03.01.10
After pages upon pages and literally hundreds of band names, we’ve finally found one we are all comfortable releasing to the world. It has a lot of room for direction and growth as we get that all figured out, and sparks that warm nostalgic part of our imaginations.
Our time in the studio was amazing. John Naclerio is a great guy and was such an asset to hook up with. We put a lot of work into these songs before hitting the studio, and I really think it made a big difference. While I don’t think we’re where we need to be, I think we’re making great strides to get there. We’re real proud of this one.
As for our time in New York, the studio was actually about 45 minutes from downtown in a place called New Windsor. This was wonderful in the sense that we could leave the van and trailer and not be too worried about it, as well as not having to drive through all the traffic daily. We got into town a couple days early because we did want to spend at least one day wandering the shops and the billboards and the bums. We left the trailer at John’s and started the drive over to The City. Tolls, tolls, and a few more tolls later, we parked in a garage off 42nd. After loading up Clayton’s backpack with all the necessary goodies and camera’s, we struck out. While most of the day is pretty hazy, a few things stuck out. We met a street salesman that was selling comedy tickets to Dave Attell and Greg Giraldo for only 15 bucks a piece. We talked him into giving us two tickets for free, which worked out to $9 per person to split it evenly. What a steal. We gave him our names and he called in the reservation. A few hours later, our minds suddenly realized where we were. NYC street ticket sales guy could very well have been a scammer. We whipped the tickets out, found the number, and gave them a call. Our reservations were registered with the lady and our minds were eased a bit. We still thought it a good idea to check out the place a little earlier than show time. We killed a lot of time by wandering central park looking for spots from the Home Alone movie where he met the pigeon lady and such. Finally, we had worked our way to the club. Our stomachs felt a little uneasy. The small storefront boasted white paper and tape everywhere. Buckets of paint, bits of plaster, and workhorses slung with tool belts filled the floor. We had been swindled. We called again to inform the receptionist that the building was under construction, but she assured us to come back at 8 and everything would be good to go. A few workers just inside the door assured us the very same thing. Wary as ever, we decided that this was NYC and it was worth the wait to find out despite the cold. A short ways away we found a stairwell with a sign out front that read: Tarot Readings. We were in. The mystic’s buzzer was very clearly marked despite the dirty machine and we heard the door lock click open. Pushing in, we climbed the stairs to find a table draped with a purple cloth and covered in a menu and tarot cards. We asked if she would mind reading just Clayton’s palm, as we were a broke band, but read it as the band’s fortune. She agreed and immediately began spouting facts, staring intently at Clayton’s upturned hand. She would look up and ask questions but her mouth rarely stopped moving and we struggled to catalog all the important facts she was telling us. This would be a great year for us. She saw us outside of the country. Don’t trust E names and trust J names (Joseph and I nudged each other on this one). April would be a good month but so would October. She also included a few tidbits for Clayton specifically like he would have four boys, but love would come much later in life. It was very impressive and we were all a little speechless as we thanked her and handed her the $10, our brains trying to process everything. I’m sure there are things we missed, but we got the important stuff I’m sure. After all of this it still wasn’t time to hit the comedy club so we popped into a goodwill. Always a good way to kill time. This was definitely the smallest Goodwill I’ve ever been to, but my two-copies-of-Jerry-McGuire-at-every-GW still held true. Finally it was time to head to the club, and sure enough, there were people lined up inside. Breathing a sigh of relief, we all headed in and gave them our tickets. The inside of the place was nearly as bad as the outside. Plain drywall adorned the walls and chairs and tables were crammed into the small space. The “stage” was a foot tall riser that was probably 8x6. We talked to the waitress who told us this was set up by a touring comedian (no Dave Attell or Greg Giraldo) and asked for our drink orders. When we told her that we wouldn’t be buying anything, she informed us there was a 15 dollar minimum tab and %18 gratuity added to every check. Not happening. We explained to the door guy that we were a touring band with no spare cash and that this deal was never mentioned when we bought the tickets. We gave him two options: refund the money or waive the tab fee. He thought it would be best if he refunded the tickets so he could sell them to someone that would be okey with the bar tab. We agreed and asked for the money back on 5 tickets at $15 dollars a piece. Hope you’ve been paying attention. So, with some money in our pockets, we decided to call it an evening and head back to the hotel. On our way, we passed a movie theater where a young lady kept continually glancing at us. Never one to pass up an opportunity to make new fans, I doubled back to introduce myself and the rest of the boys. It turns out they were waiting for friends, one of whom was having a birthday, and venturing out further from there. After some ice breaking, we got invited along and spent the evening in Toys ‘R Us, McDonald’s, and a couple touristy spots amidst the city. It was a good night. After a subway ride that introduced us to some great busking musicians, I also found out a high school friend had recently moved literally blocks away from where we parked our car. I met up with her to say hello and walk her a few blocks home before we piled into the van at 2am. Not too shabby for planning on heading home around 10. With tired legs, we all went straight to our sleeping bags and hotel beds to wake up for one of the best hotel breakfasts I’ve had to date. We spent the next four days in the studio hashing out some music we can’t wait for you to hear.
There are some big things on the horizon for us and we can’t wait to get it out to , not only our friends here in Iowa, but to the rest of the country as well. Who knows, maybe the world awaits.
