(Clockwise from top left - Danny on stage, friends Megan and robbie, Jasen making a face, Colin backstage, and booking agent Christy)
As many of you know, and as some of you may have seen, we played Bumbershoot last weekend! Bumbershoot is an odd thing for us; we’re used to small all ages clubs or dirty bars where the “treatment” we’re used to is a bottle or water or two, and maybe a sandwich every now and then. At Bumbershoot, people come out and take your equipment and haul it for you. You get badges that get you in secret places. You get energy drinks. You get fresh towels. We’re just not used to these sorts of things.
As a result of feeling a bit out of our element, Jasen and our booking agent, Christy, made a little back stage faux pas. After our set, we watched our friends, the Hands play. While watching from backstage, Jasen and Christy found a cooler of beer. Of course, they took a couple out for themselves. Someone on staff noticed and said - “Hey, you guys should pour those in cups. Also, those are Thee Emergency’s beers.” Oops. I’m sure Thee Emergency didn’t mind.
The EMP stage where we played is pretty crazy - aside from being in a rock museum, and seeing the Monorail cut through the building, the stage is in front of a huge wall that plays an enormous light show. Seriously. A light show. Wanna know the funny part? - This was not our first light show. That story is for another day, however.
I won’t bore you with the details of the show itself, but suffice it to say that we had fun, and the crowd had fun. Oh - did I mention that we filled EMP to capacity, they had to stop letting people in, and the fire marshal had to come in and herd the crowd for safety reasons? I didn’t? Well - we filled EMP to capacity, they had to stop letting people in, and the fire marshal had to come in and herd the crowd for safety reasons!
Jasen’s parents, our favorite mascots, were there of course, as were my mother and sister. I even have proof they were there!
Afterward, we signed signed autographs at the nearby FYE tent. Jasen demanded that people sign his hand as we signed autographs.
Anyway - thanks to everyone who came. We had an awesome time. We hope to see you all soon.
A couple of weeks ago, Colin called me, distraught, with bad news - our van had been stolen. It’s been with us for a long time, and over many many miles.
It was Colin’s van, and he was really upset it being taken. However, last Wednesday night, Colin got a call from the police saying that the van had been found!
We picked it up Thursday morning in a tow lot in Everett (almost $300 to get it out!). The ignition cylinder had been torn out, the window had been bent out (thankfully not broken), and everything that wasn’t bolted down was taken. Colin’s iPod, his prescription sunglasses, my iPod radio transmitter, and all of the papers and registration for the van were gone. However, after a jump to the battery, the van started and ran like a champ. It’s in the shop now to fix the minor damage and make sure there was no other damage, but we’re just glad to have it back.
The only odd bit of evidence the thieves left behind was a handful of coffee beans on the floor. A friend of mine whose family is “connected”, if you know what I mean, said they probably used the van to smuggle drugs hidden in bags of coffee, and then dumped it at an apartment complex in Lynnwood, where it was found.
So it’s official - the van had a more exciting two weeks than any of us did.
Thanks to everyone who expressed support when we lost the van.
Hey everyone! Sorry about the gap between posts. We’ve been really really busy. Let me get you caught up.
Jasen has been busy trying to get in shape. He’s been running, eating better, etc. But don’t worry - he’ll still eat a veggie burger with fries and a shake.
Colin has set up a little studio in his room and has been spending a lot of time with that. If you see him, ask him about the latest Troybus song, in which he refers to himself by name, and informs everyone that he is “melting” their “face[s]” with rippin’ guitar solos.
I have been slammed at work. I can’t tell you EXACTLY what I’m working on, but if you’re curious, you can go check the website for the company I work at, Monolith Productions. I’m a nerd.
We were ALL very busy seeing Dark Knight two or three times each. That movie is so, so, SO good. How awesome is the disappearing pencil?
Most recently, Jasen and I went and saw a band that I consider a big influence - the Zombies. They had hits in the 60s and 70s with She’s Not There, Tell Her No, and Time of the Season. Due to an untimely breakup and being a bit ahead of their time, they never got super big, but they are amazingly talented. I forgot my camera, so all I got was a crappy camera phone shot-
Anyway - we’ll try to be better about updating our blog. Later!
So I got an unexpected week off from work last week. My wife, Jessie, has been wanting wanting to go on a trip for a long time, so we decided to take advantage of the time off to do just that. She wanted to go to LA. So we did! We stayed in Santa Monica and had a blast. We had a great time hanging out with the girls of All Mighty.
Of course, Jessie being the Cakespy, I had to eat a LOT of cupcakes.
When I got back, I had little time to recover, since it was time for CHRISTRAVIGANZA!
Our favorite 107.7 The End DJ, Chris Travis, had a big birthday party on Thursday night. He decided to have a show for his birthday. He booked the Sunset in Ballard for the event, and had To the Waves, You May Die in the Desert, the Hungry Pines, and us out to play!
Here we are with the birthday boy-
Chris asked us to cover Bed For the Scraping, so we did. How could we say no to Fugazi? Chris jumped on stage and sang with us! It was spectacular.
All three of us got an amazing opportunity last Saturday; we got to go Weezer’s Hootenany at the Vera Project!
We got there and met up with our friends Chris and Megan, and practiced in the courtyard outside of the Vera Project.
We also hung out with Phil from Tennis Pro and Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground.
While we hung out and waited, there were people going around with cameras, and other people trying to get us grouped by instrument type so that we could get in and get started.
Honestly, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. I thought it was going to be like an acoustic show with us in the crowd, playing along when we wanted. I thought wrong. Once we were filed in, we were sat in sections, like in an orchestra. There were winds, percussion, brass, strings, etc. The large group of guitarists got to sit on the floor with their guitars. Colin and Jasen were in the guitar group. I brought my violin, so I had to sit further back with the string section.
After we were seated, we were informed that this was indeed not a show, and that this was a recording session, and that we should be ready to do our best. Rivers, Brian and Scott eventually came in, and took their positions around the room.
It was weird at first, but everyone quickly got comfortable playing in that setting.
We played Pork and Beans, Island in the Sun, a cover of Radiohead’s Creep, Say it Ain’t So and Beverly Hills.
One of the coolest parts for me was getting tapped to play the guitar solos on my violin on Say it Ain’t So and Beverly Hills! I also got to play some lead parts on Creep! Rivers and Brian both helped teach me the parts of the solos I didn’t know. It was pretty mind blowing getting to play music next to them.
After we had the songs done, the guys did a Q&A. Someone asked Rivers “Why did you write ‘The Greatest Man that Ever Lived’”? Someone else yelled out “Because he is!”
Afterward, we took a group picture, and we got to take home our autographed programs.
The three of us stuck around after like huge nerds, hoping one of the band members would walk by. We caught up with Brian and gave him a couple of copies of Call It Off (how could we resist?).
We’re still reeling a bit from the sheer awesomeness of the whole thing. There will be more pictures, and hopefully some videos and recordings one of these days. We’ll post those as they become available.
Colin and I are from the far off land of Mukilteo. There’s not a lot to do there… you can go hang out at the ferry docks, you can go to the Rosehill Community Center, you can go to the gray rocky beach, or you can play guitars with your friends in their bedrooms and garages. Of course, Colin and I chose the latter. This last Sunday, we went back to Mukilteo to visit our families for Father’s Day. While there, Colin and I got to ride around in a BMW. Of course, we immediately became assholes. Mo’ money, mo’ problems…
But of course, all good things must come to an end-
Yesterday, we played for the Seattle Works Day after party. It’s basically a big event where people volunteer and help clean up the city. We were asked to play, which was awesome. The crazy thing was that, before we played, Governor Gregoire spoke, and then Mayor Nickels. So basically, the Mayor and the Governor opened for us. How cool is that?
So what is the obvious thing any band is going to do when playing in front of a big crowd? That’s right- pictures from the stage!
What you can’t see in this second picture is the taco bar for which everyone was waiting in line. Sometimes it’s hard to decide between tacos and Speaker Speaker. Sometimes you don’t have to choose…
You get energy drinks. You get fresh towels. We’re just not used to these sorts of things.
