I Know It’s Coming When I Don’t See It Coming December 5
Well, it has been more than a week since our show at Iota. For those who don’t know, that was our last concert.
The question has been “why are you breaking up?” Basically, we can’t seem to write any new music, we can’t seem to develop a fan base, which mean that we can’t get better concerts. Also, no one wants to buy/download/steal/listen to our album.
So a better question may be, “why did you stay together for so long while obviously failing at every aspect of being in a band?” Well, we really like playing together. We get along well, and have had a lot of fun. The problem was that once work started getting in the way, and we had been playing the same music for so long, concerts just were not fun anymore.
The positives are that we all still get along, and we played a great show at Iota for our last concert. This is better than when Roosevelt Roosevelt broke up, and we played our last concert at Zig’s and didn’t talk to each other for months. I still don’t really talk with half of that band, and I was so angry with Aaron that he moved to England for a year to escape my wrath. Compared to that, this is a lot better.
Still, it is sad when a band breaks up.
Keep your eye out here for some .mp3s that didn’t make the CD that no one cares about. Also, I imagine that if any of us get a new gig, we will post details here.
Thank you to everyone who came out to see us, played with us, supported us, etc. It was fun.
Bayes Dec 5
A sad day indeed. I care Charles. I care about the Mp3s. You forgot to mention that no one cared about posting responses on this website. Sorry, but you forgot that part. I blame Aaron. As should you.
Tom Dec 5
I’m sorry to see you guys go. I genuinely really liked this band and its music. Not like I’m-a-friend-so-I-have-to-like-it, or even I’ve-heard-this-so-much-I-have-Stockholm-Syndrome-like-it, but actually liked it. That first mixed version of Toe the Line still gets a decent workout on my ipod.
Also yes I agree, let’s blame Aaron.
Bayes Dec 8
Too little too late Tommy! Nice try but they’re not going to get back together just because you finally decided to post something!! Curse you my arch nemesis. Curse you long and hard.
J. Tom Hnatow Dec 8
Sorry to hear this. I enjoyed both the pleasure of playing with you and of seeing you. I think you’re all excellent musicians and I genuinely hope you all keep involved in the DC music scene in some way.
“why did you stay together for so long while obviously failing at every aspect of being in a band?” isn’t the question, though. It never is (or shouldn’t be!). Most bands fail - the nature of being in a band is failing for a very very long time. Look at the Velvet Underground, Big Star, the Replacements, etc - all bands that ‘failed’ in their times.
The question is whether the artistic fulfillment you get outweighs the bullshit factor of being in a band (a band at any level). Its a difficult balance - its hard to justify to your co-workers why you come in late and hung-over. Its hard to justify to your girlfriend why you HAVE to practice - or just need time to get a demo down. And its hard to justify to each other why you should keep going after a shitty show - or after slogging for months - or years - away doesn’t seem to get you any farther along the line.
And, inevitably there comes a day where you can’t - as happens to every band, great and small. And so the best you can do is - sadly - take a graceful exit and move on.
Remember, though - the very art of creation is a success unto itself. You created something that had not existed beforehand, and affected people with it. People came to shows - they danced, they sang, they were moved. That is, by any definition of what a band is supposed to do - a success. And far more than most people will be able to say for their lives.
So - although it may sound slightly perverse in this context - Congratulations. Take a bow, Gents, and move forward - with whatever you will accomplish next.
JJ Dec 8
Well said Tom.
Another thing. It sounds like you guys are burnt out. Sad Bastard/Eastern Homes/Anchorage has had a number of periods of inactivity where we didn’t play for half a year or a year. But after a while, the urge to play came back and the creative juices started flowing once we got together. Sometimes, it just takes time and the right state of mind to make really good music.
Also, it sounds as though you had some pretty lofty expectations for yourself. Putting that kind of pressure on yourselves is antithetical to the creative process. If you really enjoy creating music, put the emphasis on doing that, rather than on any specific outcome (like building a huge fan base or playing shows at 930).
My $.02.
JJ
PS - I have your CD in my car and I listen to it a lot.