05.24.13 / It's night time now. I'm laying flat out on the hardwood floor that the whites of my shelves and walls and ceiling and lamps and books and t-shirts are founded on. With patience, my candle burns in front of me. With impatience, I catch myself in a high state of concentration, typing speedily and spritely in a (sure-to-lose) battle with a pair of droopy eyes, a fading mind, and two rows of unbrushed teeth. No good.
I'm doing my best, though, it's somehow hard to recount the melting pot of happenings and tales of our spring tour. But I'm trying darn hard. (All of the load-ins, load-outs, plug-ins, plug-outs, sound checks, bus calls, glasses and hats flying off/head-banging, sleeping, waking, walking, running, eating out, drinking up... and whatever else attaches itself to tour life- it all becomes one long and transient and radical journey.) It all flashes by in my mind like a flip-book viewed upside-down through a pair of 3D glasses- so fast and fleeting, but also so tangible- even though it was only one long month ago.
So much can happen in a month.
/ One of my dad's best friends passed away. He was my friend, too. His name was Pete Sandman. / One of my cousins had a baby boy. / My five-year-old nephew's soccer and baseball seasons started up for the summer. / I took a small step forward in enthusiasm for fashion and design. / I finally got to see Vampire Weekend perform live. It was great.
So much more has happened, too, of course.
But tour- best one yet. We all agreed.
This six week venture, quickly dubbed and hashtagged, "MARCHMATTRESS", was honestly very inspiring to us all. The shows were quite diverse in venue type and attendance, and yet, we were constantly surprised and encouraged to witness at least a small tribe present to listen and engage with us/our music.
And now we're home. Safe and sound.
And now we're dreaming, for more of this, but in ways we haven't yet experienced or shared together in. We hope our music will soon swallow us whole, allowing us no time for anything else but to create music together that we all love and can't wait to share- with people we know well, but/and especially the people we don't.
It's fun. To be back home is fun! We're writing new songs, scheming new tour routes, imagining a new album, hoping for a new rehearsal space... it's fun. I say, let the fun never end.
Michael Robert Newsted
//
Culture Keeper