The City Veins

Before this band started, I hadn’t played in a band for about 4 years. Which is a long time to not be playing music seriously. It has been weird adjusting to being in a band again, but gradually the feeling of playing in a band is been coming back to me.

For example, we have started to come together musically. We are really listening to each other, and playing off of each other. Rather than just stand and play our parts, we are starting to mess with things and play off of each other. For example, I am starting to get an idea of what fills Spencer likes to play. This is really when things become exciting. We are starting to form an identity as a band. It is a long process, but it is happening.

In addition, our email back and forth have become increasingly juvenile. This is also an important step towards becoming a band. You have to be comfortable enough with each other to be able to say, and write things, to each other that most people would find shockingly offensive. We are just starting to get there, having Adam in the band helps. All we need now is a real good band fight, and I am thinking of starting one with Aaron just to get it out of the way.

All of these things have started me on the path towards feeling like I am in a band again. The moment that I finally had the “I am in a band” epiphany occurred on Friday at the Brass Monkey. When you play in a small band that is just starting out, you spend a fair amount of time in small bars waiting to play. We happened to have the last slot on Friday night, and given that we are not from Baltimore we didn’t really have anywhere to go. The result is that we spent the 4 hours before we went on just sitting at the bar. You may be saying to yourself; “So, I have spent 4 hours at a bar before. What is the big deal?” Well, the problem when you are playing in a band is that you can’t get too drunk to play. Bars are built to get you drunk, and they are shockingly good at it, and to spend that much time in one and not get drunk seems, and feels, wrong. I had to institute a one beer per hour limit to keep myself honest. But is was then, sitting at the bar with Adam and staring at the clock that I realized that I am in a band again.

We are playing at the Brass Monkey Saloon tonight. This will be our first gig outside of DC, so it is a Road Gig! This reminds me of the Tenacious D episode about their first road gig. Here is a link, and while it isn’t as good as other episodes, it is still better than working on a rainy Friday.

We are playing with: Boxcar Collision, Skydivers, and Frontwise. We are playing last. We hope to see some of you out tonight.

Also, I was hoping to have a free song for this Friday, but it isn’t ready yet. Check back early next week.

The latest song in our ongoing attempt to remove all of my fake drums is “When I Don’t See It Coming,” which you can download below. This song was actually slightly difficult for Spencer to get because we play it markedly faster live, and he just wasn’t use to how slow it was. But after a few takes, he finally got it down. We are actually trying to slow the song down a little so that Aaron can actually sing, rather than scream it live.

I thought that I would also link to a couple of bands that are playing with us.

First, on May 13th we are playing at DC9 with Inner Loop.

Then, on May 24th we are playing the Red and the Black with The Daybreak Line.

On June 7th we are playing with Prabir and the Substitutes and First Rays.

So head over to those links and give a listen.

 Don't See It Coming [2:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So after sleeping a lot yesterday and realizing I am going to have to get used to playing til late in the evening and taking free whiskey shots from grateful bartenders, I am totally up for it. The show was a total rush, and I was telling the other guys that 10 minutes after the show ended I really didn’t even remember being up on stage. That’s how quickly it goes by, and how into the music and crowd you get. Playing live is a totally different feeling than practicing or running through the set list a few times. First, on stage the band isn’t all facing each other, which makes for a completely different setup. Second, you can’t stop after a song and “try it again”, or start from a certain spot to fix what you fucked up before. The set is one rapid succession and once the opening beat starts, it’s just a barrage of energy until the final crash of the cymbals. Obviously I’m having a hard time describing the feeling, but I guess the word to describe it is exhilerating, also exhausting, but in a good way. Aaron always says if you aren’t completely spent after playing a set you haven’t done it right. I like that way of thinking. We were all drenched in sweat and it was like a feeling of victory. I was also totally impressed with our collective energy on stage, we legitimately enjoy playing with each other as a band. We are all really happy with the first show and if anything it made us want to go out the next time and rock even harder. Aaron and I are headed to Velvet tonight to see Prabir and the Substitutes, a cool 60s type rock band from Richmond. Maybe we can do some shameless promotion while we’re down there. Adios.

So this is not only my first City Veins blog post, but my first blog post ever. Forgive me if it’s a bit scatterbrained, I’m on about 3 hours of sleep after our incredibly kick-ass debut last night.

Which brings me to the first topic: a huge THANKS to all who came out last night. We were overwhelmed by your support and we hope you had as much fun watching us as we had playing. Big ups to the Velvet Lounge too, that place is awesome and Rob does an amazing job with the sound. It’s refreshing when play places where the owners/staff actually care about and have a knowledge of music - a puzzlingly foreign concept to some of the places I’ve played before (not mentioning any names, but its initials are G&T and it’s located on Wisconsin St in Georgetown). Also, a great deal of gratitude to all the bloggers who mentioned us on their sites and came out to see us; we’re all very thankful for helping get the word out. Everyone should go check them out (in no particular order): dcist, manifest destiny, grammar police, outta mind outta site, and matthew yglesias.

Ok so no that the thank yous are taken care of, let’s get down to rock. God damn I love rocking. In the few months it’s been since the last Gone By June show (my last band), I had forgotten just how much I loved rocking. Rocking rocks. It’s the best. I love the energy I felt onstage, both from my bandmates and from the crowd. Except sex, there’s nothing that can compare. We all felt so good to be back on stage; it’s only been since November for me but it’s been about two years for Aaron, Adam, and Charles, and we were giddy as little kids to get up there last night. Did we make mistakes? Were there things we can improve on? Absolutely yes on both questions (for example, starting “Don’t See It Coming” at a ridiculously break-neck speed was one thing for me personally to work on). But we rocked and it felt good. I almost want to give one of those Johnny Drama “VICTORY” shouts if it wasn’t kind of cliched at this point (what the hell - VICTORY!)

I am very excited that this is just the beginning. It was a hell of a good start and I’m just thankful to be a part of it all (God bless Craigslist and the good fortune of answering that ad). I can’t wait until our next show.

What’s Next - Next we are working on getting two more tracks mixed with full live drums (”Don’t See It Coming” and “Toe the Line”). They’re sounding pretty bad-ass in their rough versions, within a week they should be done. Ryan Bullard, guitarist for Gone By June, is doing a HELL of job mixing and mastering these tracks. If you like what you hear on the two we’ve posted already (”Cultured Capital” and “Strike Up the Band”), tell Ryan here. After those last 2 are done, we’ll be pressing a CD with all four and handing them out at shows and in press kits.

Finally (sorry this thing is getting long), please go to www.myspace.com/cityveins and add us as a friend. We really need human friends on that thing.

Peace,

Spencer