A R K S

Goodbye Arks, Hello Everything

2007-12-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

We are of course saddened to depart from beneath a banner that's served us dutifully for these past five years, but we are simultaneously adrenalized by upcoming collaborations with each other and with the inimitable talents with whom we've been fortunate enough to acquaint ourselves over the band's lifespan. We realize, ultimately, that this is not a death: this is simply a necessary mutation. This is a branching out in the evolutionary tree.

And as this evolution is mutually recognized and accepted within the band, the group's soft disintegration is executed with no ill-will. We dissolve Arks as we ran it: as the best of friends. We wish only success toward one another in future projects. We will be the first ones in line at one another's shows. Just try and stop us.

If this is an evolution, what are the future species? Initial observations indicate the formation of two distinct lines:

While Glenn leaves Arks to work on a variety of musical pursuits, he and Paul will continue work together on a preexisting but evolving project, Music Hall, with the help of longtime friend and sound sculptor to the stars, PK Hooker.

Mat and Lanny will also continue working together, enlisting a member of another Chicago band who recently made their own swan song. Who that is will be said when the time comes to announce the new project. In the meantime, they will search for the final leg or arm to complete what they will next become.

All involved in Arks will be maintaining existing sites a while longer, and as such are still reachable in the usual places. When everyone is grounded or aloft in their respective upcoming projects, you will of course be among those to feel the touch of our communicative tentacles.

And let us wrap those arms around your ears one last time this Thursday, December 6th at Darkroom (2210 W. Chicago Ave.). We will do our best to leave an indelible mark in the stage with our spasms and amperage. Our stalwart friends Walking Bicycles and Bang! Bang! will aid in the effort, presented by KEXP.org. Doors at 8. And to show you we mean every nice word we've ever said, the first hundred people receive three free albums in a classy Highwheel bag. Christmas early in triplicate.

We end this final broadcast with a thank you. To all of you that made every minute worthwhile. To all our friends who came to innumerable shows, shouted, clapped, and cavorted. To complete strangers who showed us that love of music is not and never will be dead, who bought us a drink, who shook our hands, who yelled a little louder than expected after a song they'd never heard. To Julius and Jocelyn of Highwheel Records whose love for music, and our little pocket of it, knew no bounds and can never be over-appreciated. To all of you: we love and thank you. We can only hope to repay you on the stages of the future.

With this, we mutate.

Yours,
Arks

Let Your Sluggish Voice Be Heard

2007-11-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

While the tour blog was certainly well and quickly manned by Mat "Quick Blog" Biscan, I have finally gotten to my own notes and photos (a few of which were already used on the band blog proper). So if you feel like reliving the whole thing, in greater (read: verbose, tangential) detail, feel free to read the posts starting today at my blog.

Empty Bottle Monday Night

2007-11-21T08:52:00.001-08:00

What a welcome home! Packed house at the Empty Bottle, everyone was having a great time. If someone wasn't, they were dead inside.

(Photo by Hayley Murphy)

See more photos here and here.

Glennome Falls on Hard Times

2007-11-19T08:05:00.000-08:00

Glennome falls on hardtimes

Getting Home

2007-11-18T21:11:00.001-08:00

Well, tour's just about over. Just got home and settled in. Tomorrow night is the show at the Bottle. I heard our interview on Q101 this evening. We had a phone interview in our van in Pittsburgh, where the station asked me about the Against Me! story and Lanny about the tour. We didn't sound like jackasses, so score 1 for Arks.

In Pittsburgh, our friend's Bill and Lacey gave us a place to crash, cooked us dinner and then took us out for brunch! We couldn't have asked to be associated with nicer people.

The drive home was easy. I spent 3.5 hours playing video games, 2 hours watching Old School and another 2.5 driving.

Here's a tally of things broke, lost and lost/found:

Broken:
1. 1 Bass
2. 1 Bass head (including 3 fuses)
3. 1 bass string
4. 4 guitar strings
5. 1 instrument cable
6. 1 guitar cabinet (fixed)
7. 1 guitar amp (fixed)
8. 1 mashed guitar headstock

Lost:
1. 1 ATM card
2. 1 set of car keys
3. 1 screw (holds drum throne together)

Lost, then Found:
1. 1 earing backing
* Lost: in an apartment
* Found: in the van
2. 1 nut that holds on guitar amp input
* Lost: unknown
* Found: on a pedal board
3. 1 guitar amp input
* Lost: in New York
* Found: In Pittsburgh
4. 1 Sharpie pen
* Lost: in one city
* Found: in another bag in another city
5. 1 USB camera cable
* Lost: In an apartment
* Found: In a venue parking lot

New York, Day 2

2007-11-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

The Annex show went pretty well. I don't understand why the venues in NY look at you funny when you bring your own equipment. We spent part of our sound check convincing the sound guy to let us use our own drums. He gave us a funny look, like we were presenting him with a really dumb idea. Seriously, why would any musician want to use their own equipment? That's crazy talk!

Walking Bicycles drove up from Chicago just to play the show and hang out. It felt good to do the same bullshit we do in Chicago in New York, if only for a day.

Afterwards, we headed back to Brooklyn to the Lucky Cat. Dave and Gerard took care of us with hot pizzas and cold drinks. Met a lot of really nice people, saw some tie-and-tight-pants-wearing synth band embarrass themselves relentlessly.

Getting ready to head out to Pittsburgh. Hopefully we can hit this Italian deli for sandwiches before we leave.

New York, Day 1

2007-11-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

The show at Trash Bar last night was great. Met a lot of nice people and made some gas money to help us get home.

Our friend took us out to Union Pool, which was probably a bad idea in retrospect. Really feeling the hurt right now. Thankfully, the show tonight is early. We'll be done and out of there by 10pm. I'd love to just collapse after that.

Boston

2007-11-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

The Boston show was very low key and unfortunately, my bass amp blew out. I've had that thing for 12 years and never once had a problem with it. But now it decided to betray me, an old friend. :(

So, now I'm down a bass, an amp, a cable and a couple of strings. Only 4 more shows to go!

Washington DC

2007-11-14T07:09:00.000-08:00

Against Myself

2007-11-13T14:39:00.000-08:00

So, we're sitting here in front of the Velvet Lounge, in our van passing the time. Some teenagers walked by, stopped and then came up to the window. One of the girls was overly excited and shouted through the window, "OH MY GOD ARE YOU THE DRUMMER FOR AGAINST ME?"

I guess having a beard and glasses makes me look like what's his name... (google search) ... Warren Oaks.

I kept telling her no, I'm not the drummer for Against Me. I even opened up my door and showed her Glenn, who was sleeping in the driver's seat. "That guy's a drummer. I don't play drums. And, I'm definitely not in Against Me."

She still wouldn't believe me. Apparently, that band was playing the 930 Club down the street from the Velvet Lounge, so it seemed plausible to her.

"Do you think against me would be touring in a Dodge Ram van with a trailer? They'd probably have a bus," I reasoned.

"Oh yeah, I guess. Wait, are you fucking with me? You better not be!"

I don't know. Maybe I should have pretended I was Warren Oaks, but I really don't have the beard for it. Or the desire to turn on teenage girls.

Ask yourself, does this guy look like he plays in Against Me?

Mat Biscan, bass player unknown

Warren Oaks, drummer extraordinaire.

Fredericksburg, VA

2007-11-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the people of Fredericksburg for being such a great crowd. Bourbon Room was shaking at the foundations last night thanks to Ceremony and The Offering. It was a pleasure to share the night with those guys.

That was the second night in a row the locals apologized for their own town. No need for that, since the crowd was the most animated we've come across.

Unfortunately, there was no gnome sighting in Fredericksburg. Every corner of the town was set up for the perfect post card scene.

Rock n' Roll

2007-11-12T17:13:00.000-08:00

Durham, NC

2007-11-12T07:12:00.000-08:00

The owners of Reservoir Bar were really nice. Any small band on tour looking for a place to play in Chapel Hill, go there. They gave us gas money and a cooler full of beer. Not bad for a Sunday night show.

The night was pretty funny, though. Everyone at the bar kept apologizing for being so quiet. We were making comments about how it was like a library in there. The crowd was pretty subdued, but as a few of them told me that's the way the people are around here.

Grappling Hook and Hazerai tore it up between our set. It was good to share the night with them.

Thanks to my friend Evan and his wife Nicole, we had a place to crash. Heading out now for Fredericksburg, VA.

Atlanta, GA

2007-11-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Today, we are leaving Atlanta and Untied States. We'll miss them, for sure. Skip let us crash at his place and even helped try to repair my busted bass. Thanks, Skip.

Gnome fight!

Professionally Trained Voicemen

2007-11-11T09:02:00.001-08:00

Untied States

2007-11-10T22:58:00.000-08:00

Knocksville

2007-11-10T01:28:00.000-08:00

Every small band on tour should play Knoxville. It's a small city there's a lot of appreciation for music there. The house we played at was full and the floors shook while the bands played. We got to play with two incredible bands, too.

Untied States has changed a lot since I last saw them. Skip and Colin changed up the band since then and they've found some great people. When they play, they play like a real band. It's really showed me what it takes to do something interesting live. Just play like you mean it, really. As a friend recently said about them, they play like it comes naturally.

Woman was the Knoxville band. Their frontman wore this black and white checkered sweater, had a bushy beard and a bald scalp with long hair hanging off the sides. It's not often we get to see, let alone play with, bands like this one.

A great frontman is hard to find, especially when they don't even play an instrument. The band was good and heavy. I lost my earplugs and ended up having to watch them from the outside.

We played pretty well ourselves, but halfway through Trap Shakes, all the plastic knobs and switches on my bass snapped off - including attached metal parts. The bass was toast, with two songs to go. Skip lent me his Ric, despite the fact that he poured beer down it a few nights before and it no longer rendered any high frequencies. What disappointed me the most about it was that the bass didn't catch fire. I would have even settled for a piece of plastic impaled in someone's leg. Instead, I looked like an idiot dancing around with no sound coming out.

We spent the rest of the night at a 3 story bar down the street. We ended up crashing on the same floor we played, woke up early and went out for breakfast. Before we headed out for Athens, we went to Music Room in Knoxville. Brad, the owner, was helpful and directed us to a repair shop. Unfortunately, the repair guy was backed up, so we ended up having to get a new bass, which might turn out to be a great addition to the band. A Japanese Fender Mustange reissue. The neck even has the same stain my Jaguar Bass has. It has a short scale neck, but it sounds a lot like the Jaguar in passive mode. I ended up picking up a SansAmp pedal to replace the high-end boost I was getting from the Jag in active mode. It's not the same, but it sounds pretty good for what it is.

Set List:
The International
Matthew Teller
Lightning Werewolf
Bring Me Equinox
Stator/Asymptote
Candor
Trap Shakes
Cars on Fire
Silver

My wallets gone!

2007-11-06T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is what I have been yelling every morning to wake up the guys. Or, really, to wake myself up.

Two T-Bones

2007-11-06T01:40:00.001-08:00

Kansas City, you've been Arks'd. We played a nice, small venue in a strip mall called Record Bar. The place reminds me a lot of the Empty Bottle. It's got a great sound system, room to hang out and they book some great bands there.

There weren't many people at the show, but I think we found some of the most excited ones yet. Pretty soon, we'll be the biggest band to all the bartenders and sound guys in the Midwest. I think we're just starting to hit our stride, though. The show was so fun to play and the handful of people there made it an amazing show.

There was also the fact that the bartender knew a friend of ours in Chicago. And, a couple nights ago a Chicago band played there and left us a note. Nice surprise. Thanks for giving us a little taste of home.

Afterwards we hit a Denny's. Lanny tried to pick up the waitress, which would have been fine if she wasn't in her mid 60's. Actually, he was just ordering a burger with two t-bones used in place of bread. Here's to whiskey.

Kansas City Set List
The International
Matthew Teller
Rot It Out
The Spoils
Safe and Sound
Maginot
Bring Me Equinox
Lightning Werewolf
Candor
Trap Shakes

This One Time, In Omaha...

2007-11-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

The glennome was sighted inside a truck stop diner, the Apple Blossom (or something like that), where the coffee was hot and the ham was in-bone.

It's day four of the tour. I treated the fellas to a Motel 8 suite last night so we could get some shut eye before 3am. So many people on this tour have been generous, offering places for us to stay, fridges full of beer and free pizza. It's all karma coming back to slap us on the back. But, serious sleep was needed.

Weird crowd last in Omaha. I'm not sure anyone really liked what we did. Or, maybe they did and we just confused them. The response after each song went like this: silence, thinking faces, excited applause. From the side of the stage, this one guy kept asking me between songs if I liked Soulside. That's not the first time I've been asked that in context with Arks. To answer everyone's question: No, I haven't heard Soulside. Send me MP3s or point me to some vinyl, I would check it out. Then, next time someone asks me if I like that band I can say, "Yeah, I love Soulside. They're like my most favorite band ever. Can you tell?"

Omaha Set List
The International
Matthew Teller
Rot It Out
Maritime Snakes
Stator/Asymptote
Sudden Freeze/The Ice Shelf/The Thaw
Maginot
Bring Me Equinox
Lightning Werewolf
Candor
Trap Shakes

St. Paul wtf

2007-11-05T00:25:00.000-08:00

Before I forget, I have to give some credit to IFIHADAHIFI for playing the first two shows with us. Those are some great fellas. Milwaukee was a blast, playing for a crowd of 40 people in a small backroom of a gallery. I love those kinds of shows.

St. Paul was interesting. We went through the entire list of venues there until we got to the very bottom and this venue known for having metal bands booked us. Why? I have no idea. I think the sound guy was a little disappointed when I asked him if it was Steve Miller he was playing. It was Thin Lizzy. Christ, I need to get out more.

The band the venue booked to open was some hippie jam band from Duluth. IFIHADAHIFI begged to play after, if only to show them how to have a real acid freakout. That would have been great, but the band never showed up. They probably checked out us out online and got scared. Or, maybe they were smart and just didn't show. I'd go with the latter. With a name like Hobo Children of Uncle Frank, they've probably never heard of the internet. The other band that played - our friends, Mise en Place - did a bang up job, despite the audience consisting of only band members. Michael, who plays guitar, treated us to a fridge full of beer and some cheesy-melty pizza (looking for endorsements, unsaid corporation!). There were something like 100 beers in that fridge, which prompted Yale Delay (HIFI) to request a 100 beer challenge. I'm sure we could have met it, chests high and proud, if only we all tried harder. But old age and the late night caught up to everyone before we cracked 25.

The next afternoon we went out to the Convention Grill for some good, old-fashioned burgers and to say our goodbyes.

We did have a glennome sighting shortly before we left for Omaha.

St. Paul Set List
The International
Matthew Teller
Rot It Out
Maritime Snakes
Stator/Asymptote
Sudden Freeze/The Ice Shelf/The Thaw
Bring Me Equinox
Lightning Werewolf
Candor
Trap Shakes

Day One-Chicago, IL-Milwaukee,WI (92 miles)

2007-11-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

Set List:

The International
Matthew Teller
Rot It Out
Silver
Subtraction
Maritime Snakes
Bring Me Equinox
Lightning Werewolf
Candor
Trap Shakes

W/ Elusive Parallelograms, Burbank Cartel, IFIHADAHIFI

A glennome sighting.

Just Woke Up: Milwaukee

2007-11-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

I'm lying here staring at an Ed Devevic sign on the wall: "The only party I don't know nothing about is the Commie Party!"

Surely.

We're heading out of here around 2pm for St. Paul. All I know is I need some coffee and eggs. More later.

It's That Time Again

2007-11-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here waiting to be picked up to head out on the road when it dawned on me: We have a blog! Oh yeah, forgot.

This is the first official day of our 15 day tour across the midwest and east coast. Tonight, we play Beersville with friends to kick it off. We're already running late, but that's to be expected. We'll show up just in time to load our shit in and plug in the amps, which is all we really need.

Nov 2 - The Borg Ward - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nov 3 - Station 4 - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov 4 - Oleaver’s Pub - Omaha, Nebraska
Nov 5 - The Record Bar - Kansas City, Missouri
Nov 7 - The Underground @ The Red Sea - St. Louis, Missouri
Nov 8 - The Birdhouse - Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 9 - Little Kings - Athens, Georgia
Nov 10 - Lenny’s Bar - Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 11 - The Reservoir - Carrboro/Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nov 12 - The Bourbon Room - Fredericksburg, Virginia
Nov 13 - Velvet Lounge - D.C., Washington DC
Nov 14 - The Abbey - Boston, Massachusetts
Nov 15 - Trash Bar - Brooklyn, New York
Nov 16 - The Annex - New York, New York
Nov 17 - Gooski’s - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nov 19 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, Illinois

I have a headache, which I plan to beat down with a full load of bass coming up from behind me on stage.

This is The International Record Release

2007-08-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

Its been awhile since the last post and Holy shit! We are getting so fucking famous. Just this morning I paid for a candy bar with a million dollar bill. We are rich! Rich, rich, rich! Lindsay, Paris and I all got arrested last night too. Don't worry, Britney bailed me out so I will be able to make the show tonight. Paris was going to drop me off at rehab this morning but she got a DUI on the way there, so whatever!
Anyway, I've go to sober up before the show tonight. Brangelina are in town and they are going to be here:

There's some paparazzi here so I gotta run... Ciao!

-Lanny

Mastering 'The International'

2007-03-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

I am in Santa Monica with record label exec, Julius to master our album 'The International'. We're mastering at Threshold Sound with mastering engineer Stephen Marsh (www.thresholdsound.com/bios.swf). Cant wait to finally get this process over with. It's been along time coming and we're really excited to finally get this out to you guys.

Beat Kitchen - Saturday, April 14th

2007-03-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday, April 14th we will be supporting Bang! Bang! for their CD release party. Their new album, The Dirt That Makes You Drown, will be released on Morphius Records. Our label, Highwheel Records, will be releasing the album on 180 gram Vinyl. I've heard the entire album and it's hawt hawt hawt!

We're honored to share the stage with Bang! Bang! The Willowz will be playing second.

Empty Bottle - Saturday March 17th

2007-03-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

Arks make their headlining debut at the Empty Bottle. We will be playing material from our forthcoming Highwheel Records release to be issued later this year. My Were They supports and new comers Real Lunch will open.

So come celebrate your Irish heritage with beer and us.

To buy tickets to the show, click HERE.

SATURDAY 3/17/07

FILTER Magazine presents:

ARKS
MY WERE THEY
Real Lunch

EMPTY BOTTLE
1135 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL

10:00pm | $8

Past the Halfway Point

2007-02-18T23:25:00.000-08:00

Tonight marked the official last day of mixing for The International at Gravity Studios. Our label thought it was time for celebration with an Arks-style strawberry cake. This has been a pretty incredible experience, recording an album. Can't say we were a band with that kind of experience when we started working on it in October.

Songs recorded (in no particular order):
Tumult!
Cars On Fire
Maginot
The People's Monument
Candor
Stator/Asymptote
The International
Rot It Out
Silver
Safe and Sound
The Spoils
Maritime Snakes
Sudden Freeze/The Ice Self/Thaw
Customs

As a friend recently put it, "I'm so happy I have friends in a band that doesn't suck." Well put, well put. I hope other people like it, too.

Is anyone in the audience Irish?

2007-02-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

We're headlining a show at the Empty Bottle on St. Patty's day. Holy shit, Beer and Arks. All else you'd need is pizza and sex and you got yourself a proper party.

My Were They and Real Lunch will be joining us. Show starts at 10. We have a bunch of new music to play from The International.

New Album

2007-02-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

Been awhile, we know. Last we spoke, we were having some kind of party for a compilation we were on. The label that put out "Welcome To the Future?" Highwheel. The fine people over there thought we would make a good album, so they tossed gobs and gobs of money our way. We're talking six figures, people. We took it. We had to sell out. What if we wanted a child? Or a sports car?

So, long story short, we're recording an album. A proper album, not something containing "four of our best songs" or whatever hot air bands like us like to blow up everyone's asses. Fourteen songs, people. It's for real. In fact, we're almost done mixing it and it will be in Santa Monica getting mastered at Threshold Mastering in March.

The International is the first peice of proper recording of the band. We're all in agreement about this, which is great since we have to play the shit out of the songs to earn that six figure salary. As soon as humanly possible, we want to get new songs up on Msypace, our website and of course, into the hands of people. The official release date hasn't been set yet, but we're looking at summer.

Until then, we will try not to neglect you. In turn, you will try not to neglect us.

Highwheel Records Compilation Released

2006-04-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

Highwheel Records (Chicago's newest independent label) has released their first compilation, "Welcome To the Future." Bands include: Airiel, Arks, The Monster Women, Rhineland Bastards and Walking Bicycles.

Our track featured is "Subtraction." Yah, you know that one. Buy a copy today!

WHPK 88.5 - Pure Hype

2006-04-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

We played on Pure Hype, University of Chicago's radio station, WHPK 88.5 FM. It was a short set due to half of us being exhuasted and one of us being sick. Are we getting too old or something?

Download the tracks if you'd like.

Subtraction
Maritime Snakes
Untitled
Modern Fix
Rot It Out
Cars On Fire
Silver
Interview with WHPK 88.5 FM

IN THE VAN

2006-04-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

In the stagnant womb air of the van, it's a simple enough task to let one's mind wander. I look through the pewter gray curtain at the people passing us by. People having arguments about things they won't remember. People singing to songs I can't hear. Dogs in back seats. Tarp-covered mystery cargo in truck beds.

And these incidentals make me think of buying the van in which we're sitting. The van we'll get out of in three hours, in nine hours, in whichever city it is we're supposed to plug into next...

We had looked for a while, being met with (a somewhat expected amount
of) resistance from sellers. While we were not a band -in the
congregational, more than the musical sense - of rough edges, four
males in their late twenties and early thirties wearing various
states of disintegrating denim and corduroy do not inspire the
greatest confidence in extension of financing terms. Not that used
car dealerships are reputed for being the most trusting or
trustworthy lot.

Mat had done a fair amount of research and located what was to be our
van - later dubbed "The Shepherd" for the white-inked name pressed on
the back door's wheel housing - on one web site or another. The van
was perfect: low miles, ample space, and extended cab. And it looked,
inarguably, bad ass. The Shepherd was all black with faintly tinted
windows. This was a band van.

But this was not supposed to be a band van. The man selling it had
recently undergone surgery for a tumor in his brain. The van, he
explained to us through newly labored words, was to be used for
family vacations and camping trips. He walked with his wife as a
guide, down from the enclosed porch, out the mildly chipped sidewalk,
through the perfect fence to the van across the street. We followed
him in slow procession. He assured us the van would be a good one. He
had overhauled it himself for the trips that now would likely not
happen. He did not comment on this reality, but his body was
sufficient clarification: his wife's porcelain skin pressed on the
cloth of his shirt. He could barely stand.

We bought the van. $1950. We had only twenties, so we presented them
with $1960. Mat started to ask if they had a ten, for change, and I
interrupted with a joke about it being a "nice people fee," at which
they chuckled and Mat let it go. And they were. Nice people. But it
was, I knew, a guilt tax. I wanted to just give them all the money
and leave without the van. We were going to use the van to play what
felt, in that moment, to be the most needless music possible, to
standing crowds. The sitting man working through small talk,
apologizing for his stammering, would use the money for hospital
bills.

His two boys looked at us from the living room, through the kitchen
that attached to the enclosed porch where we all stood. I held eye
contact with the eldest son - probably around ten or twelve years of
age - for an uncertain moment. I tried smiling, but that was a lie.
He was kind or removed enough to not notice. We said our goodbyes and
went to the van. Our band van.

Mat drove the van. Lanny and I messed around with the seats and with
the television. We settled on a station with decent reception playing
a competition show. In this show, contestants would perform and be
judged on their singing and showmanship, the prize being the title of
lead singer of INXS.

We met Bo at Burger King. We ordered inside and took our food back to
the van. Mat wanted to eat in the van, and I certainly didn't argue.
I love eating in parked cars. We ate in the van, watching the show,
appraising the performers more than the performances.

Sometimes, as I did driving away from the house, I would think about
the man and his family. We were okay, right? Didn't we do a better
thing to give our money to this family than to give it to a used car
dealer? Still, I felt cheap and opportunistic. But only in those
moments where I thought of the man and his family. For the moment, I
was feeling the warm gush of processed meat and cheese product on the
roof of my mouth and watching some unknown twenty-something try to
become a rock star.

Pittsburgh, PA

2006-04-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

When I think of Pittsburgh, I don't think of sushi. In the spirit of trying to maintain some kind of healthy diet on the road, we had to have ourselves a good meal. Hell, we have the night off, why not spoil ourselves?

I haven't been to Pittsburgh since Thanksgiving. Tonight, we're staying at an open apartment near my mother's. Tomorrow, we stay with my friend Bill after the show at Brillo Box.

I'm about to hit the sleeping bag. Instead of hanging out in more bars tonight, we opted to stay in and watch Family Guy and Chapelle Show. I'm wiped out from laughing.

Road Mix: Tuesday, April 11

2006-04-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

Distance: Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh
Time: 4.5 hrs

1. Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
3. Cursive - Ugly Organ
4. Sliver Jews - American Waters
5. Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
6. The Fucking Am - Gold
7. Paul's Mix - Don't You Want to Know How to Keep Starting Fires?

1. M83 - Birds
2. Electric Six - Danger! High Voltage
3. TV On the Radio - The Wrong Way
4. Brainiac - Kiss Me, You Jacked Up Jerk
5. Sonic Youth - Silver Rocket
6. Big Boi - Ghetto Musick

Walking Around DC

2006-04-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

The drive to Pittsburgh is a short one, so we took an hour or two to walk around the mall.

Where to point the camera?

grumble...

The Washington Monument is quite the spectacle...

Paul came across this pretzel. Check out that mustard!

chomp!

DC, Tuesday Morning

2006-04-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

Greg Svitil, Iron Maiden Lover

We stayed the night at our friend Greg's house. Greg is in a great DC band, The Antiques.

After we packed up the van, we headed out for some lunch. The day before was just pure junk, from Long John Silvers to Ben's Chili Bowl in DC (the best turkey dog I've ever had).

Ahhhhh...something not fried!

Glenn finally gets his coffee

The "Original" Jumbo Slice

...and next door was the "Real Original" Jumbo Slice

Velvet Lounge

2006-04-11T01:42:00.000-07:00

Len Bias

A Trip To Long John Silvers

2006-04-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

Along the way to DC, we had the urge to visit an old favorite...

"Number 10 with extra Hush Puppies and a side of Clam Strips"

"Barf..."

"Another Clamel Toe Strip?"

Road Mix: Monday, April 10

2006-04-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Distance: Cincinnati to Washington D.C.
Time: 8.5 hrs

1. Brian Eno - Another Green World
2. Black Mountain - Black Mountain
3. Iron & Wine - Woman King
4. Paul's Beatster Mix

1. Andrew Bird - Fake Pallindrome
2. Super Fury Animals - The Undefeated
3. Bjork - Triumph of a Heart
4. Trans Am - Music for Dogs
5. New Order - Ceremony
6. Ladytron - I'm with the Pilots
7. The Kinks - (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Pin
9. Thurston Moore - Patti Smith Math Scratch
10. Todd Barry - Party Invitation
11. Outkast - Xplosion
12. Beck - Clap Hands
13. The Futureheads - A to B
14. The Kinks - Love Me Til the Sun Shines
15. Pulp - Disco 2000
16. Brainiac - Nothing Ever Changes
17. Starlight Mints - Sugar Blaster
18. The Shins - Fighting In a Sack
19. Low - Monkey
20. Future Bible Heros - I'm a Vampire
21. The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

5. Lilys - Precollection
6. David Cross - Live in Seattle
7. Jerry Seinfeld - I'm Telling You For the Last Time
8. Bill Hicks - Relentless
9. Pinback Mix

The Nati

2006-04-10T01:18:00.000-07:00

We pulled into Cincinnati around 5, rolled up to Paul's friend, Dwight's.

Dwight's loft sported a unique bathroom.

We spent the extra couple of hours we had to walk around and get some burrito's at Comet.

The show at the Northside Tavern went well, though we had to set up the PA ourselves and work our own sound. Dwight was a good sport and stuck around even after I bit into his burrito and whacked him in the nuts with a guitar case.

Road Mix: Sunday, April 9

2006-04-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

Distance: Columbus to Cincinnati
Time: 2 hrs

1. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
2. Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics
3. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
4. Beans - Shock City Maverick

The Next Morning

2006-04-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

"Don't worry, we have more bacon"

Thanks to Erynn for letting us stay at her place and making us french toast (and bacon). Ready for the road, headache in tow...

Hello, Columbus

2006-04-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

"We're gonna get some bacon!"

Oldfield's

Ho-Ag

Evil Queens

Road Mix: Saturday, April 8

2006-04-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

Distance: Chicago to Columbus
Time: 6 hrs

We spent half the time on the road installing a brand new radio that could actually take a 1/8" jack so we could listen to our iPods. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that iTrip is just...worthless. All the music sounds like it's coming from a radio while you're driving under a bridge. BLAH.

So, a short list for the first day with a six hour trip.

1. Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
2. Animal Collective - Feels
3. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
4. Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady
5. Wire - Chairs Missing
6. Beck - Mutations
7. Modest Mouse - Building Something Out of Nothing
8. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

Hitting the Road

2006-04-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday morning, just waking up and ready for some coffee, load the van and hit the road. The excitement hasn't hit me yet. It'll probably rear it's head sometime on the Dan Ryan, probably past the construction. The real question is, are we gonna get some egg mcmuffins on the way out? Stay tuned to find out...

Pressing Things

2006-04-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday evening and we leave for tour in two days. I have pressing things at hand: boiling water, bathroom cleaner and a fresh pile of cat puke.

As a band, we put the tour together ourselves and landed some amazing shows in six different cities. By some strange design, we even booked for the venues in the cities we've never even visited. The boys and girls in NYC have really stuck their necks out for us, though. I don't question the reasons, I know they like the music.

I don't think we could have done this at all without MySpace and email. Shit, I can't even imagine how bands did this ten, twenty years ago. I can only assume they used things like phones and met people in person at bars and shows. It just doesn't seem to work that way in our world. Everything is online.

WARK In Cincinnati

2006-04-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

A bit of a change up happening in Cincinnati. The show at Northside Tavern is now The Arks Radio Show, or whatever you want to call it. The original band we were to play with unfortunately dropped out, but we are unstoppable. We'll have between 10pm - 1am to play all of our songs in all of their glorious entirety, DJ some of our favorite music and, well, hang out. If you've got nothing better to do on a Sunday night in Cincinnati and want to hear a bunch of great music, now you know what to do!

April 15th @ Bill's Bar (Boston) - Poster

2006-04-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

Spring 2006 East Coast Tour Schedule

2006-04-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday, April 8
Oldfield's On High
www.oldfieldsonhigh.com
2590 N. High Street
Columbus, OH
with 1point3, Ho-Ag and The Evil Queens

Sunday, April 9
Northside Tavern
www.northside-tavern.com
4163 Hamilton Ave.
Cincinnati, OH
with Black Holes

Monday, April 10
Velvet Lounge
www.velvetloungedc.com
915 U Street
Washington, DC
with Len Bias and TBA

Wednesday, April 12
Brillo Box
www.myspace.com/brilloboxevents
4104 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA
TBA

Thursday, April 13
Sin-e
www.sin-e.com
50 Attorney St. @ Stanton
New York, NY
with Jason Brody, Object and The Cush

Friday, April 14
Astrisk Art Project
www.myspace.com/asteriskartproject
258 Johnson Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
with Nozomi Phoenix and TBA

Saturday, April 15
Bill's Bar
www.billsbar.com
5 Lansdowne St.
Boston, MA
with Eureka Gold, The 8mm Fuzz and Mad Man Films

The Blog is up

2006-04-01T12:11:00.000-08:00

Arks blog is up. Tour schedule will be posted soon. Look for updates along the tour, April 9th-17th.