Some Milage That...
It is exactly 24 hours into my dog sitting experience. I can’t help but feel like i’m in an independent Netflix film, about a writer with a complex character and an extensive record collection. Maybe it’s because i’m using an apple mac on a glass dining table, with a friendly fox-red Labrador smiling by my side. I must say though, 6 Music is not doing it for me whilst I try and write this blog update, is this a Just Jack remix? (Band actually called 'Everyone you know'. Avoid, for your health. Just no.)
The past 5 months have been ever so busy, and so I’m told it’s only going to get busier. Since End of the Road we have played in Brighton, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Cambridge, Dublin, Portsmouth, Liverpool, Oxford, Cardiff, Nottingham, Paris, Diest, Luxembourg, Munich, Berlin, Leipzig, Hanover, Hamburg and Groningen in the Netherlands! Think about how many cheese burgers that adds up to. I say that, but in Europe we swayed more towards the McWings. Us McBrits have missed a McTrick there. A big part of me wants to spend a good paragraph rambling on about the pure struggles and expenses we have gone through due to the difficulties our beloved van has given us, (and yeah, the old gal has gone through a lot recently, kudos.) However Max (boyfriend/PI sound engineer) has just advised me not too, considering nobody probably wants to be reminded of that, and would be a completely pointless read. I think he’s right. I will say she is back in the game, driving like a mirangue on wheels ready for more milage.
Going home to Cornwall for Christmas came at a perfect time for us. Not only is it nice to get out of the Brighton chaos that we have such a love/hate relationship with, but we got to hang out with our Mum and Dad, who are just amazing. As wonderful as they are, together as a family we are not to be left alone in the ‘festive period’ for too long, with this years bottle count of red wine totalling to 66, in 2 weeks. And you wonder where we get it from? Of course ‘Dry Jan’ was fixed into place on the route home. Which we stuck to religiously... until Eurosonic Festival. I think I can speak for all of our little team when I say that Eurosonic was by far the most organised, professional and well crafted festival we have been to, (Billy McFarland, take notes).
Walking into the ‘Artist’s Village', which was located in an old sugar factory in Groningen, Holland, us and hundreds of other bands were greeted by the calm and collected Dutch. It really did feel like induction day at Hogwarts School of Alternative Music. I would say minus the cloaks, but some bands totally embraced that look. Our first evening there went on into the cold night, and as if all the excitement of breaking our ‘Dry Jan’ on €2.50 larger and hogging the ‘artist’s ping pong table’ all evening, it was topped off by retiring to bed on boat hotel on a river. The next morning was flourished with boiled eggs and orange juice, free haircuts for Jack and Max by more incredibly zen Dutch people, and a welcome gift from the festival. As for the gigs, It was different to what we are usually used to, there being hardly any punters and mainly an ‘industry’ audience. I guess you could say that boosted our adrenalin a little. Both shows went pretty rockin’ despite the nerves, and we left the festival feeling we did what we needed to do. We'll be back to Holland and the rest of the lovely European mainland this year with London Calling in Amsterdam, Transformer Festival in Maastricht, Pohoda Festival in Slovakia and more dates that we are excited to share with you all!
I guess you could say I am a little bit excited about going to America with the band in March. (ERMAGUUURRRRDDDCKSDHFKHSN%£ £MKBFJSKG3MKAK!!!!!!!!!!!) Okay maybe a little. Yes, I have been up till 3am most nights Googling things like:
“best slice of pizza in new york” “is it possible to see all of new york in one day” “do real cowboys still live in texas”
“where does lindsay lohan live" “list of restaurants on Man vs. Food" “price of cowboy boots” “price of tater tots” “price of disneyland”
But it’s not about the colourful snacks or novelty clothing, it’s about the rock shows, right? We are flying into New York City to play The New Colossus Festival where we're playing a show at a venue called Arlene's Grocery. Legend has it that Joey Ramone's ghost haunts the venue! I especially can’t wait to play the BBC6 Music stage at SXSW in Austin, it really doesn’t feel real yet. And if it doesn’t get any better than that, Deerhunter are playing too?! wtf.
Anyhoo, I’ll be sure to write a new blog post about all the E numbers I could possibly consume in the 10 days we are over there. Oh, and of course the gigs! Can’t forget the gigs. Tomorrow we have an exciting gig in London, performing at Rough Trade East for their ‘Rough Trade Recommends’ show that they do. Its a true honour to headline it. As for now, I’m probably going to post more photos of this fantastic Labrador on Instagram. I can totally see where all you annoying pet owners get this craving from now.
See y’all soon!
Lily xxx
