Anger and Coffee, Feeling Mean, Tape Trade Brigade

"Chocobo Racing" is the first thing I
think of when I hear the word "Golem."

Started my day with watery coffee today. What's worst in your opinion? Watery coffee or too strong coffee? When it's too strong it kind of tastes like cough syrup, but when it's watery it's kind of like if a Golem pissed in your cup. I was just mentioning at work how envious I am when I see someone take their first sip of coffee of the day. Only because you can't attain that feeling until the next day again; you had your moment now it's their turn. I am really glad I joined the coffee club a few years back. I used to hate coffee and didn't start drinking it regularly until I was probably 22 or 23. It's one of the few cultural commodities that I can actual relate with people about. I don't drink craft beer and I can't bond over the rotting corpse of another sentient being laid to waste while it's family watches in horror.

Morning ritual.

So I can see why I am alienated from people often but it's nice that I can agree on coffee at least. I think I have linked this before and I'm sure everyone has read it already, but I liked THIS INTERVIEW NPR did with Jerry Seinfeld about coffee. I think I would like to hang out with that guy. Maybe he could give me a lift home one day after RuPaul drops me off at the National Maggot Convention at an undisclosed location in Iowa. Have you seen that video where RuPaul gives Henry Rollins a lift and they talk about love and shit? Check that shit out below if not it's worth a watch. Henry Rollins will always be a confounding individual to me. I respect him in so many ways, but depending on what year it is his views are either spot on or completely fucked. Henry, stop saying "bitch" so much please. Or at all. That's my main gripe bro, just let that shit go. You're almost there. P.S. The new Slipknot song is fucking awesome F.Y.I. I don't really get the video and I miss the days where it was a kid eating gross cereal and getting a boner while he cuts meat, but it is decent.

I wanna be a Renaissance man.

Now onto my own fucked perspectives on the world. The last few days I have been scouring the internet to find a sample for the demo of the opening track on Ruined's full length that I have been working on tirelessly. I will return to that in a moment but essentially I was searching for a gnarly speech or interview about some raw ass God hate or something of the like. I was searching for some hard ass Norwegian dude talking about how Odin would beat the shit out of the Christian God any day of the week. The egg shells I was stepping on was I did not want to sample a racist shit-fuck like a lot of those guys are. I found a sweet sample of Kristoffer Rygg from Ulver back in 1994 talking about Christianity. He said "Christianity is a weak credit to religion." But it was unfortunately in Finnish.Which is cool but I just wasn't feeling it and I hate exploiting or displacing another culture that I have nothing to do with. So I ended up finding another one that is more vague in a poetic sense. It allows the listener to sort of take what they think about it away without coercing them too much. But it was astounding how little I could find through my searches. I was typing all kinds of shit to find some stone cold anti-christian ideology. Where are the George Carlin's of the world? Why are no strong cultural entities standing strong against the plague of piety? All I could find in my search were political or religious leaders speaking out against "The Apostasy of (Insert Religion Here.)" What apostasy? At best I see most people who consider themselves non-religious to be completely apolitical about their beliefs. Which is fine, to each their own. But I don't understand why Christians would ever feel like victims and I guarantee that we will go another 2000 years before that scale ever tips. In their minds, they have won already. When we all die we go burn and they go soar above us forever and ever. So what's the fucking problem? Why the fuck do you care if Johnny McGod-Sucks says "Fuck you, I'm tired of kneeling." You get to go frolic in the meadows of mediocrity with Emperor Theodosius I, The Teutonic Order and every piece of shit who had anything to do with The Bureau of Indian Affairs. I will bathe in the molten springs of Hell and enjoy a face melting cup of Joe with Heraclitus, Thomas Paine, and Friedrich Nietszche. I bet they have some great stories.  

We all must burn.

Let's trade!

Back to my usual Ruined bullshit. As I said I finished demos for our full length the other night which I am pretty proud of overall. We still have a lot of work to do before we head to a studio but I am hoping to do so within the next 2 or 3 months. Otherwise I have been kicking a lot of ideas around the office and I think a few of them may come to fruition. Firstly, I just got a tape rack and was wanting to trade some "FAMILIAR" Ruined tapes for other bands tapes. If you are at interested send me a message on the RUINED FACEBOOK PAGE or send me an email at wouldyoucareatall@gmail.com and we can work something out. Secondly, we are hoping to shoot a music video in the next few weeks with the help of my good ole buddy Monte of PALM HANDS. It won't be anything crazy, just a montage of gloomy ass shit probably. I have also been thinking about investing in a video camera of my own and doing some sort of weekly or bi-weekly podcast of some kind. I don't really know what a podcast is but I would probably just "do it live." I used to take video and do video editing all the time and had a lot of fun with it. I had a really shitty camera and even shittier video editing software but it was fun nonetheless. I had actually totally forgotten about this video below that I made 3 years ago for the song "Bloodhail" by Have A Nice Life. Pretty fucking boring overall but I am surprised it has even 400 views. Anywho, check it out if you want. I was really gangly back then cause I only ate lint and 1 plate of spaghetti a day. And would puke blood from stress caused by the person I was dating at the time as I have mentioned before. Puking blood is a great way to lose pounds. Stay Gloomy. 

Cactus Zach, Maggot B & B, Drink My Whine

I wish I could have a cage match
with every shitass customer I meet.

Been feeling restless lately. Having trouble sleeping and been more irritable at work and at home. I have been drinking more coffee and not working out the past week which is probably what the issue is. I haven't felt like this since I was a little boy and I got "Jello Legs" after a tubing trip I went on with my dad. Then I spent the whole night waking my mom up because I was terrified of being alone at night. Kerry King bless her for watching Winnie The Pooh Bear with me until I fell asleep. It's tough staying motivated sometimes, especially when you are always burnt out after work both physically and mentally. I know I talk about stupid people a lot, but I meet some real space cadets day to day. For example a meat-head fuck-shitter came in the other day. At my work we give out numbered CD discs so that we can bring your order out to you when it's ready. I rang up this confounded self-tanning turd-tarantula and handed him a numbered CD-R and he says to me, "Is this my receipt?" These are the cesspool gargoyles that I deal with daily. And they all vote.

Other than "Heretic Anthem," 

this is my anthem. 

Seeking tenants like this.

I have been trying to be less of a shit-kicker though. I have been working on a guest bedroom in my house to hopefully become a place where touring bands can stay and eat a nice vegan meal. I normally would be more apprehensive about opening my home to strangers but in my experience touring bands are usually courteous and grateful to have a place to stay. I work early and I live in a sober house so I feel like most of the shitbag bands will probably prefer to sleep on the floor of a party house. But I am hopeful that musicians like me will enjoy having a quiet spot to hunker down after a night/several nights of constant socializing and late night noises. I hate that shit when I am on tour. Despite my misanthropy I usually enjoy talking to people after a show especially since my adrenaline is usually pumping. In fact I have been told that people have trouble even getting a word in with me after a show. Even though before the show I sulk in the nearest shadowy crevasse muttering to myself about how shitty the show will be and then I am almost always pleasantly surprised. You gotta set the bar EXTREMELY low for every single show. If no one throws feces at me, it's been a good night. But unfortunately the venue situation in Grand Rapids is really shitty right now. If you don't want to play a bar then Grand Rapids is kind of a shit-box. So I'm not really sure if my pad will be used that much but I feel like it's worth a shot.

Ruined mosh pit.

Otherwise I have been whining about how I can't get a local show for Ruined to save my life but then last night I got us on a show that was being booked for August 20th at Spoke Folks here in GR. So I guess all that whining actually paid off in the end. Otherwise I am looking into some possible fests that we could play in the next few months but of course we are limited by our transportation issues still so who knows what will happen with that. I have a bad feeling that I won't be able to remedy that until I get my tax returns next spring which would fucking honk major shit-hammers. But I guess until then I will just fuck around Gun Rule for a while and maybe get a gloom fan base going around here. I am not holding my breath for that but who knows maybe some emotive emu's like me will wanna get down on some gloom. I did write/record a new song today that turned out alright. It's an old song I wrote 2 years ago that I improved upon and polished up a bit. All in all, I really phoned this post in again guys so sorry if you have read this far already. I am fucking hungry again like always and I get distracted by that. Anywho, God hates us all and shit. Merp.

The next show we're playing.

Cerberus Cerebration, Misappropriated Misanthropy, Holy Pit

I have a lot to complain about today so I will give you all a brief overview of my life since the last time I posted on here. I have been listening to several different records lately: "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel, "Superunknown" by Soundgarden and "Frigid Stars" by Codeine have been plays at work for this cowboy. Specifically the song "4th of July" by Soundgarden is totally rocking my shit. Heavy as fuck and the lyrics are incredible. I haven't been playing my bass nearly as much as I should despite acquiring a new combo practice amp for my room. I am hoping to practice a bit on my own before practice with Sky today, I have been slacking off at learning vocal parts I wrote weeks ago. I have been playing acoustic guitar a lot lately though so that has been nice. I have been reading old Guitar Worlds that I had from when I was in high school whenever I go to the bathroom. I was reading an interview with Jack White from 2004 (blows my mind that it's been 10 years since the first time I read the article.) But he talks about how he has always thought of things in three's with The White Stripes music and life. Hence the red, white and black color scheme they use and also the rhythm, melody and lyricism of their music. I think I am kind of similar in a way. I enjoy putting myself in a box and seeing what I can create within the confines of that box. Other times I start with a box and I end up smashing it to pieces. Either way, it seems to work every now and then. It is almost impossible for me to not write a song that sounds gloomy though. Even if the music is very major sounding I always end up crying over it like a turd. A big whiny turd pterodactyl.

This made me laugh so hard.
Man after my own heart. 

Lately I have been thinking about identity. I have been reflecting about the things I identify with and also trying to understand the way others identify with their respective "scenes" and the contradictions within those scenes. For example, I consider myself a misanthrope which by definition means that I probably shouldn't identify with any groups whatsoever and yet I do so from time to time. But even the fact that I affiliate myself with a group of people who hate humanity and that the definition of such a group has been developed and refined by wiser people than I over several centuries seems like a laughable contradiction. Basically I relate to people who hate people, which shouldn't make sense and yet it works. But I have found misanthropy and hatred to be wonderful forms of seclusion that help to divorce myself from the distraction of vapid people. Whereby from the cleansing ashes of my volcanic hatred a vast clearing is made for fertile soil where I can let my love germinate and the roots of that love can grow deep into the crust of prosperity. I most certainly love fewer people, but I find that I love them fully and more genuine than most. The point I am making is that don't try to talk yourself out of hating someone if you do, and focus on loving the few people you do love. As always though, I am a shit shingle clinging to the roof tar of a desolate domicile abandoned long ago when people had perspective and character.

"After coming into contact with a religious man
 I always feel I must wash my hands"
-Friedrich Nietzsche

On the subject of hate though, here is a rant for all of you. A subject I always try to ignore but given enough time I begin to choke on the bubbling furor of my hatred. Apparently though this is an issue that still has not been resolved and most likely never will. But that's no reason to decline an invitation to join the fun! For those of you who don't live in Grand Rapids I will explain our fair "community" with four words: Christian "Punks" & Craft Beer. I put quotation marks around "Punks" because there is no such thing as a Christian "Punk." For the sake of simplicity I will continue to use that taxonomy but being Christian is not fucking punk. I didn't make the rules I just abide by them. Now this begs the question of defining what "being punk" is, and that is a greater question for another time. But I will surmise this account by simply using the analogy that though we may not know what "being punk" is, we all know what "being punk" is NOT. But back to the Bubonic business of Christianity within a music scene. First of all, when the entire hardcore or D.I.Y. ethos came to fruition all those years ago I was not there. But I also know God wasn't making zines or turning police batons into bubble gum either. Underground music was a complete negation of popular thought and theology. That's why it was so good, there was so much to be pissed off about and it spread like unholy wildfire. But regardless I understand social science and I know that things evolve and in fact should evolve. So now we are here in modern day and what a sad sight we see. A bunch of God boys coming around ruining everyone else's black mass mosh pits and potluck blood orgies. Now once again a scene should be tolerant (not accepting: the language is important) of many different ideologies and life paths. People should always be tangled in vicious trust within a scene. It is abhorable to have everyone in a scene accept everything and confront nothing. That's why misogynists, homophobes and racists wonder freely among us, and Christianity is an umbrella for all of these people. More to the point though, I have felt the sting of exclusion from this topic because of my hatred of Christianity. As if I am the fucker because I make the shitty Seraphim uncomfortable. My final point is this you children of the innocuous light; you have the Earth, the sky and the rest of eternity to live within your delusions. Leave the underground and the dark spaces to us heathens. We don't need you and we don't want you. Go play with your invisible father figure and leave your musical mechanisms behind. We need them to warm our veiled fortresses and feed our hungry hearts. Stay Gloomy, Remain Fallen.  

"Cool in the waterway, where the baptized drown."  

The Dingo Ate Your Happiness, A.C.A.B. Forever, Welcome Mat

Coo.

Listening to "The Monad of Creation" by Mournful Congregation right now on LP. Specifically the song "When The Weeping Dawn Beheld It's Mortal Thirst." Absolutely incredible. This band gives me chills every time I listen to their music, especially on LP. There is just something about analog technology that makes it a cohort to the spirit. I am truly hopeful that I will be able to release Ruined's first full length on vinyl. Which recording for that record may start sooner than I expected. Sky and I are putting the final touches on the longest song on the record today and will probably get a good spring on another song before the day is done. As of right now I have 6 songs and am roughly at about 50 minutes worth of material. "The Monad of Creation" is exactly 60 minutes long so I think I am going to try writing 1 or 2 more songs before we're through. If those Aussie Doom Dingo's can do it then so can a couple of Michigan Gloom Geese.

So fucking gloomy.

"I'm sorry I thought this was America!"

Now for more complaining! Boy complaining sure is fun! I think it's healthy and important to release frustrations in a constructive and sometimes meaningful way. I don't lose sleep hoping to make things better or to change perspectives, this is just one maggot's inconsequential reflections. So with that being said, here's something that really cooked my cantaloupe the other day. I was scrolling through MY TUMBLR PAGE the other day and saw a post about a traffic cop. Basically it was just a picture of some random traffic cop and he was explaining about how it's his job to write tickets and that if it were up to him he would only write warnings but the system won't let him do that. So basically he was saying, "The system is fucked, I am just doing my job. Nothing personal." I am not even confused by that statement, but why do people feel the need to defend people who are in no way in need of being defended? While true victims go unheard and violently ignored? (Oh right...the fucked system that everyone thinks is super coo...) Listen, Johnny Mc-Mace-You-In-The-Fucking-Face-Without-A-Moments-Hesitation, (that's his Christian name,) does not need your help. He is doing just fine without you. I don't care if he is just an average Joe just trying to pay the bills. And I don't care if a few bad apples make the rest of them look bad (which statistically speaking is HIGHLY improbable.) They still willfully ignore their compatriots of pain and reap the rewards of their demonic fellowship. So please stop making excuses for them, fuck cops and leave it at that. I will never understand the desire to be obedient. Whether it be to a fictitious being in the sky or drones with Kevlar carapace. It is a disregard of the hues and transience of the universe. Constantly shifting and changing into infinite chasms of possibility. People worry too much about what they don't understand. They have to feel safe in order to carry on. "The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." -Alan Watts.

Post show ritual.

On a more personal note, I have been thinking a lot lately about my participation within the world. Now as you know, I hate all of you with intense putrid animosity that makes me puke bile made from the ectoplasm of every dead person I may have ever liked who is gone forever and out of my clawing reach for companionship. Well, maybe not you specifically, in fact I probably could stand you all for a few minutes. But that is precisely my point, for the most part the people I know within my "community" or "scene" are people I generally like.  And I understand that as a musician, it would be nice to reciprocate to the overall music society. So I have been considering opening my home to touring bands in an effort to help out in my local scene and also help carry the burden of touring for all our road ragged souls out there. I also have been wanting to branch out with my vegan cooking so I feel that a comfortable sleeping situation and a hot meal would go well together. And if there are other musicians out there like me, when I get done playing a show I wanna get the fuck out of there and go to wherever I am sleeping so I can sit on my laptop and relax and go to bed as early as possible. My house would not be a place for party pissants or obnoxious oxygen obliterators. So I know that my house would maybe not be a first choice for some people, especially since we are a sober space. But honestly if you can afford to tour and party then you are probably an over privileged shit shingle anyways so they could fuck right off. Anyways, that's just something I have been kicking around the ole gloom water cooler. Who knows if it will actually come to fruition. Anyways, I should go practice bass. Bass is coo. Stay Gloomy. 

   

But I Being Poor Have Only My Dreams, Sample Soap Box, Fun Is Dead

Me during my early 20's

I had several dreams last night that galvanized me this morning. I had one dream where I was on tour with some big deal band but while they took a tour bus we had to follow them around in our shitty van. Which to me was way more fun and I almost felt sorry for the guys on the bus. As much as I would love to sleep and read while some other guy does all the driving I felt a great sense of determination from that dream. I'm pretty sure it stemmed from my subconscious reacting to my conscious knowledge of Wreck and Reference's last show with Deafheaven that I saw posted yesterday. If I reached that level of success where I could cart around my band in support of a band people actually liked I would probably be totally satisfied with my ambitions. As any long time readers of this blog may know, (as if you exist,) I have always had a curiosity about oneirology: the study of dreams. I don't put any faith in believing that dreams have any sort of realistic pull on our lives, but I do believe that they can be our brains attempt to find answers for itself. And the simple fact that I hopped out of bed and immediately started working on music means they do have some impact on us in our everyday lives. I have made huge life changing decisions after having a stirring or compelling dream. Usually those changes dealt with being with someone who made me puke blood because of the rage they would make me choke on day in and day out. But I am confident those character building experiences are far behind me now. As I said though, it was great to jump out of bed and immediately feel encouraged to grab my bass and start working on shit.

I wanna use this sample.

As I have mentioned on the RUINED FACEBOOK PAGE I am currently working on a lot of new material for a full length. Right now I have about 5 songs complete in very shitty shitty demo quality versions which is about 35 minutes worth of material. The song I was working on this morning I decided to throw a sample into for fun. And this is a subject I have thought a lot about over the years. For some reason, I love when bands use samples in their music. I can't really explain why, other than to me it gives a unique texture and predication to their music that I personally enjoy. But of course I think a lot of bands over do this. On THE SPLIT I DID WITH PALM HANDS I used a lot of samples. That split was more about having fun with an old friend than it was about making a great piece of music. So I didn't over think what samples I wanted to use or whether I wanted to use them at all. But in a lot of ways, samples can be really shitty and stupid. A lot of bands are too lazy to come up with something creative that they just say "Fuck it, have a sample of Johnny McShit-Hat saying some hard-ass shit. That'll get that fucking pit opened." I don't really have a point to any of this, it's just something I think about when I am between masochistic fantasies.

"Something kinda sad about the way that things have come to be. 

Desensitized to everything. What became of subtlety?"

No fun not ever. 

Otherwise I have been watching The Simpsons, listening to Tool and getting back in touch with my roots. I know everyone talks about how much better everything "used" to be back in "their day." But the 90's were so much cooler than the last decade and a half. 9/11 really fucked everything up. Everyone got more scared and everything became sterile, watered down and fucking boring. The music was better, the movies and television were better and everyone seemed to be living louder than nowadays. Everyone talks about how morality is going out the door but I am absolutely convinced that these bleach white convivial automatons who strangle anything poignant or vivacious have a monopoly on our entertainment in this country. I am not even suggesting that they are the ones producing this bile or even flipping the switches to illuminate our receivers. But thanks to the never ending breeding of shallow minded and fearful fiends that we call our youth and the pompous piety of our owners, this bland anemic mucilage we call modern entertainment is what we are left with. Turn on any radio or network television to see the current state of the necrosis in the American stimuli. George Carlin once said, "Think about how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are stupider than that." And people wonder why I have no hope left. But it's not all bad, I still get to lock myself away from the mutations growing and congealing in the perspicuous pockets of our wealthy and elite communities.I must bar the doors at every turn for they keep coming for me and my kin through wires and speakers. Be weird, make people uncomfortable as often as you can while simultaneously interacting as little as possible with as few people as possible. Then again I hate everyone and everything and should not be giving any advice to anyone for any reason. So take everything I say with a grain of salt. What the fuck does that mean? Who knows. Stay gloomy.   

Hate Hungry, Parasitic Lineage, Switching Hands

I love Gene Wilder

I am very hungry right now so I am not sure how much I am going to write. I am distracted by the gurgling sounds of the cavernous pit that is my digestive tract. So far today I have eaten tortilla chip crumbs and coffee. I love eating food, but sometimes I wish there was some sort of magical pill that I could take that would just make me feel full and be done with it. Some sort of pill that you could take when you're on a diet...like that chewing gum from Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory. Three course meal in the form of gum would be fucking awesome. Except all that fucking pot roast bullshit, that shit ain't plant based and Conky don't play that shit. I would want my chewing gum to be an appetizer of grilled asparagus, a main course of banh mi's and for dessert a bucket of Code Red. Fuck I am hungry. I wanted to work out today but I have no fuel in me. Probably just jerk off stale-fish like I always do and hope that makes me buff someday.

The average American child.

Otherwise, what else is pissing me off lately. Do you ever find yourself doing your daily trivial bullshit and then out of nowhere you are crushed by the absolute menial realities of life? I think we all have those moments, but fuck lately it has been hitting me more and more. Ever since I got back from that last tour it has just been really hard to get my shit back together and be nice to yuppies everyday. And little idiot kids, Kerry King damn kids these days are fucking stupid. For some reason on the weekends it seems like a lot more kids come into my work. Gnawing at the counter like parasitic beasts who feed off the suffering of others. But I can't blame them when I see who their mentors are. Where do people get their values from these days? The only ethos I gather from these insensate vermin is to "Shit on everything and whoever has the most toys wins."  And they never tip. If anyone reading this doesn't tip; fuck you. May the thundering woes of eternity consume you in your silken slumber. It confounds the senses when I see a fuckhead in 300 dollar leather shoes unable to grasp the concept of gratuity. In theory, I really like the entire idea of gratuity. Simply because it is something that everyone participating in can express their appreciation to others. Because it is not forced upon us, it makes the act of doing it far more philanthropic. But guess what, no one is interested in that. Which believe me, I hate everyone and most everything and I am morally bereft. But I posses the brain function that is capable of rewarding service with a gesture of a few extra bucks. I am going to start forcing the hand of some of these gold plated paleolithic monstrosities and hope to Kerry King they catch me in the act. I hope they take a swing at me and with their underdeveloped frontal lobe they will of course miss and I will be within societal statutes to unleash my impoverished rage upon them with molten fury and cunning strength. What a glorious day it will be. Long story short, put a dollar on the gratuity line you fucking shit-cannons.

"You have to let them know that you think they are shit."

My daily reaction to the sinew
that is humanity.

On the subject of gratuity and giving more, I read an article recently that spills this subject into the realm of music. The article was on the subject of fan entitlement, I won't bore you with the details and if you haven't already read it you can read it HERE. As with anything, I agreed with a lot of it and disagreed with most of it. But I was always taught to be a devil's advocate, and being a misanthrope I almost always hate most things most people have to say. But it did make me think about my relationship with fans at shows and my role as a sort of musical merchant. I can only tell you from my experience what this has been like, and only recently have I been in the "business" of selling merchandise to people. On the most recent tour I went on, I sold jack shit for the most part. And when I did, it was a HUGE help in putting gas in the tank to get to the next city where no one would buy shit. So I can say that it has a big impact when 2 or 3 people at a show buy even just a tape especially knowing that I probably won't be so lucky in the next town. So with that being said I am forever grateful for you people out there who find it necessary to help me out just because I am some shit-bag far from home and you maybe didn't think my band totally honked. And as a musician that is just the check you write when you want to be a part of this chapter of life. But the flip side to that coin is, no one owes anyone anything. As a musician, I go to every show expecting that everyone will hate my band and talk shit about us during and after the show and literally throw feces into my mouth as I sing and will physically attack my drummer and hold me down as they beat him up and I cry and scream for them to stop but they keep shoving feces down my throat until I choke and suffocate on the excretion of their hatred. That is where I set my bar for every show. Anything above that is just vegan gravy. So though I do really appreciate when someone buys my shit and it is flattering to know they maybe liked our set, I am just grateful they didn't piss on my T-shirts and walk away. This is a subject that I could go on and on about and I really don't feel like doing that right now. I may touch on this more in the future but the long and short of it is everyone thinks their band is fucking cool and everyone is an asshole for not buying your shit: they're not and your band is shit. And everyone thinks that people who go to shows are over privileged ungrateful shit-bags: they probably are just like most people. But hey, at least they stomached your "art" for 20 minutes. I hope to fuck you only played a 20 minute set. What's with all these shitty bands thinking they're Metallica? I see these bar rat bands all the fucking time that play for 45 minutes to an hour. I can't even get started on that shit right now. Fucking artists. What a joke. Sorry guys I am grumpy I haven't eaten. I'm just some fucker from Conklin. God hates us all.

P.S. When I saw Bolt Thrower they were charging 10 bucks per shirt and could have easily obtained triple or quadruple that amount. True road warriors. Meanwhile, most bands charge 60 dollars for a poster made of rice paper and dried seminal fluid. Highway robbery.

"No guts, no glory."

Ruin Your Day, Listless Listing, Endling

It has been a long while since I have posted on this blog. Primarily because I have had very little to say for a while now. But RUINED just got home from a tour to the East Coast and back and it seems like a decent topic to break the ice with again. I won't go over every intimate detail of the journey, but if anyone gives a shit about this kind of shit, then this shit might be up your shit alley.

We called it the "Baja Blast Tour 2014." And it was glorious.

May 26th Grand Rapids, MI - Better turn out than I expected. I spent most of the tour talking about how much of a shit-shack GR is but it is my shit-shack nonetheless.

May 27th Detroit, MI - Played at the Trumbullplex. It was a last minute show and only two bands ended up playing. We played with a band called Catmom who are the two piece version of a band called Social Work. Both members were fun to talk to. We ate vegan mac and cheese and it was fucking delicious. This was a review we got before the show. “Billowing distortion, muffled vocals, and a meditative pace. Ruined have mastered all the elements of shoegaze. But where much shoegaze frolics in the summer twilight, this Grand Rapids duo plods through the cold night. With just bass and drums, they're able to cover a lot of dark ground. Sometimes their sound is delicate and lovely, sometimes harsh and heavy, but always bleak and dejected. There's something strangely invigorating about such a sustained look into the shadows.”

May 28th Berea, OH - Loaded our gear out in the pouring rain and drove to Ohio. Played to about 4 high school kids and a girl with a Slipknot shirt who doesn't listen to Slipknot. As a first sergeant in the Maggot Army this offended me greatly.

May 29th Buffalo, NY - This was probably the best show of tour. Every band was insanely good. The first band was a bunch of high school kids playing shoegaze influenced almost metalcore. It was weird to hear at first but it was kind of cool in the end. Unfortunately I was actually sleeping in the car during their set. I needed a quick 15 minute nap and I felt way better the rest of the night. But everyone really dug them. Then a drum and bass band played and they had a very post-punk quality to them and they were good and fun to listen to. Before the show I met a guy named Dan who complimented my Mournful Congregation shirt and we talked about funeral doom and Wolves in The Throne Room for a while. He played a bleak metal noise set after the post-punk band and it was incredible. Easily the best noise set I have ever seen. It was really great to meet him and be able to relate about music. We played our set after his and it went really well. Everyone really liked us and Sky was on fire. The energy in the room was potent and visceral. The only downside was I was losing my wind on the vocals a little. But otherwise our set went really well and everyone received us in a great way. The last band was a father son funk drum and bass band. They were astoundingly talented and I of course love slap bass. But the analogy I used after the show was "Watching their set was like watching someone jerk off. It's fun at first but after the first 10 minutes I just wanna go to fucking sleep." They were pretty much a jam band, so I was really into them for the first 4 songs of their set, but the next 7 were rough to get through. I appreciate virtuosity for what it is: a building block to creating actual music. That was the stuff I was into my teen years but eventually I realized that you have to take what you learn from the theory, precision and obsessive practice and actually write music that will change your life and possibly others. Don't get me wrong, it was fun watching their set but I lose momentum after 10 or 15 minutes with that shit. This coming from the boring ass gloomgaze musician who has 10 minute long songs.

Story of my life.

May 30th The Road - Drove from Buffalo to Boston. Went to bed.

May 31st Boston, MA - Hopped onto a punk show at the venue we were going to playing the next night. This show went better than our actual show.

June 1st Boston, MA - Played our gig. The screw came out of my bass and our set fell apart. Everyone rejoiced.

June 2nd Boston, MA - Jerked off stalefish and watched Rocky.

Our goal.

June 3rd Brooklyn, NY - This show sucked shit. We played really well and had fun but no one came out. And during our set the sound guy kept telling me to turn down and even had an Ipad with an app that read decibels and was waving it around to get a reading. I fucking hate bars I don't know why I ever play them. No one ever gives a shit. Everyone there is just trying to get laid and is pissed that the bands are playing too loud so they can't talk. Why do people always have to fucking talk? Fuck talking. Needless to say, apparently we were loud enough that the beer glasses were shaking on the bar and they got pissed. We didn't get paid and I sold one tape to a guy in the first band who was really cool called Junkyard. Otherwise I did have the best falafel of my life after the show at a place called "Oasis" in Williamsburg. Then we had to unload all of our shit again after we got to Graham's so we didn't get ripped off. Needless to say I was fucking wiped out by the end of the night. 

June 4th Brooklyn, NY - Philadelphia fell through. So we jerked off stalefish and watched Bob's Burgers. 

June 5th Pittsburgh, PA -  This show also went really well. We were pretty ornery after our 7 hour drive especially since the car was acting fucking stupid. But we arrived after a long journey through the mountains of Pennsylvania. We had pretty low expectations when the opening act was a man in a gold dress banging a gong that had a contact mic on it. But the second band was a really cool hip hop R&B band that used a lot of samples and electronic beats. It was really fun to listen to even though Sky and I were in the basement groaning because we had to set up basically in a closet. But we played our set and everyone seemed to like us and they donated really well which I was very grateful for. I have never played a bad show in Pittsburgh, it is easily my favorite city I have been to. We ate at a place called "Spak Brothers" and I had the best vegan hoagie of my life. 

June 6th The Road - The car kept acting fucky so we had to bail on Columbus and limp our way back to GR. We were not missed and everyone got more sleep without our presence. Everyone won.

So there it is, our first tour in the bag. We plan on taking a show hiatus until we can get a van and sort out our other logistically issues. Otherwise we will remain very much so active behind the scenes as we begin working on a full length record that we hope to start recording later this year. I am going to try and keep updating this blog with both RUINED updates and of course sporadic rants about my day to day life. God hates us all, stay gloomy you know the drill.

Ruined