The City Veins

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.

Oh, you’re still here?

Thank you to the (maybe) 5 people left reading this after we neglected to post for about a week.  We’ve all been busy with stuff outside of the band like jobs and such (you know, the stuff that actually pays us) so we’ve been pretty bad about posting.

Not much going on City Vein land this week as a result. Although, like Aaron said, we had 2 practices last week in which we tried to write new songs and they were awful.  In one practice, Charles completely forgot how to play the guitar.  He had an audit earlier that day at work and I think our poor Rickenbacker bore the brunt of his frustrations.  In the other, we had some good ideas but nothing coherent or particularly moving.

I will say this about our band, though: I like that we don’t force songs. Writer’s block sucks and can be demoralizing, but we don’t commit to songs unless we really like them. I wish more artists did this. I feel like some artists record and put out every little musical thought they’ve ever had, for better or for worse. Others just phone in it and make mediocre records just to make more money or fill obligations. We don’t do either, which means we might not crank out new music as quickly but when we do, you can be guaranteed we’re excited about it. I like to think that translates on stage as well. Several people have remarked that we seem to have a lot of fun on stage, and we are, in no small part because we really like our songs and njoy playing them. Shouldn’t more artists have that attitude?

Now, some random stuff:

• Velvet Lounge: Has anyone else been blown away by the changes at Velvet? It’s like a whole new place. The boys and I went over there to see Imperial China and Len Bias (both of whom put on excellent shows BTW) and we felt like we were in Bizarro World.  The narrow hallway to the bathroom now has a decent size sitting area, and upstairs walls have been knocked out to create way more space and accommodate a bar. All in all, the changes have been pretty positive (EXCEPT, of course, getting rid of Rob, the best sound guy in all DC). The one complaint I’d have, though, is that the stage now needs to be higher.  If you’re in the back of the upstairs area by the bar, it’s very hard to see the bands.
• I’m Going Hungry: We have been called out by our friend Spencer, and I think I might be down for this. I do love me some Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, and hybrids thereof.
• Running Music: Yesterday at the gym I was running on the treadmill while rocking Radiohead’s K Computer on my iPod.  CNN was on mute, but it was the same old high-school-type political bullshit they run incessantly: “Did you hear what McCain said about Obama?” “Yeah, and then Obama was like that’s bullshit and no likes you.” The usual garbage that passes for “the best political team on TV”. Anyway, they come back from commercial and go right into this crap, when “Electioneering” comes on my iPod.  I had to laugh because as soon as they showed the candidates, Thom starts singing:

I will stand…I will stand for nothing. Say the right thing when electioneering. I trust I can rely on your vote.

Happy weekend everyone. Next weekend (August 9), we’re at the DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan for a bone cancer benefit with Anchorage and My Friend Autumn. Great show, great bands, great cause.

Another week, another exciting first for The City Veins. Tonight we pop our Black Cat cherry! I’m pretty excited. Black Cat is somewhere we’ve all wanted to play forever, since before we were the Brotherhood of Veins, and to have this opportunity is pretty freakin awesome. In fact, playing the Black Cat was one of the only goals we had when we started this here band.

We need your help though - the more people we can bring out tonight, the better chance we have at getting one of those coveted weekend, mainstage spots in the future (which is our main goal).

So, IF:

• you like us (you’re on our site, aren’t you?) OR
• you’ve just heard about us (welcome!) OR
• you’ve never been to one of our shows OR
• you’re curious to find out what the buzz is about OR
• you’ve seen us dozens of times and can’t get enough

AND

• you’re free tonight at 9 PM
• you’re in the the DC metro area

THEN

• Come out to Black Cat.

It will rock. A lot. I guarantee.

(PS - Sorry to get all so promotional but, in the words of De La Soul, stakes is high).

Our Ft. Reno experience was amazing. I’m sure we’ll write about it in greater detail later, but right now it’s 1:10 AM. I have to work tomorrow, but I’m feeling so pumped up still that I can’t sleep.

Tonight Ian MacKaye and Ted Leo were in the audience and we played one of our best shows yet. They were really cool and complimentary to us as well. Maybe they were just being nice, I don’t care - I can die in peace.

We’re playing the venerable Ft. Reno festival tonight as a part of a great line-up with The Boom Orangutangs and Sarah Azzara. We’re on second (7:55 PM). It’s free, it’s outside, and it’s fun. Come check it out.