19 July 04
OK Folks just in case you forgot, it's an election year and George Bush & co. still scare the shit out of me. HERE is some food for thought...
Adam
6 July 04
Home again. Feels good here back in LA. I forget how incredibly spoiled we are with the weather here. Of course we get no real seasons and that really adds to the whole never-never-land effect. Not much has changed here. A little more graffiti here and there, and the addition of those 49cc little choppers going up and down my block carrying kids. Between those and the 4th of July fireworks that go off all week in my neighborhood, I think that my dog Uva is ready to move. She's not really into fireworks or motorcycles or children for that matter.
I am decompressing from tour. Every morning I wake up and feel like I have to get some coffee, get my ass in the van and drive 400 miles. It's going to take a while to make that feeling go away.
John
25 June 04
go see Fahrenheit 9/11 it opens today! Minds will be blown. Did I mention that I'm not into G. W Bush?
adam
13 June
We've driven through the fly over states and have made it back to the sweet west coast. Not that there's anything wrong with Columbia, Denver, SLC, Boise mind you- It's just nice to be close to home.
Thanks to Becky for sending me THIS- It's funny because it's true...
adam
6-8-04
Tonight is SLC. Looking forward to it very much. We have only played here once at Kilby Court and that was a blast. There was a punk rock basketball game going on which looked like fun...
Can't believe that our little video is seeing some airplay. Unreal kind of. I hate the voting game aspect of it, but I bet that it just drives some labels crazy that a tiny little band like us can get up next to their gigantic projects... Of course I doubt that it is really going to last that long. We don't have a spider man tie-in...
soon we will be on the west coast and of course I am looking forward to seeing so many friends...
thanks for everyone hopping on the new message board.
John
7 June 04
just a reminder....
..remember what I said about getting drafted and how much it would suck...
adam
05*28*04
Oh Canada... We had a hell of a time getting in here. Brought too many t-shirts and dealt with some customs officers that didn't seem to want to be nice to a tired and smelly band. But we are here now and are going back into the states in a day of two.
Montreal is very interesting. So strange to think that there is this tiny French speaking corner in North America. I can tell you that they don't really like to take american currency and if they do, they will certainly rip you off. Guess that is what you get for not being prepared. The show in Montreal was great. A very Punk Rock/Anarchist type of club. There was a great spread of vegan food in the back anarchist library where we all ate as much as we could stomach. I am so tired of road food that any time we can get something homemade it feels like heaven...
We have heard lots of Sarah McLaughlin and Bryan Adams on the radio here. Wonder Why....
Ottawa was a very cool place as well. We played in this small little art gallery that had a great vibe and wireless internet... that is always nice.
Tonight is Toronto and we are looking forward to it. There have been so many cool Canadian fans that have come out. We really had no idea what to expect. When you show up to a city that you have never played and then play to a full room of enthusiastic fans that know the lyrics to the songs, it tends to make you pretty happy. A great surprise.
john
26 may
J'aime Montréal. Je suis tres hung over. It sure is nice to be in a country that's not "at war".
25 may
Je suis à Montréal. Je ne pas parle Francais.
Adam
23 may (i think)
To any and all young American Jsound fans, please do yourself a favour and be sure to vote for John Kerry so that you won't get drafted and shipped over to Iraq to die for no reason. I would hate to see anything bad happen to you.
Oh and by the way, BUSH KNEW
love to love you,
adam
05*19*04
Sitting in a coffee shop in North Hampton getting my free internet on... Ah... modern miracles of science and technology. And coffee.
Earlier today we almost got towed for stealing Andrew W.K.'s parking spot for his gigantic tour bus. I am not sure how someone would tow a van and trailer though. I guess it is possible.
Blair bought a new guitar today. A beautiful les paul... We think he got a pretty good deal on it. It is hard to find good guitars for cheap anymore because of ebay.
I am ready to get into NYC again and catch up with old friends and play the knitting factory again. Last time we were there was with Death Cab and that was quite a while ago. I remember it being pretty fun though. The last show that we had in Brooklyn at North 6 was a blast and tons of people showed up. Of course at that show some wannabe little shits decided that they would try and cause problems with us after the show and we got into a big scuffle. Luckily our buddies in Hot Rod Circuit were in town and the combination of beer, bravado and brooklyn ran the little kids off. I doubt they'll show this time. Who knows? I never understand why people like to deliberately cause problems. Usually just for attention I guess.
Like always when I am on tour I am missing Maria like crazy.
05*16*04
drove through Vermont yesterday. What an incredible drive. Usually we have to stick to the interstate to get to each city with any sort of punctuality but yesterday it was all country roads and tiny new england towns. We stopped in one town for coffee (I don't remember the name) that was a little strange... We go into this small coffee shop that doubles as an outdoor store. When we open the door we are greeted by a couple of men with long hair and beards, an elderly lady and a young guy with long hair as well. The men introduce themselves and shake our hands - not something that happens at your usual coffee shop, but this coffee shop isn't starbuck's either... We ask for coffee and they point us to a coffee bar. Pedro asks for an espresso something of other and they tell him that he can have whatever he likes if he can figure out how to use the machine. We all think that is a little strange - shouldn't "baristers" know how to make an espresso? While Pedro is figuring out the machine, the elderly lady asks us why we came in. Obviously for coffee we say. And she says that they are actually closed and then leaves the store. Turns out that she works next door in the organic food store which also happens to serve coffee. She was just hanging out with these gentlemen I guess. So we are a little confused and with these cups of coffee in our hand and Pedro on the expresso machine we ask if they are closed. Open for Hospitality they say. Ok, what does that mean? We live in community and today is hospitality day - the coffee is free. Wow, that's really nice we say (and a little strange we don't say) and then we wonder what we have stumbled upon exactly. Turns out that these guys are part of some sort of religious commune and they build retail outdoor stores out of old wood from old barns and farmhouses. They also make their own tea (which we have in the van now) and I am sure other stuff as well. We only get to really stay and talk to them for about 10 minutes before we have to leave.
It is that type of thing that makes the back roads more interesting than the interstate.
Headed off to Manchester, NH today and maybe we'll pick up some free coffee....
John
05*14*03
check out this video
here is a fun little tool
Adam
05*13*04
To the girl from Canada that gave us the awesome double cd mix: Can you email us the tracklisting please? There are some great songs and we want to know who they belong to. Anyway, the cd is great and we enjoyed it today and probably will for the rest of the tour... Or at least until we play it out... See you in Rochester...
We still need more mix cd's... Long, lonely drives are no fun without good music...
To Claire from SF that we met last night in Buffalo at the Adam's Mark bar: We hope your interview went well and that you get into law school. See you in SF hopefully...
Driving through upstate NY again (seems like I was just here). Last time there was ice everywhere on the sides of the highway. Now just a wet spring. And incredibly beautiful again... Meeting up with Piebald tomorrow and looking forward to it...
John
05*10*04
Back on tour. So far I have only seen one drunk person laying in the middle of the street - but we have only played two shows... Usually we have to call 911 for someone or another in various cities that have had a little too much fun and have found themselves face down in the middle of the street. There was Bakersfield, San Diego, Tempe, and now now Denver. Maybe I should start taking photos...
Last night we hooked up with our friends in Criteria in their hometown of Omaha. That was a great show. I feel like we hit our stride pretty quickly. We'll see how tonight goes. We are in Iowa City...
So far nothing too exciting has happened this tour. Just long drives and sweaty nights. Summer is creeping in quickly. Feeling pretty disgusted about the Iraqi prisoner mistreatment but it doesn't surprise me. I hope this is the beginning of the end for our horrible president.
On a lighter note... I wish we would get some more mix cd's for the van. We have been playing the same tired music every day and I think I may go insane soon... Please help... if you read this, for God's sake and the sanity of this band, make us some mix cd's! Pretty please....
John
04*04*04
Four. Ummmm.. So yeah, I'm at home now. Not on tour... And in case you were wondering, I did have a nice relaxing breakfast late this morning. It wasn't rushed or anything like that. Baseball season starts today so that's good. yeah. OK.
Be seeing you,
adam
03*16*04
I'm Adam Wade and I enjoy a nice relaxing breakfast, when it doens't have to be rushed....It's about 11 in the morning now....It's nice to just take it easy... Thanks to all the lovely people that I had the pleasure to meet over the last month - You make it all worthwhile. I really dug playing with Engine Down and The Statistics -two fantastic groups. Cornbread from Engine Down rocks both the skins AND tha mic.... Being out on tour with good musicians can make all the difference in the world, no? I especially want to thank all the nice folks that still remember the good olde days of Shudder to Think and Jawbox - It's always nice to reminisce. FYI: there's a Shudder 'Pony Express Record' tribute DVD of sorts in the works that will hopefully see the light of day this year, AND 'Novelty" by Jawbox has been reissued and re-mastered by Dischord records (see links) and is sounding better than ever (a little less booze this time around). Here's to a Jealous Sound DVD in 2013. We're home for 3 nights and 2 days. Not long enough. Last night we kicked off with Switchfoot and Copeland. The show was a gas despite all the Zoloft being pumped into the air at the House o' Bluzzzzzzzzzz. It's going to be fun.... Sorry in advance for the exorbitant t-shirt/ticket prices but thats the breaks. It's not called show business for nothing is it? Ummmm let's see, what else? Oh yeah, George W. Bush is evil. Let's vote him OUT!!!! www.misleader.org - check it out!
Ciao for now,
adam
03_13_04
JM
(this one is a littlle behind, but we can't always get online...)
Played Austin last night - that is always a blast. I don't know why, but Austin is really an incredible place to play. Everyone at Emo's is friendly and supportive and the people that come to see the show are there to have fun. I know that everyone reacts to music differently - some people like to just stay still and soak it in and others like to make an event out of the evening. It is always more fun when the room is going wild. Maybe it is just easier to perform and to give so much energy when the room is matching your energy. Not to say that a quiet room is a bad room - it is always a trip to play a show that you thought was terrible because the room seemed unresponsive and then to have people tell you that the show was great. You never know. But you always know in towns like Austin.
We are now driving across the great expanse of western Texas from Austin to El Paso. This is one of those drives that are so long and uneventful that I end up being very sleepy and pensive. Sometimes the days off are hard - even if it is a driving day because all of the questions sink in. Like what the hell are we doing... On a day where there is a show it is easy just to focus on the routine - get up, get coffee, get breakfast, get gas, drive, load in, sound check, eat dinner, play show, load out, find place to sleep. Day in and day out there is no time to drift off to the darker side of your brain. Throwing in a day off gets you off that routine and your mind wanders and most of the time to nowhere fun.
We did get to see a rough cut of the video that we just shot. I am super excited about it and I think that it looks fantastic. We'll probably have it all finished in the next week of so and then off to the boob tube if we are lucky. Nate did a great job and we are lucky. With tiny video budgets sometimes you can really blow it and end up with something that looks terrible. I like the less is more philosophy.
Looking forward to starting the Switchfoot tour. That should be pretty great. I am pretty sure that most of the West Coast is sold out. Sold out shows are great because the anxious energy in the room is overwhelming. I remember when we played the Fillmore in SF with The Get Up Kids and how kids went nuts when we walked in stage. I don't think that half of them had ever heard of us, but they were so excited for the show to get started that the love spilled over to our set. Lookng forward to meeting the Switchfoot and Copeland guys and seeing what they are all about. It's fun to meet new bands and see how they run things. It's like we are all these little outfits that travel around perfecting our own little ways of how to pack the trailer, where to stay, how to string the guitars, where to eat, where to blow off steam. Seeing how another band operates can be an eye opener. I think I have probably learned the most from Cursive. They travel in a van and trailer like us but they carry 7 people with them and have to have a system to make things run smoothly. And their system works very well for them. Switchfoot will be a different ballgame obviously because they will be traveling in a bus, but I am sure the the Copeland kids have figured out some interesting little tricks... We met a couple of those guys in Atlanta in August when we came through and they seemed very nice. That is always the biggest variable about jumping on a tour with a band you have never met. Will they be assholes? So far I have not met a band of assholes. I think that what we do is so humbling and difficult sometimes that you have to be a relatively patient person to spend so much time in close quarters with people. Everyone can have their moments, but you just have to pick your battles. It is like a band is a 4 way marriage. You have chosen to spend the time together, but you also have to navigate through 3 other people's quirks. But anyway I am pretty sure that Switchfoot and Copeland will all be sweet people.
Home in 2 days...
JM
;)
Hello? testing... Umm, that dog's name is Maggie, I met her in Clevland Ohio outside of the Grog Shop. She has floppy ears and the wind was blowing them over so i had to take her picture. She is 4 months old and very sweet. I tried to get her human friend to let her ride with the band in exchange for playing his big grad school party. He wouldn't budge. Moments after this photo was taken he and i got into a scuffle because I wouldn't let him take Maggie home.
Page Row
03/08/04 3am
Finished the tour with our new pals Engine Down tonight. I'll miss those guys. It is always bittersweet getting to know a band when we tour with them and then not seeing them again for months. What can you do. I'll see them again.
Off to Greensboro tomorrow. That should be a blast. Our last show at Ace's Basement was great - it was our first time there and the reception was incredibly warm. Hopefully it will be the same tomorrow. After Greensboro we go to Atlanta which is always special to me. I grew up there and there is always some sort feeling in me that wants to play especially well or just have some sort of incredible show. The last time we played the Earl it was with Death Cab and that show was magic. Maybe it's pride or something selfish, but in some sort of strange way I feel like playing an great show in Atlanta to a full room somehow helps justify the decision to be doing this in the first place. It is a blast playing and touring and doing all of this, but sometimes when it is raining and I am getting a cold and I am missing Maria and it is 5am in Manhattan and I am still looking for somewhere to park a van and trailer I question what the hell is going on. But other days when the show is incredible and I have good conversations with people and the sun is out and I've had great coffee I realize how incredibly lucky I am. But sometimes it is still hard and great shows in your hometown can help you feel better about it all. But I never know. Atlanta could be horrible. It will still be great to see my family.
goodnight.
JM
03/07/04 6:30pm
Looking forward to Colgate University this evening. This area of the country is so incredibly beautiful. I think that my favorite drives on tour are through the Upstate New York and Pennsylvania countryside. It's always a bit dicey to drive through here weather-wise, but I think we got lucky this time around. So far we have seen plenty of rain but only a bit of snow and that was in the West.
The past two nights have been incredible. The Cambridge Middle East show was truly fantastic. All of the bands sounded great and were on fire. I think that Engine Down was pretty happy to be back on the east coast, their set was brilliant and the energy that they drew from the crowd was exciting to watch. After the show we took about an hour and a half to find the hotel which was 3 miles away. Sometimes the hardest part of touring is just the most basic stuff. Finding the hotel, finding a good quick exit to stop at, finding healthy food, finding good coffee. Those are all the little things that can set your day back a few hours and set a frantic mood that can sometimes spill over into the set. And that is not good. The way I see it, we have 3 jobs on tour. One is making it to the show on time, one is giving everything we've got during the set, and the other is to have fun doing it. If we are running too late and we miss sound check and have throw everything from the trailer onto the stage and then play immediately the chances are pretty high that we aren't going to be able to give everything we've got. Or more specifically, what we've got isn't really much to give. But on the other hand, some of the best shows we've played have been under pretty extreme circumstances. Sometimes when a wrench gets thrown into the gears it just creates a situation that is like some kind of hyper reality which forces you to fly by the seat of your pants. It creates an environment where anything can happen at any moment and sometimes that is magic and sometimes that is a disaster. And honestly even if those shows are not technically the best, they make for pretty good memories... Hmm... I have gotten a bit off track from what I was thinking. I guess what I was getting at is that once you get too far off track from your schedule on tour, every little thing can affect the most important time of the day - when you are actually playing the show. On the other hand you have to leave things open ended enough so you can actually enjoy the surprises that pop up every day. Kind of a paradox but it keeps everything nice and fun.
Guess this is all on my mind now because we are running late to the Colgate show...
JM