Show Date: January 09, 2010 - Mike James

Party say what???!!! Our first show of the year and we played a Capricorn bash @ AvantGarden to celebrate filmmaker Mike Jame's birthday. If you haven't heard of Mike yet, keep your ears to the street because you'll be hearing about him very soon. He's directed the short film Spiked and has 6 other film projects in the works including a feature which we hope to get a song on the soundtrack of, ya heard?

Just so happens that that morning I come down with a terrible head cold that would not go away. By the time I pull up to AvantGarden I was feeling like complete shit. Then there was a bit of confusion because it was our understanding that we'd be playing upstairs but there was another party there. So as we were trying to figure out what was going to happen, I walked over to Mango's next door to see if we could set up and play there, since we had our own PA system with us.

Now, we have been trying to play Mango's forever! To no avail. Mango's is like our Holy Grail and we know that when we finally play there, damnit, we're somebody. So I went over completely expecting to be shot down. I told the bartender our gig at AvantGarden was canceled on us and I was wondering if we could just set up and play a bit before their show gets going. (It was like 9:15 at this time.) I even had to admit it was an odd request. He was the bar manager so he had to call Omar, and wouldn't you know, Omar was like, as long as we're done by 10:15 so the other show can go on, no problem. I was actually touched that they would try to help us salvage a gig like that.

Turns out though that Mike James came thru and made sure we got set up and played out set. It took me about 3 songs to shake off my bug but I ended up having a blast! After we were done, the dj's set up and we boogy rocked the night away. I had this one guy, said he was from NY and that he doesn't listen to 'music with screaming in it,' but that he really dug our shit. Hahaha, lovely. We all had a really good time.

STUDIO UPDATE

Well as many of you may or may not know we have been in the studio working hard on our next EP Rabbits and Royalty.

And so far it is beyond all of our wildest expectations. We are working with producer Mike Thompson of Ivory Tower Productions, (Close Your Eyes, American Fangs, etc.) This is the hardest working guy in the Houston music scene right now, and I feel that he is single-handed behind shaping our scene and making us a national force to be reckoned with. Numerous bands and artists that he's worked with have gone on to record and songwriting deals, music awards and industry recognition.

That's not why we choose to work with him though. We picked him because every song we heard on his reel was jaw dropping incredible. This is a guy who is not only a vocal coach, guitar coach and songwriter, but has a great ear and my taste in music. I knew that he would push us and make us better without changing the character of who we are as a band. He sat in on practices. Gave his critiques and suggestions. Continued to push us and encouraged us not to settle, then drew the performances out of us in the studio. Probably the best experience I've had recording an album.

I could go on and on, but if you are a band and you're serious about your craft, Mike Thompson should be the first person you talk to when you're looking to head into the studio. I still have a few more vocals to lay down, but even in the early stages everything is sounding so mind-blowingly incredible, I've never been more excited about a project and can't wait to be able to share what we're doing with everyone.

Show Date: November 27, 2009 - The Organics

We've been trying to play Austin all year to no avail. It's a highly competitive market. They favor their local peeps and they have the luxury and are very choosy about who they book. So getting asked to play in San Marcos was as close as we were gonna get and we jumped on it.

The Organics asked us to play The Triple Crown with them, and The Triple Crown reminded me a lot of The Ten Eleven. Gabe's kit took up the whole stage so me, Jason and Rick had to play more or less in the crowd. What was cool about the crowd at The Triple Crown was the more crazy, experimental and progressive we played the more they loved it. They were not interested in hearing straight up pop music at all so our progressive side fit right in.

We opened the evening and The Organics closed it out. The Organics packed that place out. They groove with a strong ska feel, complete with horn sections and really brought the house down. So much in fact, that I'm learning to play trumpet.

Show Date: November 21, 2009 - Vicarious Me

Life is a 360. Our very first show ever was supposed to be at Rudyard's. They were kind enough to book us and one of the very first bands that we asked to play with us was Vicarious Me. Unfortunately, Vicarious Me couldn't play that show with us, and then Gabe ended up getting so sick, we couldn't play the show, but a year goes by and who reaches out and asks us if we'd like to play a show with them at Rudyard's? Yeah, man. Spooky, I know.

I'll admit to being a little nervous playing Rudyard's again after pissing off the sound guy royally at our last show there. But I figured we'd just go in, have fun, and let bygones be bygones. That still didn't keep me from hiding from the sound guy all during load in. I didn't want him to recognize me and pull something crazy with our sound, you know like pissing off a waiter and they spit in your food. I was like a ninja, man, crawling behind risers, walking behind ppl, always staying just out of sight. Then when sound check rolled around and I could hide no longer, turns out he didn't even remember me.

Stateside Stereo opened and then guys were tight, sounded great and had an awesome draw. Then Vicarious Me played, and if you've never seen a VM show, them dudes are seriously crazy. And I thought we were wild when we played. They wore matching shades and T-shirts, got shit-faced drunk and had a rowdy time and still sounded great.

Then we played. Nothing super eventful I'm sorry to report. I didn't slam the mic down this time. I was dressed like a damn fool, though. The sound was fantastic and to our surprise we made a fan that night that wouldn't stop talking about how good we were. The sound guy.

Show Date: October 17, 2009 - Make Your Escape

So our good friends Make Your Escape asked us to join them at Java Junction on Saturday night where they were headlining.

Now Java Junction is a coffee shop that doubles as a venue, and since they don't serve booze, it's basically a place where kids can come, and mosh and headbang until they've given themselves concussions and permanently damaged their hearing. This was by far the craziest group of rowdy ass youngsters I had ever seen in one place at the same time.

We played with a couple of outta town bands, but also with 38 Caliber Hero who played the Nico Vega show with us and this little band that I hadn't heard of before called Sleep Sleep 'Wake Up!' The only way to describe Sleep Sleep 'Wake Up!' is br00t4l! I don't think not one of them was over 14 but they wrecked that stage. Them boys go off.

Make Your Escape finally did took the stage and it's funny because the last Make Your Escape show I went to I kinda got a little rowdy and sprayed beer all over the them. A move that almost got me kicked out of Fitz, but I did it out of love because they were wrecking. I would find out later that Adria got pissed I got Lone Star all over her cab. But fences were mended. We cool.

Another little interesting tidbit we found out was that Make Your Escape was selected by Hy Magazine as Band of the Month and got a whole write up done on them. When they asked Corey who are his favorite bands to play with he mentioned us. He is both a scholar and a gentleman. Thank you for that, C!

Show Date: October 16, 2009 - Peekaboo Theory

So we finally get to perform with Peekaboo Theory at Rudyard's along with MacAdams. Now Peekaboo Theory is one of my favorite H-town bands right now. We had been trying to do a show with them for awhile. We had booked a show with them before but that fell through, so it finally felt good to be able to hit the stage with them.

Even though we put the show together, we had Peekaboo headlining with us as direct support. The only thing is in most of the press announcements and promotion leading up to the show we were billed first, which was an oversight and not fair to Peekaboo Theory. If they're doing the heavy lifting they should get top billing.


So at the show, I went up to them and I apologized that they weren't billed first in most of the promotions and man, they were so cool, they were like, 'naw, it's cool, man. Lotus Effect are cool, they actually put this on, and we're been trying to do something with them for a long time.' (At that time, they only dealt with Gabe, so even though they knew me from all of their shows I've been to, they had no idea I sang for the band.) Them boys are just cool as hell.

So after MacAdams we set up and perform and I learned a very important lesson that day.

Never slam a mic down at Rudyard's. Never. Unless it's your own. At the end of a song I slammed the mic down into a pile of shirts that I had brought onstage to throw out into the ground. It was a calculated move, I figured the shirts would cushion the mic which they did. The soundman though thought I had slammed it straight to the ground and got so mad that he killed all our mics.

I didn't know what had happen I thought I had disconnected something but after a time they came back on and we finished the show. It was only afterwards that Perry from MacAdams told me that the soundguy was really pissed at me, so I manned up and apologized to him. So to everyone playing Rudyard's, don't slam their mics down. Bring your own if you want to do that. It's really just common sense.

Peekaboo Theory closed out the show with a slamming set. Every time I see them it's always such a different experience, but always a blast. Then we hurried home for our show at Java Junction the next night.

Show Date: October 7, 2009 - Nico Vega

I died and went to heaven.

We got asked to open again for Nico Vega as they came back through town. It would be our first time playing the Meridian and I just couldn't get over that I was essentially gonna get paid to see Nico Vega live again.

We got there early and Aja, Dan and Rick were already there doing sound check. It's funny because after the first time we opened for them Gabe would drop them a line occasionally on myspace and they would always get back to him, so down to Earth and real. I cornered Aja and asked her for a photo later on and she was so down.

During sound check they had Aja just doing some vocals without the band as they tried to trouble shoot something and I swear, I was just in awe of her voice. It was amazing. I couldn't wait for them to go on.

We played damn early. I'm talking before 9 but hey, those are the breaks, I didn't mind a bit. The show must have been alright because Meridian asked us right away if they could have us back. And then after some other great bands played like 38 Caliber Hero, Osirus, and The Ride Home, Nico Vega took the stage.

Man, it was top 3 of the best shows I've seen this year, along with A dream Asleep and The Shitty Limits from the UK. Amazing. The band's connection with the audience, and how they fused with their music. Aja pointed me out a few times and sang to me, yeah, I know everyone always thinks that, but it was me, fool! Back off me. And there again was that voice. I remember thinking damn, now that's a real woman.

Then halfway through the set Dan gets up and says "Hey, first all, do yall know who we are? Nico Vega, that's right. Second, does anyone have a snare drum I can borrow?" Dan had put a stick thru his snare head. So of course Gabe is like, I got one, so while he runs to get it Aja sings The Coal Miners Song acapella. Chills.


So the set rages on, Dan's playing on Gabe's snare, me and Rick are acting a fool and having the greatest time and then after the set, they posed for pics with everyone and signed a CD, poster, and set list for us. I'm telling you, fool, I'm a fan!

Gabe even managed to get Dan's number cause they were talking so much drum tech stuff, but I'm sure he had his number changed the next day.

You would think that would be the end of the story, but I go to Dirt afterward for a nightcap and Dirt's crazy packed for a Wed. So I'm like what's going on? And they tell me some bands here, so I wander in to see who it was and it turns out that Semi Precious Weapons, who we've also opened for when we first played with Nico Vega, had a show that same night at House of Blues.

What are the odds. Justin wasn't there, but I was talking with Cole and Dan for a bit and they didn't even know Nico Vega was in town, so they called them to come hang out. I was just blown away that they even remembered me, Dan was talking how he has yet to listen to my solo album I gave him like 9 months ago, man. Hey, he was the one who brought it up, though.

But regardless, it was an amazing night.