringing a trailer, they could accommodate a bicycle. how much better can it get? i dozed off most of the way down to texas. rest stops meant the opposite to me. though i was in a car for 17 hours, the sheer idea of where i had found myself every time i knodded on allowed me to rest very well each time i knodded back off.
by morning the next day, we had arrived in austin. per the recommendation of this one girl i know, i lobbied to the band that we should find barton springs pool. after a tex mex brunch and that much driving, it was not easy. however, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we had to some time to kill before we could check into our hotel. being in the park incited the guys in the band to have an impromptu work out. in my delirium, it was a spectacle to weave in and out of friend and a fan.
once 1 pm arrived, we checked into la quinta, the accommodations in which six of us would satisfy our respective needs for hygiene and rest. the hotel was exactly as you'd imagine. i couldn't stop thinking we were in another version of the movie bottle rocket. the trip really did play out like a wes anderson flick, with solomon, phill, byron, and dario mimicing just another one of the wilson brothers.
i was amazed at the composure with which the guys approached this festival. i would have expected perhaps some tension with anticipation looming, but the atmosphere was genuinely calm and completely comfortable. if their was ever any anxiety in any one of these guys, you would never be able to notice it.
day one we explored quite a bit, with no set schedule, bands, or venues to be at. freelancing about, the band, along with myself and jason, found ourselves in streets filled with the coolest of all cool looking people. it was astonishing to me, but i suppose to-be-expected of such a crowd. in or around a band, you look cool no matter how hard you try not to. free hugs was a big hit down there too. into the night, for blocks upon blocks, stage after stage was being turned over by one hour wonders. we saw keys and krates that evening, who are also out of chicago.
after a solid night's sleep, i was alas rejuvenated. i grabbed my bike out of the trailer and ventured out to tour the city of austin on my new chicago themed fixie, aka the commutist. the city is really bike friendly, and the ride was a bit burby for awhile, but as i reached closer to 6th, i started to tingle with the vibrance radiating from sixth street. me, my bicycle and a beauty-full day ahead of me, with a side of peculiar people and activity; if george was curious, bikeith was in heaven.
first, some plugging of blah blah blah's upcoming show; i met some award winning hipsters and saw buckets of bicycle porn. my aformentioned elation combined with the mere fact that i was in a new urban environment, riding fixed in a t-shirt with my favorite bag filled with cold modelo's cemented a permanent smile on my face.
later, i met several people who stopped to ask me about my bike, and naturally, my superego was being fanned heavily. i talked to a runaway girl from arkansas, a couple of guys from japan, and a handful of other promoters. i seasoned the modelo intake here and there with a slice of pizza to sustain me, and eventually met back up with blah blah blah. we saw another chicago band by the name of pet lions and then split ways again.
i did my best to lure a couple of the guys to see miike snow of sweden. the show was at the mohawk, and they were asking $20 to get in. neither solomon nor jason had heard of the band, which translated meant i was going solo. i got there 45 minutes after they were slotted to play, and made it just as they went on stage.
i was amazed by the small and intimate, yet outdoor and multi-tiered venue. with a uniform of white masks, miike snow opened with black and blue; then, an extended version of silvia; finishing with the single, animal. the show was ridiculous, and if you like miike snow, and haven't seen them live, then you just don't (s)know.
i wandered around the different terraces of the venue afterwards, using the last of my camera and phone battery lives. as i walked towards a hot dog stand, i saw a very tall guy who walking alone back towards mohawk. i instantly recognized who it was, and before i could hesitate, i introduced myself to andrew wyatt. i shook his hand, congratulated him on an excellent show, and asked him to give a listen to blah blah blah. as luck was having it, i had one last sampler cd to give him. who wins promoter of the day, ehmmm....me!
this is me alongside andrew wyatt, who i actually ran into AGAIN outside of the metro in chicago. i asked him if he'd listened to blah blah blah yet. he said he hadn't but would, or not.
anyhow, the moment i said farewell to andrew in austin my super cheesy grin was met by the wide and jealous eyes of a fan by the name of erin. she hoped to share her two cents of admiration with the man. "what was he like??" she asked me this question. i should quit bikes and just do public relations for rock stars, i breifly considered. we got all giddy and talked about how awesome the show was, how tweakish he seemed, and exchanged bios for a few short minutes. shortly thereafter i was back on the saddle, tearing through the warm air and wavelengths extending into the night.
day three was magnificent. this would be the day that blah blah blah would have a chance to showcase themselves in a prime time spot at the trophy room. the day began with a new life, literally. around ten am with byron woke us all up as he made calls to share the news. his third child was born earlier that same morning in chicago, three weeks early, but happy and healthy.
this really put a huge smile on everyone's face, and added a certain shimmer to the day in general. although the super weather was not so super anymore, this day was a gem. phill, the emotional masochist, spent most of the trip on the phone. he seemed to prefer talking outside the room enclosed by the same fence where the hotel dumpsters were. dario went for a bike ride, while solomon and byron moved the beds aside for a dress rehearsal in the hotel room.
although i don't want to admit it, this was one of the coolest parts of the trip. to hear them harmonizing and going over details of some of my favorite songs was something else. for lunch we went down by the university. the band hit up a local vegetarian hot spot where they saw the dude from gym class heroes, meanwhile, we went across the street for sammies and had a hearty conversation over lunch about exes in texas.
the time for blab blah blah's was growing nearer. i was almost hoping time would slow down really fast because i didn't want it to be over yet. we headed towards the trophy room and unloaded all the gear backstage.
there in the green room were leather sofas with several other acts, a handful of scantily dressed opposite sexual roadies, myself and blah blah blah. just like the movies, i tell you. there i had a long discourse here with phill about love, his relationships, and other righteous tangents.
i went outside for some fresh air with dario and jason prior to the show. dario took over for a drummer who might better be labeled a street performer. his cameo attracted three times as many people as the original guy had in a matter of minutes, which he no doubt loved.
the show was solid, but from where i was standing, the sound seemed off. i guess this is the one shortcoming of seeing a really good band one too many times. even though i don't have an ear for the finer things in music, i tend to get a little frazzled when the guitar or the mic is too low.
they did introduce the song 'they don't dance' with a sort of funk groove that was well received. even though people seemed to be jiving, ironincally, they didn't dance. i spent a lot of time just staring at the euphoria on byron's face, thinking about his newborn son back in the midwest waiting to meet his almost famous daddy. as i was afraid, it was over before i knew it.
that night i did an ihop run for the guys when we returned to the hotel. the next morning we stopped at the flagship whole foods and stocked up with healthy snacks for the ride home. the trip home always goes faster than the way there, and this was no exception. in a town called hope, we met the entire staff of a waffle house, who fit the bill of southern hospitality with the familiar jargon of "yall aren't from around here, is you?" and "oh y'all in a band? what kinda music do y'all play??"
the band left an incredibly generous tip for our server. she offered to give it back in return for a cd. i came back in before we drove off to give her a compact disc. i told her to keep the tip and i am pretty sure from the look on her face that we made her day. someday she will get a chance to see them perform i(n) hope.
back on the road and into the night, we all took turns playing dj and driving with a heavy foot on the gas to get byron back home to his girl and baby boy. we arrived back to beecher, where byron resides beside a few silos, a set of tracks, and stationary caboose to a clear blue sky.
we unloaded trailer and went our separate ways. as i got into my car to make the last leg up to milwaukee, i checked my voicemail to hear that the remainder of my powdercoated frames were ready for pick up. the shop was only ten minutes away, and it could not have been any more convenient. it was monday morning, and all i had to do was grab breakfast and kill about fifteen minutes before they opened - the timing was perfect and soon enough i was on my way up 94, with a car full of bikes, as usual.
i merrily hummed along with thom yorke to 'everything in its right place' as i patted out the beat on my steering wheel. it was tough to stay awake, but alas i was in my own bed, as quenched as i think i have ever felt on all levels.
if you made it this far, take a lesson away from this story. the lesson may seem obvious, but is not always so clear. never hesitate to express your admiration or appreciation for what you really like. don't fight the feeling...
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