Death By Nostalgia On Tour!

On A Cold Road

2005-09-02T23:19:00.000-03:00

August 20th:

Okay, the trip home wasn't that cold, but it did rain a lot, and plus I wanted to insert a reference to Dave Bidini's book about life in a band on the road.

We got up at what seemed like a painfully early hour but in reality was sometime around 9:30. Our plan was to meet our friend Heather and some of the Minks for brunch at a place called La Sala Rosa. Note to everyone: when looking for brunch food for vegetarians while in Montreal, go to Las Sala Rosa. Scrambled tofu, potato latkas, sweet potato home fries. It gets no better. Our waiter was extremely forgetful but in that charming way that makes any transgression forgiveable. Good news for me, Jane decided to come along too as well as Amanda. So I got to hang out with them for a little while longer (but not long enough unfortunately--such is life on the road). Then it was time to say goodbye again.

Before leaving town we had an appointment with CKUT to do a station ID. Our first one ever! We ended up playing it straight on the final version, so hopefully it isn't too boring sounding. But then again knowing Vaughan he went back and re-edited it using some outtakes to make it sound ridiculous. CKUT is nice--they have a slick production room with a full-on Pro-Tools setup, NS-10 nearfield monitors, and an isolation booth with some sweet Audio-Technica large diaphragm condenser microphones.

ahem. Sorry about that, I just went audio-geek on everyone there.

Then it was time to hit the record stores. We went to four or five in total, but the only place we found that did any amount of consignment was L'Oblique. (Everyone in Montreal go to L'Oblique to buy our record!) Spen and Matt bought cool stuff at just about every store we were in, I ended up finally picking up the Slint 10". Two songs for ten bucks...worth it?

All this wandering around in the rain meant that we didn't leave town until about 4:00 pm. Ouch. And that meant we didn't get to Woodstock until about 2:00 in the morning, with about two litres of gas left in the tank. Double ouch. Never drive through Northern New Brunswick late at night unless you're sure you have enoug gas to get to where you're going--all the gas stations close at night. Fortunately Valerie Barker is a patient woman and was not too upset by our late arrival. She had cold beer and fudge waiting for us too. We had some fudge.

Next morning after a breakfast of muffins and fresh fruit it was time to head out again. But not before getting all smashy with the van bumper at the gas station. That's right. Backing up to get next to the pump, I accidentally went too far, only to bring the van to a banging halt. Ugh. I blame the fact that it was raining and the rearview mirror was obscured by band gear, but really it had more to do with me just not paying attention. Oh well, that's what $0 deductible insurance is for.

I honestly don't remember much of the rest of the trip. I know that we were getting along quite well with each other, sort of a "yeah! we made it!" mood was in the air. High fives and hugs. We made it back to Halifax at a surprisingly reasonable hour (Matt and I even made it to the Sunday Bike Dinner). Spen was reunited with Blythe, Matt reunited with Rachelle, and me reunited with my comfy bed. Aww.

Big thanks to everyone who came out to see us, and a really big thanks to everyone who gave us a place to stay: Jane and Vaughan, Swintak, the Da Costas, and the Barkers.

Still to come: PEI adventures!

Montreal, je t'aime

2005-08-29T23:59:00.001-03:00

August 19th:

Montreal is pretty much the coolest city in Canada. I think if I was going to live anywhere outside of the maritimes, it would have to be in Montreal. It's got style, it has endless things to do, and it's almost cheap to live there. It just seems to have an energy to it--as though the city itself is alive. Parts of Toronto have that feeling, as does much of Halifax. But Montreal seems somehow more vibrant, more full of whatever that energy is.

L'Hemisphere Gauche in Montreal marked our final show of the tour outside of the maritimes. It's a bittersweet feeling, knowing that our escape from real life is almost over and we'd be returning to our jobs in just a couple of days. But on the other hand, sleeping in my own bed, knowing that I'd have regular access to a shower and a washing machine and seeing all of our friends again was starting to become very attractive.

I think that the Montreal show was the one that we were all most excited about. In addition to it being in a fun city, there would also be a ton of friends and family in attendance. We were playing with our friends The Stolen Minks (Halifax rock-a-surf-a-billy band extraordinaire), our friend Heather who was staying in , and most exciting for me, it would be the first time my sister Jane would get to see us play (plus a surprise visit from my cousin Amanda who was returning back to Manitoba after a trip to Paris. Woo!)

And basically we killed. It was easily on par with our performance in Guelph, maybe even better. Except for a faulty patch chord from the DI to Matt's amp (and since it was post-DI the audience didn't even notice the problem), it was pretty much a problem-free set and about as tight as we've ever played ever.

Cameromance opened the evening up. It was almost a surreal performance; orignally it was going to just be Gab, but he called up his former bandmate Martine up to the stage to sing on about half of his songs. So we were treated to a reunion of sorts. It was sweet, awkard and a bit touching. I don't know if it means they'll be getting back together or not though.

The Stolen Minks rocked the joint. I think they were a bit nervous playing out of town, and they made a couple of mistakes, but it was a fun set and it got a lot of people on the dance floor and no doubt made some new fans. Then it was back to the other side of downtown to my sister's place for sweet sweet sleep. Nothing beats a good lie down after a busy day of driving and rocking out.

DBN Gets The Royal Treatment In Guelph

2005-08-25T00:16:00.000-03:00

August 18th:

Our warm reception in Guelph easily made up for the lackluster time we had in Kitchener the night before. Tim, the bar manager at Vinyl is totally cool and a straight-up decent guy. The other two bands, Cake Bomb Bolivia and Tin delivered the goods in fine style and are all super nice fellows. We all really liked Tin's set in particular; it reminded me of Wooden Stars and a little bit of Holding Pattern/Burn Rome In A Dream. Lots of intricate guitar parts and interesting chord changes. We also thought that sound-guy Shaun did a great job behind the mixing board.

But enough of patting everyone on the back. Our day started with the drive to Guelph. We decided to wait until we got there to find a restaurant (we also decided that the apparent complete lack of chlorine in the motel swimming pool and the off-colour of the water were good reasons to not go for a morning swim). This meant that it was noon before we had our breakfast. At Wimpy Burger. Fifties and 60's paraphernalia abounds; each booth gets its own juke box selector as well. We twice tried unsuccessfully to play a Monkees b-side, but at least we got to hear such classic 50's hits like Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around Guelph looking for something to do (it's a pretty town, but not a lot of action going on) and hitting record stores (the only one that appeared to take indie CDs on consignment had only local bands and a Burdocks CD in the $5 clearance bin. We didn't leave any DBN merch there.) Eventually we decided to take a drive to see if we could find any parks or swimming holes. That brought us to Guelph Lake. And it brought us to the conclusion that swimming in the maritimes is a lot more fun. Guelph Lake had green dusty smelling water and a slightly slick feel to it. The park worker at the gate assured us that the particular region we went to was safe to swim in (although other parts of the lake were apparently closed due to high backteria levels. Only Matt and I partook. Three terrible slices of Pizza Pizza later and we were ready for sound check.

Guelph was the point in the tour where we really felt like we were hitting our stride. I think we were all comfortable and confident on stage, and the set came together particularly well. We also got a lot of positive feedback from the audience and other bands. Hitting the road has definitely made us tighter. It's just too bad that Guelph was the second last show of the tour.

519 represent. Word.

2005-08-23T09:45:00.000-03:00

August 17th:

The good news is that we managed to get all of my aforementioned errands completed on Tuesday; we posted on several internet message boards about our shows in Kitchener and Guelph, I left three messages at CKMS, and Matt made it down to Zunior Records world headquarters. The really good news is that we had plenty of time left over to go to the Ontario Science Centre (possibly the best science museum in Canada) and we made it out to Scarborough to watch a movie (Me and You and Everyone We Know, officially recommended by all of DBN).

On Wednesday we finally managed to contact Eva at CKMS--the on-air live in the studio interview was a go. Awesome. Or rather, we would learn, at least somewhat better than "not awesome". It turns out that the show we were to appear on was primarily geared towards hip-hop. Despite having a renowned turntablist guest scratch on our album, we are definitely not a hip-hop ensemble. With this in mind we opted to introduce ourselves to Waterloo by opening the interview with Insomnia Part 3, our most rap-like track on the album. The show's host, Ryan, was a nice enough guy. He normally has a different friend on each week. One of the main contributions this week's friend made to the interview was asking the following question: "This one's for all the ladies listening out there. What are your names, and what's your favourite breakfast cereal?" I think it was several hours later before I finally clued in as to why that would be a question specifically of interest to the "ladies". I'll spare you the discomfort of the guest host's other main contribution to the interview.

Our show that night at the Circus Room ended up being more of a dress rehearsal than an actual show. We played to an audience whose size varied from between two and five at any given time. These were apparently some of the "regulars" at the bar and we were told that we could not charge them cover because of their regular status. Given that none of Ryan's homeboys listening to CKMS came to the show (nor did any "ladies" interested in making us breakfast) it meant we made $10 at the door (a donation by this one guy who I believe was actually playing pool upstairs the whole time, but must have taken pity upon us.) One of the regulars told us before the show that we should do a bunch of Beach Boys and Beatles songs, because that's what pays, man. He proceded to remind us of this fact after every song during the first half of our set. Nobody clapped after we played Insomnia; it seems the regulars just don't appreciate baroque hip-hop art rock. The night was saved by Matt's friend Milosh who arrived midway through the show and his infectious enthusiasm cheered us all up. What also cheered us up were the helpful suggestions proposed by this one guy with a killer mullet and muscle shirt. Matt really needs to wear a t-shirt, because he's the front man, and he should dress to stand out as such. Or a hat, or sunglasses, or something! And Spencer definitely needs to get a smaller cymbal, for reasons too convoluted to explain here. Oh, and we should give that guy a t-shirt because it would be free advertising for us.

Enough about that. We had booked a room at the Knights Inn (White Satin) at the far south end of Kitchener. A wise choice as it meant we didn't have to drive back to Toronto, only to turn around the next day to go to Guelph. The Knights Inn (Satan's Service) far surpassed our deluxe accomodations in Etobicoke, if for no other reason than it being $45 cheaper for the night, and it seemed cleaner. Goodnight Kitchener!

Steel City Magic (Monday Aug 15)

2005-08-16T11:48:00.000-03:00

Sharp Like Knives unfortunately couldn't make the Hamiliton show (our hearts go out to them and their broken van), but Special Noise filled in and old pal B.A. Johnston came out, so it was a veritable Halifax reunion.

Strategic planning had us first on the bill, so our friends actually missed us, but we had fun nonetheless. The Underground is a super cool bar, and the videos playing behind the bar enhanced a lot of the bands performances (Microcosmos, Planet of The Apes, etc.)

I also did a sloppy phone interview for the Montreal radio station (my concentration thwarted by traffic) and we got a parking ticket for $5 more than we made at the door!

Learn to love the 401

2005-08-16T11:36:00.000-03:00

We're back in Toronto, after playing a show at Hamilton's Underground. It's a sweet all-ages club thatt inexplicably also sells beer. Apparently Ontario's liquor laws are a little more relaxed than those in Nova Scotia.

The best part of the show was seeing some familiar Halifax faces; Special Noise ended up being the headliners of the show. They were in fine form and played a blistering set--their second of the night, as they also played The Casbah club. My roommate Christian was also in attendance. he made the trip down from cottage country to see us play and to see the Constantines later on this week. However, due to him deciding to watch one more episode of The Office, he completely missed our set. I'm raising your rent, buddy. The bad news is that Sharp Like Knives couldn't make the show. They are having serious van problems and are stranded in Toronto.

Our set went reasonably well with a couple of exceptions. Often when we play we'll make a few mistakes that we notice but apparently the audience never does. Last night's show was pretty tight overall, but we had two near trainwrecks. Ouch. I blame it on having just driven down Highway 401 for the third time in less than a week. That road is a chore. We also hit some major traffic snaggles as we went through Toronto; I don't think Spen is used to that kind of driving, but he handled it with aplomb.

Ottawa was great. I almost wish we could have stayed a little bit longer. The da Costas were excepional hosts as always. Edie made us breakfast both mornings, and made sure we had lots of fresh fruit for our trip. Tara DC has only mellowed a little bit since I last saw her, and both she and her new beau Tim made it out on a late Sunday to see our show at the Manx. The Manx is a small little pub on Elgin St, a rather trendy part of Ottawa. I was worried when I saw the size and clientelle of the place that they would get angry at us for being so loud, but no. Everyone there seemed very receptive, and the bar staff told us that they would love to have us play there again next time we're in Ottawa. Awesome.

Ottawa also marked our first (and hopefully only) injury so far. Spencer's finger. Caught in van door. Ouch. But apart from a small cut and some initial pain he seems okay.

We also had our first swim session in Ottawa, on Petrie Island in the Ottawa river. It was no Long Lake, but it was okay in a pinch. Throw in a rather rushed visit to the National Art Gallery, and that's our stay in Ottawa.

Today is errand day. I have to call Eva at CKMS in Waterloo (I hope she remembers me...), we're going to visit Zunior records, and probably put a plea up on the Stillepost messageboard for people to come to our Kitchener show, and maybe for a local band to play with us. Later,

Rod

Ottawackiness ensues (Aug 14th, Manx Pub)

2005-08-15T02:09:00.000-03:00

After sleeping in, twiddling our thumbs and dropping off CDs in Toronto for 2 or 3 days (highlights: watching Gus Van Sant's Last Days, an on-air interview with CFMU from a pay-phone on Spadina, our friend Swintak's installation at the AGO), Death By Nostalgia played our second show, and I couldn't be happier.

The Manx Pub is a very English-feeling basement Pub on a corner, a bit smaller than Gus' but with way more class. We had to move some tables to make room for our instruments, waiting patiently while a customer sitting next to the drums finished their meal and leisurely continued reading as we surrounded them with gear and mic stands.

We had a very good turn-out for a Sunday night, only a few left at the beginning of our set, and more people showed up as we played. It may have been a little sloppy initially, no soundcheck meant gradually tweaking our levels throughout the set. On a whim, and to lengthen our set a bit, I started off with a solo version of a song we usually play with guitar and hadn't planned on touring. We also played the first half of Long Lake, explaining that Jim usually comes in with more song. I experimented with sitting down to play (the place felt so cosy) but soon abandoned that idea.

I enjoyed the set a lot, and we seemed to make more of an impact. The proof - 200% more CD and button sales than our Toronto gig, and a lot of very positive feedback (finishing the set well before midnight helped). We made a bit extra from the bar, too, as we'd forgotten to take advantage of the band food discount and only drank water. I think will definitely be welcomed back to Ottawa.

Tomorrow, we meet up with Sharp Like Knives (c'mon, where's your tour blog Paul?) for an all-ages showcase at The Underground in Hamilton. It will be great to see some familiar faces, and refreshing to play for a younger crowd, too.

We also scored another low-profile Wednesday show in Kitchener at this bar. Why not, eh? Tell you friends!

Paying a few dues (Aug 10, Sneaky Dee's)

2005-08-11T23:48:00.000-03:00

Death By Nostalgia has officially been introduced to Toronto!

The first performance of our tour was similar to a show we played in Sydney last month, in that we unintentionally ended up last on the bill, resulting in considerably less of an audience. There was a bigger turnout than I had expected, but by the time we left the stage there was just the bar staff, soundman and one of the other bands. I can't blame anybody for not sticking around until ass o'clock on a Wednesday night, I rarely make it through to the end of an entire show myself. My advice to any developing band is to ensure they do not end up headlining in cities where they are still relatively unknown, if you want people to hear you. There is no shame in being the opening act, and I think you tend to get more feedback if you play earlier.

I thought our performance was very good, and will no doubt improve as the other lads have mentioned. It's definitely a huge adjustment without the guitar, and I could stand to do more homework with my keyboard set-up (adjusting volumes, using the new sustain pedal, etc.) For some reason I totally forgot to put my earplugs in, which may have affected my singing pitch from time to time. I also had a bit more beer in me than normal (usually there's none), as I felt I couldn't refuse the bottle placed on stage during our set.

There is always a surrealness to playing shows out of town that I enjoy. The unfamiliar surroundings tend to make me feel like I am simply having a vivid dream about being onstage, which I mentioned to an audience in Sydney. Sneaky Dee's reminded me of a scrappier Stage Nine, in terms of size and location, windows, etc, and also a pretty good restaurant downstairs (which seemed packed all night) and a decently sized stage.

The highlight of the night for me was that some of Rachelle's best friends came out to the show. There's nothing more comforting in a big strange city than having someone you know come out to support you. Thanks Monique, for buying the one CD we sold. I'm sorry we didn't get to talk a bit more, and hopefully our next show will be a bit earlier!

We have been so fortunate to score a place to crash (thanks Swintak!) as last night's motel rental wasn't really worth the 100+ dollars. The band is now in a bit of a holiday mode, as we have no more shows confirmed until Sunday. Will this negate any future postings until we play again? Will DBN find some record stores willing to take our album on consignment? Will we relive our grade 8 Toronto experience and check out the Ontario Science Centre, or bike around Toronto Island on low-rider rental bikes past young Japanese tourists making out?

another day in the life of the DBN monster

2005-08-11T22:20:00.000-03:00

So it's thusday Aug. 11th. We have been on the road for two whole days. A lot has happened. We played our first show in Toronto last night at Sneaky Dee's. It was a good sized club that reminded me a lot of Stage Nine in Halifax. The bar is up 2 flights of stairs. But unlike Stage Nine it has a resturant that serves up some fine Mexican fare downstairs.The show went fairly well. Although we ended up playing last which kind of hurt us because most people left, before we even got on stage. I didn't really care for the first band that much, I found them pretty unorigional, good at what they did, just not my thing. The second band was interesting. Mitch Miller, or something like that. They were almost elavator music at times, but very origional sounding. All in all not a bad first show. We played fairly well, and I think our performances will only get better from here on in. I like Toronto, but unlike Rod and Matt I don't really know anyone who lives here, I find it weird that we have run into so many people who are from or have lived in Halifax. Although it's mostly the NSCAD connection. It seems almost everyone who goes to that school is from or has moved to Toronto. Today was spend wandering around the hot streets, in search of good food and records. We found both with amazing Pad tahi, and Vegtable rotis. I also found an amazing comic book store and picked up a few cds I was unable to find in Halifax at Rotate This. Why can't Halifax be this cool. Maybe it's time to move to a bigger city. So which is it. T.O or Montreal ?
Let me know what you think...

Toronto, I hate you. Okay I lied.

2005-08-11T21:28:00.000-03:00

The drive from Montreal to Toronto was fast and hot. After a somewhat late start (made even later by our decision to poster a little bit in Montreal for our show there next week. And getting bagels. We had no choice but to get bagels.) we made quick time to Toronto and arrived just in time for load in and soundcheck. The rain that had been falling off and on since Kingston decided that it was the perfect time to become a torrential downpour. Thank you very much Toronto. Fortunately it was hot and it almost felt good for a while.

Sneaky Dees is a decent sized venue staffed with very friendly folk and a helpful soundman (whose name I think is Steve but I don't know if he actually told us his name.) And it has a nice sized stage too; so luxurious compared to what we're used to. After setting up we needed food immediately and opted to not bother going on an extended trek for something that might end up sucking and had some mexican food in the restaurant part of the bar downstairs. Ridiculous proportions meant that we were stuffed with beans cheese and rice for the remainder of the evening.

The Parkas openened, apparently with a very different lineup than usual. Mr. Parka had a nice Blue Rodeo style voice and a mellow set. Mitch Willer/Miller/Diller played second. I liked his set quite a bit. Very quirky songs and some nice piano playing, coupled with very personal lyrics. For the mathematically inclined: Burt Bacharach + Dashboard Confessional = Mitch Willer.

Our set was a bit loose. Must have been first show jitters, because I just couldn't play the notes like I wanted to. I wasn't hitting sour notes, I just found that too often I would play a not and it would buzz a painful aount, or I would hit the fret and it wouldn't sound at all. Still, people seemed into it, so hopefully that meant that Spen and Matt were able to cover up my mistakes.

After the show was more evidence that Toronto doesn't like us: unable to find anyone with a place for us to crash for the night, we took the soundman's suggestion of leaving the downtown core to find more affordable accomodations in Etobicoke. Affordable being a $110 room in a skeezy motel staffed by a dude from a David Lynch movie. The room itself had that smell that means: this room isn't clean, but at least it's "clean". IE, some sort of off-smelling disinfectant smell coupled with ancient body odour. Whatever. We were all tired, and the place had such amenities as satellite television and free ice and ice bucket. I slept well at least.

Today was another day. Toronto has redeemed itself in so many ways. Halifax people sightings: Elizabeth who I barely know but used to volunteer at the Khyber and went to NSCAD, Rob Benvie, Seth Scriver, and by far the best, most awesomenest and coolest beyond belief: Swintak. Awesome Swintak, who just happened to be getting ready for a trip to Halifax, and told us that we were totally welcome to crash in her apartment while she's away. No more dodgy motels for us, baby!

Other great things that happened today: we discovered this morning that Motel di Crapolla is about 100 meteres away from Lake Ontario and is right next to a nature park. A lovely walk where we got to see butterflies, ducks, geese and a complete view of the Toronto skyline ensued. We ate at Lotus Garden, a great all-vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant where authentic dishes are cooked with fake meats. And finally we shopped for records and comics, thus making Spen a very happy boy. I think Matt and I are reasonably content too.

On The Road

2005-08-10T10:41:00.000-03:00

Well, one long hot day of driving under our belt, and another long stetch (Montreal, Toronto) ahead of us. So far we have enjoyed some comedy albums courtesy of good friend SWAC, incredible views of the St. Lawrence, a terrible meal at Restaurant Madrid that featured monster trucks and dinosaurs outside, and watching 'Office Space' on the minivan DVD player.

Tonight, we play our first show at Sneaky Dee's! Excited and maybe a bit nervous. Hope to see some old friends at the show, and make some new ones!

-Matt

Tour!

2005-08-08T11:09:00.000-03:00

So it's only a few hours until we hit the road for the tour! I can tell you that I am getting pretty excited, a little nervous (I'm sure that will pass) I can't think of many other things I would rather do then travel and play music with two of my best friends. So check back often for updates about the tour and stuff in general. If you want to learn more about Death by Nostalgia, then go to our website, www.deathbynostalgia.ca See you on the road. Spencer

We Leave Tomorrow...

2005-08-08T10:01:00.000-03:00