It's been quite a while since I've written on this platform. So I have a bit of catching up to do. The European tour was a great experience. We played 14 shows in 16 days with Cani Sciorri joining us for all of it. They were great tour partners. They provided the backline, took care of a lot of the tour logistics along with Manuel Veniani who booked the thing. We had a great crew of Marco and Nano helping us out with driving and heavy lifting. I went in with pretty positive expectations but I know some of the rest of the band had a more cautious outlook but I am very happy to report it was a lot of fun, the shows were solid shows, we got treated well by everyone that hosted us from the promoters to the clubs and most of all the fans that showed up. Our friend Will Mainwaring joined us for a good portion of the tour and Tricia's family also caught up with us on a few of the dates. Some people really went out of their way and I wish I could thank everyone on here but it's been a while and I'd hate to leave anyone out that deservedly earned a huge amount of gratitude. the Barcelona Crew especially the folks at Beauty Fool Records, Antena Krzyku, Jon at Gure-Hitzak, Michele Tripani, of course all of the clubs and their staff.
Personally, highlights were playing at Mando Bizzaro (RIP) and not only having one of the greatest shows of my life but having a gentleman come up to me after we got off stage and, as I was outside trying to get some air in my lungs and cool off in my sweat drenched clothes, with tears in his eyes put a hand on my shoulder, and said in the most beautiful French accent, "I wait twenty-five years to see your band." I'll never forget that for as long as I breathe. Other great moments were playing at a converted barn, now community center, in the middle of France. The very first gig at the Freak Out Club and meeting long time fans such as Valentina and hanging out with them long passed the end of the gig. We all fell in love with Poland. Poznan is a great city and Club U Bazyla is a great club! The drive to Tolosa to play at Bonberenea was one of the most scenic and beautiful journeys you can take. We all started to talk about returning there when we get old(er) and just spending time in that countryside. I think what I'll have to do is revisit a few notes I took and write individual posts so I can share them on here. It's just quite a task to take on right this second.
One of the coolest things that happened was that on the last club date at in Hamburg at Hafenklang, Muck Giovanett asked us if he could record our set off the board. Soon after he sent me the files. I didn't do anything with them for quite a while but eventually I mixed the room mics with the board sound and shared it on Facebook. After some time Gianlucca from Improved Sequence contacted us asking if we'd be interested in releasing it as a double lp. Of course we agreed and eventually it all came together as beautiful gatefold package. You guys need to understand how much "Live in Hamburg" means to me. Having my name in the credits as a band member in one of my favorite bands with some of my favorite people is such an amazing feeling. Gianlucca absolutely did an incredible job and it was a lot of fun working on this project with him. I took on getting the images together and getting a rough layout for them to then make a reality and we are forever grateful for this album. As a side note since that time my label Total Annihilation Records also co-released 400 Blows first album 3-19-98 on vinyl as well in conjunction with Improved Sequence and we're hoping to continue to collaborate with them on more releases. (I'll include links at the end of this thing.)
Another great experience was having the Cani Sciorri guys coming to record with me in May of 2019. They spent about a week in Los Angeles. We took about 5 days working on the record that turned out to become Ten Tacos and One Burrito..a title they came up with when I would take them to the taco spot down the street from my home in East Los Angeles and Alessandro ended up ordering that much food...just for himself!!!! I had a really fun time with those guys maybe I'll post more about that later but I have to say the raddest thing was just hanging out with them and eventually playing a gig at Club Nela (RIP) with my band Leopold and our friends Bratty & Jack Ass.
Like I stated above, there is so much more I can share but I'll move it along. So after the European expedition we didn't do much. Eventually we got asked to play the No Coast Festival in Arlington TX. and we also played at The Lost Well in Austin. Those shows were really fun, all the bands were great and we were treated really well. I suspect the folks at the Lost Well paid us quite a bit more than just what was collected at the door. Again, it's amazing how cool people have treated us everywhere we've gone. Sadly, due to the pandemic, a west coast tour we were starting to book had to be canceled. I'm hoping we'll get back on track with that soon.
So that brings us to the present...As of now we're playing some shows in a few months Caterwaul already being announced on May 28th with The Cherubs, The Vaz, Totimoshi and a bunch of other amazing people. We've already begun rehearsing. Let me tell you, after not playing together for almost exactly 3 years it was a rough set of rehearsals last weekend. Songs that are usually not problem for me I had to review and concentrate on quite a bit. By day 3 we started sounding better so I have not doubt we'll be ready but man...3 years takes it toll on you. I'll try to post on here as we work towards getting ready. Honestly, I can't imagine it being anything other than.."We practiced this song and that song, and are now sounding better" but I'm sure I can find other things to share that relate to Distorted Pony.
Here are the links I mentioned:
