June 17, 2010
Yesterday I drove our van from Ottawa to Quebec City and as we left behind Ontario, the region that had been the very best in Lowtalker history, we entered Quebec. All I had to say was "Hello again, France 2. Nice to see you again… Psyche! It's not nice to see you. At all." I've got nothing major against French Canada. It's pretty cool that Quebec City is like going through a portal created by Gwildor's cosmic key from Masters of the Universe and throws you directly into Europe. Montreal is awesome too. It's one of the most unique and fun places I've ever been but I can't help but feel a some bitterness from my last trip there. Here's what happened: Comeback Kid parked our van and trailer in the parking lot of a hotel after a show and went in to sleep. The next morning, we came out and the conversation went something like this:
"Guys, where's the van?"
"Umm, I think it's over here."
"No, we parked it over there."
"I thought it was on this side."
"Has anyone seen my phone charger?
"Wait, is the van even here?"
"I really, really need that charger, guys."
"I don't see the van or trailer anywhere."
I've heard awful stories about smashed windows, money being taken, backpacks full of personal stuff getting swiped, and instruments of the utmost importance being stolen but this was different. Someone got in the van and drove away with everything that wasn't on our backs. I guess things like this are bound to happen to anyone that travels a lot and that's just the way it goes but man, it still sucks. I can't help but think of that empty parking lot space everytime Montreal gets brought up.
Here's the thing about life though, when you expect to have the most terrible time ever, you end up having the most awesome, ice cold pool party with new friends that have no reason to be overly generous but just do anyways. Example #1: Last night in Quebec City, we had no place to stay. We could have slept in the van but Tony would have kept all of us up all night complaining so that was an obvious no. We also could have gotten a cheap motel but none of us speak the Canadian dialect of French. We couldn't possibly run the risk of embarrassing ourselves in front of the motel lady and besides we probably would have accidentally booked every available room costing us any spare money we'd saved at this point.
Our only option, it seemed was to make a sign at the merch table asking for someone to let 5 strangers come into their home and sleep under their roof. In the slim chance that someone will actually offer their place to a band that no one has even heard of, you start to go through all the possibilities in your head. Beggars can't be choosers but who really wants to lay down in a nest of cat hair and piss while the gracious host is domesticating their extreme party endurance. We made the sign and put ourselves out there but all I'm saying is it's okay to hope that you get lucky. And that we did.
I was sitting there and a glowing angel hovered over to me and everything went quiet. He pointed to the sign and sang "you need a somewhere to go tonight?" I said "yeah" and he took all of us in his gentle arms and we flew away to his castle in the clouds. Well it wasn't exactly like that but it seemed like it at the time. He and his girlfriend waited for us after the show was over and let us follow them to their home in the suburbs. They shared their beer, let us swim in their kick ass pool and we all had a great time hanging out. The point of all this is people are tight. He had no idea we weren't a bunch of idiots that were going to trash his place, eat all his food, and swipe any valuables we could without saying "thank you" in the morning. But he took a chance anyway and helped us out more than we deserved. I guess I'm just amazed by how some people can really surprise you and make you feel like you should be willing to take more chances. A little positivity goes a long way. So thanks to our new friends Max and Jo.
On that note I'll leave you with another review of our record by Alternative Press. Enjoy!
I was sitting there and a glowing angel hovered over to me and everything went quiet. He pointed to the sign and sang "you need a somewhere to go tonight?" I said "yeah" and he took all of us in his gentle arms and we flew away to his castle in the clouds. Well it wasn't exactly like that but it seemed like it at the time. He and his girlfriend waited for us after the show was over and let us follow them to their home in the suburbs. They shared their beer, let us swim in their kick ass pool and we all had a great time hanging out. The point of all this is people are tight. He had no idea we weren't a bunch of idiots that were going to trash his place, eat all his food, and swipe any valuables we could without saying "thank you" in the morning. But he took a chance anyway and helped us out more than we deserved. I guess I'm just amazed by how some people can really surprise you and make you feel like you should be willing to take more chances. A little positivity goes a long way. So thanks to our new friends Max and Jo.
On that note I'll leave you with another review of our record by Alternative Press. Enjoy!
June 15, 2010
The show tonight in Ottawa was what all shows should be like: fun for all involved. If you were there and didn't have fun like we did, I'm sorry but it looked like you were having a great time. We were lucky enough to play to what felt like a full room even though we were first and the fact that the dudes up front knew the words to the songs made it just delightful. Last night in Toronto was pretty much exactly the same and a lot of our friends were hanging out all day. Ontario is officially the sweet spot of this bands miniscule career. Thanks Canada. Thanks for Tim Hortons too.
This morning we stopped at a McDonalds so Tony (our merch guy who doesn't do merch) could take a dump. Why he didn't do this when we stopped 20 minutes earlier, I don't know. He got what he deserved though. A confused gradmpa kept trying to pull the stall door open with all his might despite Tony clearly telling him he was in there. It was funny. People need to learn how to use public bathrooms. I can excuse this old guy because he's old but people with young brains should be able to figure out in 2 seconds if someone is trying to take care of business in peace or not. Don't yank on the door. Also, don't look through the crack of the door to see if someones in there, just look for feet under. It's simple. Rules to live by I guess.
Back to music. Hardtimes wrote a very nice thing about us. Please check it out. They're better at writting than I am.
(click here for the Hard Times piece)
June 8, 2010
Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Lowtalker blog and thanks for checking it out. We're still making our way across Canada with Bane, Strike Anywhere and Touché Amoré. There's no shortage of "kindness" amongst these bands and the people riding along with them. Like I mentioned in the last update, we're extremely grateful to be a part of this based on the bands we get to play with alone. The fact that everyone is so nice makes it all the better.
Being this is our first tour, we're all falling into our roles and pieces that make up the touring machine. Allow me to introduce you to each member of the band and what they do offstage to keep this all rolling:
Stu Ross - The only Canadian born member of Lowtalker and the eldest. He holds 1/3 of "Wisdom Dad" title and does a hell of a lot musically and visually for the band. He's done the artwork for our EP (People Worry About Everything available on FC Records) as well as all of our merch designs. On top of art and taking care of other necessary grunt work, Stu fronts the band as a singer, guitar player, song writer and even plays the rippin' solos that I can't handle.
Matt Keil - Another 1/3 of the "Wisdom Dad" duties are carried out by Matt. This is the day to day stuff you never think about when you watch a band. How did they get on the show? Where are they going to sleep tonight? Who is going to book shows home when the tour ends? What do I do if there's in-climate weather? Wisdom Dad decides and carries out all this. He is able to do business math with his gigantic brain. Matt also plays bass and sings. All of the lyrics are written by him and Stu as well.
Branden Morgan - Both Branden and Matt grew up in Wisconsin which explains why they wake up holding hands every morning. I dare you to find a drummer who is better prepared, better practiced and has better abs than B-Ball Morgan. The final 1/3 Wisdom Dad decisions and responsibilities are given to him and executed with ultimate discipline and prowess.
Casey Hjelmberg - I contribute a guitar riff here and there and write blogs sometimes but most of the time I just try to stay out of way. If for any reason I had to take the reigns temporarily, this whole thing would explode like The Death Star after Luke fired the impossible shot from his X-Wing. To my credit I did come up with the bands name, Lowtalker which is indeed taken from Seinfeld.
Well that's a little summary of the four of us. Thanks to Kent who rode with us in America and to Tony for being our dude right now. I wish I had stories to tell of wild times and crazy people but this trip has been pretty smooth so far. Next blog will be the origins of Lowtalker including alternative names and what seemed to be the endless quest for a singer.
Peace
Casey
Being this is our first tour, we're all falling into our roles and pieces that make up the touring machine. Allow me to introduce you to each member of the band and what they do offstage to keep this all rolling:
Stu Ross - The only Canadian born member of Lowtalker and the eldest. He holds 1/3 of "Wisdom Dad" title and does a hell of a lot musically and visually for the band. He's done the artwork for our EP (People Worry About Everything available on FC Records) as well as all of our merch designs. On top of art and taking care of other necessary grunt work, Stu fronts the band as a singer, guitar player, song writer and even plays the rippin' solos that I can't handle.
Matt Keil - Another 1/3 of the "Wisdom Dad" duties are carried out by Matt. This is the day to day stuff you never think about when you watch a band. How did they get on the show? Where are they going to sleep tonight? Who is going to book shows home when the tour ends? What do I do if there's in-climate weather? Wisdom Dad decides and carries out all this. He is able to do business math with his gigantic brain. Matt also plays bass and sings. All of the lyrics are written by him and Stu as well.
Branden Morgan - Both Branden and Matt grew up in Wisconsin which explains why they wake up holding hands every morning. I dare you to find a drummer who is better prepared, better practiced and has better abs than B-Ball Morgan. The final 1/3 Wisdom Dad decisions and responsibilities are given to him and executed with ultimate discipline and prowess.
Casey Hjelmberg - I contribute a guitar riff here and there and write blogs sometimes but most of the time I just try to stay out of way. If for any reason I had to take the reigns temporarily, this whole thing would explode like The Death Star after Luke fired the impossible shot from his X-Wing. To my credit I did come up with the bands name, Lowtalker which is indeed taken from Seinfeld.
Well that's a little summary of the four of us. Thanks to Kent who rode with us in America and to Tony for being our dude right now. I wish I had stories to tell of wild times and crazy people but this trip has been pretty smooth so far. Next blog will be the origins of Lowtalker including alternative names and what seemed to be the endless quest for a singer.
Peace
Casey
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