Tuesday, April 5, 2011

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

 

 "NOT EVEN DEAD!"

Sometimes, all you have to do to stay happy is Google-image the word "handsome." There is no way you won't laugh at what the general consensus is for what "handsome" means. Most of these dudes would be sacrificed among their circle of dudes as a friend...especially when he comes back from his first male-modeling shoot. "Hey guys, look at this bitchin' spread!" Guarantee they won't invite him to the Y for hoops. Especially the man portrayed above; get a load of the obnoxious sunken nature of his neck. Looks like someone swung a ball-peen hammer straight into that fucker's waddle. Poor Ashley...which, in my opinion, is the gender-neutral name of the decade.

However, I probably shouldn't say anything. I haven't exactly been stepping up my handsome-game, especially in comparison to the rest of IOMT. Everyone is good-looking, and yet somehow I still manage to look like the sandman actually fed me sand every time I wake up. I was looking back at pictures from the METAphysics Halloween House Show...if you were there, you probably remember a tank-top and some junk-trunkin' thermal undies. I know it's a bit delayed, but, I'm sorry everyone.

SPEAKING OF SORRY!

Tapes! Tapes 'n Tapes 'n tapes! I started recording personalized acoustic demo-tapes for some people on my 4-track machine, and then it became a more widely-spread thing, which is very, very exciting. Tandem Shop sent out a press-release about it, and next thing I knew, I was seeing it on some random blogs...a bunch of which I found out about by Googling "The Island of Misfit Toys band." I was on a pretty sweet roll (every tape has different songs so far, with only one repeat), but then, after Brad Hoffman's house show with us, The Lisps, Warren Franklin, and Bloom, the mic and mic-stand were stranded and I was left resource-less.

Then, forgetfulness fed right into fate kicking me in the nards; just when I got the mic and mic-stand back, I got the kind of cold that makes God shrug. It was stupid. Stupid is the only word I can use for it! It lasted for about a week, and then, as of today, decided it'd be dope to disappear without a trace. I mean, I'm grateful it's gone, but it was just another hindrance that cause people to email/message me like "WHERE'S MY TAPE, BUB?" (I should clarify, no one called me "Bub.")

Now that everything is in place, I can actually keep my promise. Expect tapes soon, if you asked for 'em. I have a huge sheet with names and addresses and a dickload of notebooks to choose from when it comes to songs. Just beware: you may get one from when I was 15 or something.

^ SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS SHIT

Warren Franklin is a singer-songwriter I wrote about in here a couple of posts ago. He played at METAphysics, and we've played with him 2 other times because we love him that much. LISTEN TO HIS MUSIC HERE, because it's really hard not to like it. However, I bring him up for two reasons. First, he and Brandon Lutmer from Joie De Vivre are performing as a duo covering eachother's songs...called The WB. This will take place at the next META show on April 15th, with IOMT, Poor Places, JT Royster of Cagematch, Bogota Orkestar (Paul of Joie De Vivre), and a few more tentative names. THE EVENT PAGE OF THE SHOW ON FACEBOOK CAN BE FOUND HERE, MAN.

The other reason I bring him up is because I got to spend a sweet weekend with him and some other folks in Rockford and Baraboo, Wisconsin!
On Saturday, he picked me up from Chicago and we blasted a sweet weekend mix all the way to The Rock. It featured hits from New Order, Kind of Like Spitting, Hall & Oates, David Bowie, and the greatest, R. Kelly, AKA Kellz, AKA Robert Kelly. (The song was "Step in the Name of Love.") Once we got to Rockford, we had some incredible chicken teriyaki at his favorite mall spot, visited a sweet hair-stylist named Jamie, tried every kind of tea imaginable and headed out to the esteemed Hipster House for the show that night.

BloomCoffee, Fuzz, & The Classic LookDowsing, and Heavy Boots (FIRST SHOW) went hard. Almost too hard. They killed it. Also, I can't thank Dowsing enough for laughing at my dumb jokes and backing me up as I sang "All the Small Things" to the pretty Rockford citizens. Brandon also learned the art of the senior portrait. Wait. Do you not know what I mean by that? WELL. Ask one of us to do a senior portrait at our next show, and I guarantee you'll laugh. Spiros was a pioneer in the art, and his handsome face will go down in Senior Portrait History books...that I'll write. By the way, that's Bloom on the right.

But, I didn't just travel with Warren to see a rock and roll concert. After a hasty nap on his little sisters' beds (they were in the living room), we headed out to Baraboo to lay down some tracks for his second full-length, Your Heart Belongs to the Midwest. I didn't think it could get much better than Stray, but the guy has honed his craft to the point where he can only get better as he writes. I won't reveal too much about the record, but I can tell you we did some pretty raw gang vocals (I went too hard), and I got to lay down some organ, guitar, and piano. In fact, a few more members of The Island will be featured on the record too...NOT SAYIN' WHO.

The point is, it's something to get excited about, and he's releasing it in early June, a bit before Bear Hair is gonna be out. If you wanna get to know his first record, I suggest GETTING IT HERE. Trust me, we all got it, and it's worth every penny. I'm not even doing this because he's our buddy, either; we heard his music before he was our buddy!

Anyways, one last bit of news before I have to go to work...I did, after all, literally just take the picture on the left, and that should reveal just how much time I need to get prepared.

We have three shows coming up in the next two weeks, and all of them need people in attendance...I know that's such a crass and obvious statement, but it's worth saying. Remember the Schubas show? (IF YOU WEREN'T THERE CLICK HERE AND WATCH) Remember how fun that shit was? That was because people came through! It will be just as fun if you go again, I can promise you that. The shows go down like this:
1. April 10th: Beat Kitchen. All ages. Canada's Yukon Blonde. WaterHouse. FINNA BE PACKED.
2. April 15th: METAphysics. All the bands mentioned a bunch of paragraphs ago. FUN FUN THINK ABOUT FUN.
3. April 17th: Reggie's Music Joint. 21+. (If you are 21 or over, we have GOT to have you there. In fact, we'd rather you come to this one if that is the case!) California's Musical Charis. Seattle, Washington's Blvd. Park. WE'RE ACTUALLY HEADLINING THIS ONE.

ALSO, IF YOU WANTED A TAPE AND DIDN'T ASK BEFORE, EMAIL US:
sandersbooking@gmail.com

I posted so many links up in this. Click on them if you want to get on St. Peter's list.

- Anthony


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