We Craft In Darkness

12.22.11.....Hibernational Situation

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:42:00 +0000

Sup cunts?

We'll catch up after the holy daze, but for right now, we just want to thank you all for being good fuckin' eggs to us this year.

Thanks to all of the amazing bands we toured with this year for letting us share the stage with you:

Rotten Sound, Gaza, The Kandidate, Haust, The Red Chord, Converge, Burning Love, All Pigs Must Die, Black Breath, Mammoth Grinder, Masakari and more.

Sorry to all of Europeanals that we weren't able to see this fall. Health issues made touring not an option during this time.

Anyways, stay cold.

We made some year end lists, even though our album was released in March, so you know, all the journalists should've totally forgotten about us by now. At least, that's what we were told.

Fuck it. We run this bitch.

08.02.11.... Dehydrate!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:24:00 +0000

Hey, bro....sorry we haven't hung out in a while. You know how it is when you're busy snappin' necks and cashin' checks. We took that huge feeling of baller status and said "Fuck the Internet"....nahmean?
So, anyways, we're getting back in Big Ben for a new round of tour dates, smack dab in the middle of the chilliest month of the year. We'd better hurry up and make some hoodies!

The west coast mostly involves all things Power of the Riff. Off dates from those shows are at smaller venues with other bands on those fest dates. Basically, it's going to be fun and if you don't come out, someone will be tracking you down and repossessing your "I like good times" card that you forgot in the back of your ironic plastic TMNT wallet, you fucking dork.

Seriously, though....we haven't had a proper west coast run in about a year, and this one makes up for it big time. We're stoked and we hope you feel the same. See all you sweathogs soon.

Aug 09 @ Hole in the wall, Indianapolis, IN
Aug 10 @ Ravari Room, Columbus, OH
Aug 11 @ Majestic (Fucking Awesome Fest), Detroit, MI
Aug 13 @ Echo/Echoplex (Power Of The Riff), Los Angeles, CA
Aug 14 TBA
Aug 15 @ Elbo Room (Power Of The Riff), San Francisco, CA
Aug 16 @ 105 Pioneer St., Santa Cruz, CA
Aug 17 @ Branx, Portland, OR
Aug 20 @ The Highline (Power Of The Riff), Seattle, WA
Aug 21 @ Grange Hall, Boise, ID
Aug 22 Slc, UT venue TBA
Aug 23 @ Blast-O-Mat, Denver, CO
Aug 24 @ Eagles Lodge, Wichita, KS venue TBA
Aug 25 @ Cahoots, Louisville, KY

04.27.11.....Europe

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:39:00 +0000

03.29.11.....Europe, we did this special for you

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:39:00 +0000

The color matches your eyes perfectly. We just saw it in a store and it said your name. No need for a thanks you.....no, really. The smile on your face is enough to make our day. Clear vinyl available only on our European tour that begins in a day or so. Limited to 100. Don't worry....if these sell out, we'll have more LPs available on the tour. Fret not, my damaged ones. And, just in case you missed them, here's the dates again. We're also playing Roadburn, but those of you going there probably knew that already. All dates with the fucking awesome lads in: Rotten Sound Trap Them Gaza The Kandidate Haust 01.04.11 Germany Karlsruhe @ Stadtmitte 02.04.11 Germany Köln @ Underground 03.04.11 Germany Rosswein @ Juha 04.04.11 Czech Rep Prague @ Exit Chmelnice 05.04.11 Slovakia Bratislava @ Randal 06.04.11 Germany München @ Feierwerk 07.04.11 Austria Salzburg @ Rockhouse 08.04.11 Italy Mezzago @ Bloom 09.04.11 Italy Rome @ Init 10.04.11 Switzerland Zürich @ Dynamo Werk21 11.04.11 France Paris @ Glazart 12.04.11 UK London @ Underworld 13.04.11 UK Plymouth @ White Rabbit 14.04.11 UK Colchester @ Arts Centre 15.04.11 Belgium Antwerpen @ Trix 16.04.11 Holland Venlo @ Perron55 17.04.11 Germany Hamburg @ Hafenklang 18.04.11 Denmark Lyngby @ Templet 19.04.11 Sweden Gothenburg @ Henriksberg 20.04.11 Oslo, Norway @ INFERNO Festival 21.04.11 Sweden Stockholm @ Debaser Slussen 22.04.11 Finland Turku @ Klubi 23.04.11 Finland Jyvaskyia @ Lutakko 24.04.11 Finland Helsinki @ Nosturi

03.29.11.....Three Cheers for the Comprehensive

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:33:00 +0000

Hello friends. Here's what we did in March: tour. It was kinda cool if you like playing to people that like your band or whatever. Fun was had....here's the details!! :
03/06/11: Louisville, KY @ a house: A fair amount of individuals showed up for our kick off. It was what could be considered a 50% "hometown show". We played a long set so we could get used to playing some new songs that we hadn't executed in a live manner before. I got pushed into the drumset within the first thirty seconds and had a nice big gash. So much for safety. There were very high ceilings, so we witnessed a headwalk while we played, which is pretty awesome. Lineup: Trap Them, Prideswallower, Modern Hell and fuck, I forgot who else.
03/07/11: Buffalo, NY @ The Funeral Home: Mr. Andy Williams' "hometown show". Great house/space type show set up by the always wonderfful and dependable Andy Czuba. The room was pretty full, which means Buffalo has decided to keep liking us. Thanks, Buffalo!!! Bestower was awesome. We met up with Gaza for the first show of our two week adventure together. Anyways, it got really hot in there, even though it was like five degrees outside. Lineup: Trap Them, Gaza, Bestower, aaaaaand....fuck, I forgot again.
03/08/11: Toronto, Ontario, Canada @ Parts and Labour: On five days notice, this show drew over 200 kids. Pre-tay pre-tay cool. Somehow, we were able to make it over the border relatively easy. Thanks, border patrol!!! Bothe opening bands (Creeper and Kosmograd(sp?) were great. The chef upstairs made all the boys delicious and expensive meals for free, so he gets a huge vote of fantastic. We met some of the guys from Cancer Bats, who were extremely nice. We played a rather dangerous set. My eyebrow exploded and I had a bottle broken over my head, which left a very large gash. I don't think there are pictures from the show, which is probably good, because then our pasrents would see them and wonder what we're doing with our lives. Lineup: Trap Them, Creeper, Kosmograd
03/09/11: Allston, MA @ Great Scott's: This was the first day of our tour with The Red Chord and Gaza. Sold out show with many a familiar face. We (somehow) barely play the northeast, so it was great to finally have a show in Mass again. The_Network was great....including a DEADGUY cover! Gaza was extremely heavy and sounded great. After the show we headed to the infamous Mitch McArtor's house in Providence to eat pizza. Lineup: The Red Chord, Trap Them, Gaza, The_Network
03/10/11: Providence, RI @ Club Hell: Club Hell used to be a strip club, but now it's a tacky dance party venue, where the shows are super early so that all the distortion lovers can be shoved out and the trainwrecks can pay a cover to go in and dance to shitty music, drink a ton of obnoxious mixed drinks and try to match up dicks with vaginas. Again....don't remember the openers' names. I was on a hunt for coffee and Mike n' Ikes. The show was as good as it could have been at a place that many choose not to go to. After the show, we ate more pizza and got some sleep. I woke up the next morning and went to Julian's, which is an amazing restaurant where I ate something awesome that I can't remember. Lineup: The Red Chord, Trap Them, Gaza plus two more bands and one of them had a singer with really pretty hair. 03/11/11: S. Hackensack, NJ @ School of Rock: Jersey is fun to play now. Thanks Jersey!!! We loved playing the New Brunswick basement shows in the past. I'm hoping we get to sneak into one of those again. Great reaction for every band. A handful of kids got kicked out while we played, which is unfortunate. A dude blew out his knee during The Red Chord and it looked gross. The show was put on pause until the EMTs arrived. I think we stayed the night somewhere, but Hey, shockingly I don't remember. Lineup: The Red Chord, Trap Them, Gaza plus three more bands.
03/12/11: Baltimore, MD @ Sonar: Whole Foods....yeaaaah buddy. Asparagus salad. Mmmmm. The show went relatively well. Harvey Milk was the headliner, which was a fun addition to the night. There weren't a lot of kids there, but the ones who were had fun. After the show we stayed at a place where our gracious host made us a wonderful vegan meal. The next morning, Chris and I went running and I realized I'm very out of shape. After the run, we were welcomed back to the house by a breakfast of tofu scramble, pancakes and seitan bacon. Beautiful. Lineup: Harvey Milk, The Red Chord, Trap Them, Gaza
03/13/11: Springfield,. Va @ Jaxx: Another Whole Foods across the street. Thanks, Whole Foods!!! Jaxx is a pretty big place, so even though there was a decent amount of people there, it looked very ummmm...uninhabited. There's also this weird built-in barrier on the stage. Whatever. Stiull fun. A few opening bands played, including one that had some sort of Dragonforce type thing going on. Some friends came out, and we played a good set, so they didn't leave disappointed. We stayed at Nicole/Deathwish's place in Richmond, where Andy said something that made me have a fiteen minute laughing fit, which kept us all awake. I was laughing, crying, and apologizing all at once. Lineup: The Red Chord, Trap Them, Gaza and more.
03/14/11: Greensboro, NC @ Green St. Club: Another disco venue. The first band covered RATM. There was also some stupid light show while we played that somehow took forever to finally shut off. A few TT fans showed up, which we very much appreciate, because the rest of the crowd looked confused as fuck. I think we got a cheap ass hotel.
03/15/11: Johnson City, TN @ The Hideaway: Driving to Johnson City is a nightmare. It's like this assault of mountainous, twisty-turny highway roads. Well, we made it and everyone got to do what they wanted. There were mall visits, gym visits, etc. The show was a lot of fun and a large amount of people showed up, which was nice. Thanks, people!!! It was just the package as the lineup, so it was a quick show. After this, we went and ate at this all night diner type place that was really good. Then we got a cheap ass hotel.
03/16/11: Nashville, TN @ Exit In: Busy day. A few friends came, so there was hangout time for many. I turned into errand king and did an oil change, picked up more LPs, got the brakes fixed and a few more things. Also got busy at a Whole Foods. Ringworm (!) was added to the show, so it ended up being a great time. Lots of kids and lots of mosh-bringing. I kept having to piss, so I kept going in the trash can next to the merch table. We got done the set, loaded immediately out and started our ridiculously long drive to Austin, TX. Ouch. Lineup: The Red Chord, Trap Them, Gaza, Ringworm and one more.
03/17/11 - 03/19/11: Austin, TX @ many places. SXSW: I'm not going to dive into every show, so I'll summarize as best as I can. Showed up after a bazillion hour drive at around 4;15 and loaded right on stage and played the Brooklyn Vegan showcase. It was hot as fuck because Austin is hot as fuck. Met the Kvelertak dudes....awesome boys. Everyone went their own way for the night. I started my streak of eating at the same diner for three days and had pumpkin pancakes. Stayed at our friend Tyson's house for the duration of our time there. Played the Power of the Riff showcase with a ton of awesome bands, including Trash Talk, The Secret and All Pigs Must Die. Played a gargae show at 1am and got shut down by the cops after one song. Went to the Converse fort and got some sweet kicks. Played the Thrasher/Fader showcase, where we set up at the same time as All Pigs Must Die and traded songs back and forth. Here's a video: Said goodbye to the post-apocalyptic duststorm with no clouds and oven heat of Austin and headed to Little Rock for the last show.
03/20/11: Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music Hall: Ghost city. Sunday afternoon with no existing life. Wandered aimlessly until the show began. It was also a ghost venue, where it seemed everyone was tired from morning mass, so they decided not to come out. Thanks, Little Rock!!! Besides this, everyone played a fun set. During The Red Chord, Chris dressed up in metallic gold wrestling pants and ran onstage to help Guy/TRC summon the crowd into a frenzy. He then proceeded to pull down his pants and show everyone his brownstar. They were stoked. After this, we all said our goodbyes and headed back to Louisville so we could all go home for a whopping nine days before we head to Europe, which is....tomorrow. Fuck. What am I doing wasting my time on the computer? Lineup: The Red Chord, Trap Them, Gaza plus two more.

03.03.11......I can haz noizy tyme?!!!

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 23:47:00 +0000

As a recap for your listening (dis)pleasure:

Links provided to the various sights....just click on the song title. Internet convenience!

The Facts - brooklynvegan.com

Slumcult & Gather - Decibel Magazine blog

Damage Prose - Noisecreep.com

Evictionaries - stereogum.com

Every Walk a Quarantine - crustcake.com

At some point next week, NPR (yup...NPR. Awesome.) will be providing an full stream of the entire Darker Handcraft album. Finally, something we can tell our parents about that they'd understand.

We're doing our best to use this blog well....anything anyone would like to see on here, feel free to let us know at: trapthem@gmail.com

More tour history will show up some time in the next few weeks when we get to a venue with six hours until the show starts, wherein I will escape to a quiet coffee shop for six hours of free refills and type away.

More news soon.

03.02.11.....the low down down low

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:35:00 +0000

Here are a few early reviews of Darker Handcraft:

03.02.11.....man, we're lazy

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:38:00 +0000

I think this is the close to final itinerary for all of March. Again, sxsw is like a big romper room with new nooks and crannies to play in every time you walk five feet, so don't be surprised if we add a few more disco shits to those listed below.

3/6 Louisville, KY @ house show w/ Prideswallower, Modern Hell, Hysteria, Another Mistake....6 PM....don't be a late shithead!
3/7 Buffalo, NY @ The Funeral Home w/ Gaza, KDC, Bestower, Eating Bullets
3/8 North of the Border.....near Niagra Falls

The Red Chord, Trap Them, Gaza dates:
3/9 Allston, MA @ Great Scott w/ The_Network
3/10 Providence, RI @ Club Hell
3/11 South Hackensack, NJ @ School of Rock
3/12 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar w/ Harvey Milk
3/13 Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
3/14 Greensboro, NC @ Greene Street Club
3/15 Johnson City, TN @ The Hideaway
3/16 Nashville, TN @ Exit In
3/17 Austin, TX @ Emo's (Brooklyn Vegan showcase w/ Rwake, APMD, Hull, plus more TBA) 12pm - 6pm
3/18 Austin, TX @ ND @ 501 Studio (Power of the Riff showcase w/ Eagle Twin, APMD, The Secret, Masakari) 12pm - 6pm
3/18 Austin, TX @ Emo's Annex (NEMHF SXSW w/ The Red Chord, Gaza, plus more TBA)
3/19 Austin, TX @ The Scoot Inn (Thrasher/Converse Texas Death Match showcase w/ Eyehategod, Mammoth Grinder and a fuck bag bunch of bands)
3/20 Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music Hall

We the have ten whole days off! From there, we take private jets over to Europe where we will be greeted with lavish gifts and praise from the little people of the land because we are a household name around the world and are wicked fuckin rich, dude.....well, at least that's what the internet has told me. Here are those dates....we haven't been there in two and a half years and couldn't be happier to touch your sacred soil across the Atlantic drowning pool.

01.04.11 Germany Karlsruhe @ Stadtmitte
02.04.11 Germany Köln @ Underground
03.04.11 Germany Rosswein @ Juha
04.04.11 Czech Rep Prague @ Exit Chmelnice
05.04.11 Slovakia Bratislava @ Randal
06.04.11 Germany München @ Feierwerk
07.04.11 Austria Salzburg @ Rockhouse
08.04.11 Italy Mezzago @ Bloom
09.04.11 Italy Rome @ Init
10.04.11 Switzerland Zürich @ Dynamo Werk21
11.04.11 France Paris @ Glazart
12.04.11 UK London @ Underworld
13.04.11 UK Plymouth @ White Rabbit
14.04.11 UK Colchester @ Arts Centre
15.04.11 Belgium Antwerpen @ Trix
16.04.11 Holland Venlo @ Perron55
17.04.11 Germany Hamburg @ Hafenklang
18.04.11 Denmark Lyngby @ Templet
19.04.11 Sweden Gothenburg @ Henriksberg
20.04.11 Oslo, Norway @ INFERNO Festival
21.04.11 Sweden Stockholm @ Debaser Slussen
22.04.11 Finland Turku @ Klubi
23.04.11 Finland Jyvaskyia @ Lutakko
24.04.11 Finland Helsinki @ Nosturi

More things are in the works. The rain city will receive a one-off in May. Details soon.
North America will be circle jerked in late june/july with a cool ass tour.
If anyone can figure out how to help us play Antarctica (I'm serious) please get in touch. I want to do this so bad. My life won't be complete until this happens.

03.01.11.......Balls Officially Spilled

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:16:00 +0000

Oh, hey....the record came out today.

Wait....you don't have a record player? Ok, never mind.....the CD comes out March 15th.

Wait, you have a record player but the vinyl was all sold out by the time you got around to ordering it?

Ok, well here's your next chance. Prosthetic just announced a second pressing and they are available here:

HOTSHIT

Please order them all so Prosthetic has to repress it a third time, therefore realizing they grossly misunderestimated (thanks GW!) our vinyl capabilities.

If you like the internet a lot, a bunch of sites are going to be streaming songs from Darker Handcraft for the days leading up to the March 15th release, so that's cool.

Oh yeah, our tour starts in less than a week. We begin in Louisville with a house show that I'm hoping turns into a shitstorm. Next day is Buffalo, and then.....hi Canada....long time no see. We'll fuck your brains out for about a half an hour and then go right back to the United Boring States of America.

The Red Chord/Trap Them/Gaza tour begins March 9th in Allston, MA and will take us down to SXSW in Austin, where we're playing a bunch of free showcase bonanzas at convenient hours like noon to 6pm.

To those who've (ahem..) gotten their copies of the record, thanks for the great words. We're happy that you're happy.

This post was written while listening to Mogwai's Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will.

If you replace the word "you" with the following, it pretty much sums up how we feel:

99% of American "black metal"

the use of the word "kvlt"

message boards

ball playing

record flippers

people that say they like the old stuff better

acting like the "Crass" reunion matters

dudes that haven't learned how to heckle well

bands with flutes

This is just a partial list.

We'll see some of you in the coming weeks, more in the coming months, the rest in the coming year.

Fuck yeah.

02.24.11....Thank you, Phil

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:38:00 +0000

Not sure where to begin, or what amount I can say to embody how I (we) feel, but this is what can be said for now.

When Phil first contacted the band back in late 2007 to express his excitement for what we do, I was floored. Here was a guy that sang for a legendary band that, in one way or another, influenced the direction of our sound. I wore out a dubbed cassette I had made with The Peel Sessions and A Holocaust in Your Head during many walks to and from high school. The tape wore down to the point where it was playing at about half-time, making ENT almost sound like a doom band. It didn't matter....the rage was still there and I'd take Phil and Dean's vocals any time I could.

From that point on, we kept in contact, emailing back and forth frequently. He brought up if we'd be interested in doing a west coast tour with them, which, again, floored me. An opportunity to share the road and stage with one of the most influential grind/crust/punk/everything bands was an amazing feeling. We, obviously, said yes. We were even able to take it one step further and share a split 7" with them, which to this day can still be considered one of our best achievements in my eyes.

I got to meet him face to face in March of 2008 in Colchester, UK while we were on tour with Rotten Sound. He was a quiet guy, much like I am, and were were able to sit and have a great conversation for a little while. We both talked about how excited we were for the tour to start the following month.

After landing back in Boston, we drove from New Hampshire to California in three days to start the tour with ENT. We were beyond fatigued, but the thought of this run was enough to keep our adrenaline on high.

When we met up at the first show in Corona (I think?), it was a relief to have it finally begin. We talked a bit on that first night, but it was such a blur for both bands, we knew the following day would be when we would all be awake and alive to interact and hang out.

For the next ten days, Phil and I found time to sit and talk. Not just about touring, but about life. We spent time exchanging stories of dealing with panic attacks, about being sick (both in head and body), and of everyday modern problems, alienation, etc. Sharing words with him was like sharing words with an older brother who cared. We talked about how this music sucked us both in at an early age and how we've never been able to escape it's grip. He was sincere, and was willing to open up, just as I was willing to do the same with him.

We took a picture together at every show, to, in some way or another, document our time together.

The moment I remember most about the tour was playing Gilman in Berkley. ENT had never played the west coast of the United States. When we got out of the van that day and met up with Phil, he was just sort of staring at the building, almost child-like. He turned to me and said, "You have no idea what it means to me to play here tonight. I've heard about it forever and now I get to say I made it. This place is legendary...". It may have been cheesy, but I patted him back and said something along the lines of, "Well then it's good to know a legendary band gets to finally leave it's mark here." We both laughed it off, but he knew I meant it. And I know he felt the same.

ENT's set that night was everything you'd hope it would be. Gilman turned into a hurricane of chaos. I think almost 400 people showed up, and there wasn't one of them that didn't know how important this show was. Legendary punk band finally played legendary punk venue.

The last day of the tour was the Los Angeles Murderfest, where, again, ENT received the reaction they deserved, which was complete insanity. We had to leave pretty much immediately after the fest was done because we had an 18 hour drive to get to Oklahoma City the next night (I know.....we're masochists). I hunted down Dean and Woody and the rest to say goodbye and was finally able to track down Phil for one last talk. I let him know how much we appreciated that tour, how incredible it was to watch them play to a crowd that had never seen them before, night after night.

Throughout the past few years since the tour, we'd kept in contact with each other, emailing back and forth to check on each other's lives. He always sounded genuinely excited to correspond, as was I. I knew his health was getting harder for him to deal with, and he would let me know any updates on how he was doing before dismissing the subject and moving on to more positive notes. Even when he knew things were getting rough, he didn't want to make a big deal over it, so I did my best to offer support but not drag it out.

When I found out yesterday that Phil had passed, it was a severe shock to the system. I spent the next twelve hours at work trying to not throw a plate at shitty customers or, even worse, blow up our speakers that were subjecting my ears to modern shitty pop and indie rock, void of intelligence, a message, or a fucking soul.

It took until now to be able to form any words that would be enough.

He was not only an amazing singer, full of rage, brains and spirit....he was an even more amazing person. The man dedicated a large part of his life to music, and he leaves behind a discography that will be influential to bands for decades to come.

Our thoughts are with the rest of ENT and for those close to him.

Phil Vane didn't pass away at 46 years old. Phil Vane passed away 46 years young at heart.

We miss you already.

02.22.11....here come the hounds

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 07:17:00 +0000

So, if you did that nifty little pre-order thing that all the kids do these days, you should be receiving a package in the next few days. This should be obvious from the picture above, but we still have to drill the point home.

One week from today, the LP version is officially released, but they're already sold out or something.....I don't know if a handful are still on their way to stores or not. Basically, what I'm saying is that we don't know "the biz".

For you CD folks, the release date is March 15th, which is also the release date for Rotten Sound's "Cursed". So save your milk money and go to your local independent record store (the one where the employees don't act like elitist pricks....I know, it'll be hard to find) and buy both.

What we DO know, however, is that we will have copies available on our upcoming tour to sxsw with The Red Chord and Gaza. We will have a black/grey swirl on heavier gram vinyl that is only available through us on tour. If you're not able to make it out to a show to pick one up, you can always check in with your friend Edward Bay a few weeks later. I'm sure he'll have a few and I'm sure he'll sell them for a VERY reasonable price. Please note sarcasm in italics.

Don't worry, Euro-legion.....we're figuring out how to put our 12"s in your hand when we're over there in April, watching Rotten Sound rip faces off every night.

Things keep getting added for our sxsw days in Austin....so much, that I can't keep track. Next week we'll post a full list of dates, venues and other bullshit for March.

Thanks to all of you who bought this record. We're so fucking stoked for it to finally be heard.

And kudos to all the reviewers who have somehow managed to not leak it. Very impressive.

02.11.11....Tick tick boom

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:13:00 +0000

After just getting off the phone with Prosthetic, if you'd like to get yourself a copy of the first pressing of the LP, you may want to do it ASAP. They have a VERY limited amount left. Once these are gone, the only way to get one is through us on tour.

02.11.11....Let's Fucking Die

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:40:00 +0000

Below are the dates we have schedule on our tour down to SXSW with The Red Chord and Gaza
We will have both CD and vinyl versions of Darker Handcraft available, as well as a slew of new shirt designs. We highly suggest you make it part of your schedule.
There may be a few additional SXSW shows added for maximum Austinication. Get in touch if you want us to play your warehouse/space/porch/chicken coop.

3/6 Louisville, KY @ TBA
3/7 Buffalo, NY @ TBA
3/8 Hell
3/9 Allston, MA @ Great Scott
3/10 Providence, RI @ Club Hell
3/11 South Hackensack, NJ @ School of Rock
3/12 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
3/13 Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
3/14 Greensboro, NC @ Greene Street Club
3/15 Johnson City, TN @ The Hideaway
3/16 Nashville, TN @ Exit In
3/17 Austin, TX @ Emo's (Brooklyn Vegan showcase w/ Rwake, APMD, Hull, plus more TBA) 12pm - 6pm
3/18 Austin, TX @ ND @ 501 Studio (Power of the Riff showcase w/ Eagle Twin, APMD, The Secret, Masakari) 12pm - 6pm
3/18 Austin, TX @ Emo's Annex (NEMHF SXSW w/ The Red Chord, Gaza, plus more TBA)
3/19 Austin, TX @ somewhere where bands are playing and shit gets blown up
3/20 Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music Hall

02.04.11....soon

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 23:50:00 +0000

01.26.11......Announcementations

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:05:00 +0000

I think we'll be giving more details on the album soon.

I think we'll be announcing a tour soon.

We're also definitely playing some SXSW shows, but I don't have all the details. Plus, we probably just got in trouble for saying SXSW.

But, hey.....we made this cool record and it comes out kinda soon. If you like vinyl, you should pre-order it now, because you'll get it by March 1st, which is a full TWO WEEKS before those slaves to the compact disc will be able to acquire it. It has real spiffy packaging and is high quality vinyl. There are about fifty colors to choose from at the Prosthetic e-store. Once you buy those, you can come to one of these shows on this tour I think we'll be announcing soon and you can buy the version only available from the band (us).

Mr. Andy Williams will be, again, accompanying us on this tour as second guitarist. If anyone would like to come and hang out and talk with him, Brian and I about pre-1998 professional wrestling, we'd appreciate it.

Stay tuned for more things we're not sure of and have no idea about!

01.26.11.....Show History, Volume Three

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:59:00 +0000

May 2007 was taken off to finish writing "Seance Prime". Rough tracks were emailed to me while I was out in Seattle, where I would put on headphones in my studio apartment and whisper scream them until they were drilled into my head. Recording commenced in the first week of June at Godcity. Nat from Transistor, Transistor did the bass parts on a few of the tracks. We recorded it analog, which explains why it sounds so warm, yet heavy as fuck. I think we spent five days there. We were pretty damn pleased with the outcome, as was Deathwish, who laughed at the fact we made an "EP" that was only four minutes shorter than our previous "LP".
John, who had handled the drumming on the previous tour, decided to bow out. Shane, on bass, had as well. So bass duties for our next tour were filled by Derek Black and we found a drummer in Mike Sharp. For those keeping tabs, that means that, at that time, we hailed from New Hampshire, Seattle, Indianapolis and San Antonio. Simple is not the word to describe our approach.
Scuba was coming along on the tour as merch dude, which as you now know morphed into bass player after this tour. We picked him up at the Haverhill, MA train station and then Mike, Scuba, Brian and I drove fifteen hours to Indianapolis to meet up with Derek for a week of practice before the tour began.
This was a three week plus tour with Germany's Perth Express.
Got to Indianapolis and started practicing right away so that nothing sounded sloppy. Did about six hours a day, drilling everything we could. I walked to Cumberland Farms a lot for diet coke and pretzels. Scuba and I washed Derek's dishes. Brian and Derek went to Steak and Shake and Brian told Derek not to get naked while we play, which is actually harder for Derek to comply with than it seems. Mike watched a lot of movies and looked for pizza.
The first show of the tour was Dudefest 2007, which was a two day fest that year. We played day two, so on day one, we said "fuck it" and set up merch, which was a good idea because we sold a bunch without even playing. A few hours in, I had to drive to Chicago to pick up the Germans from O'Hare. I also had to stop on the way to pick up eight cases of "Steez" energy drinks. I drank half a case on the way to and from Chicago. I could have punched through four feet of solid concrete.
Picked up Perth Express, who were obviously tired from the flight. Got in the van and played Hot Snakes, which is a band that you can put on and immediately bond with anyone. Everyone, rightfully so, likes Hot Snakes. If you don't like Hot Snakes, Trap Them doesn't like you.
Arrived at Dudefest in time to see the second half of Young Widow's set and then watched Coliseum and Premonitions of War. Went back to Derek's house, where half of Dudefest attendees were sleeping over. Sleeping is actually not the word to use, seeing as everyone was up and drunk until about seven in the morning.

July 28th, 2007: Dudefest at the Harrison Center, Indianapolis, IN - Shit was insane. About 400 kids squeezed into a dank basement in a building. I would LOVE to post pictures, but I have never seen any. All I remember is seeing about nine or ten cameras go flying out of peoples hands within the first five minutes. Opened with "Insomniawesome" and then played "The Protest Hour" for the first time. Praiseworthy circle pits and lots of fists in the air. A fucking great way to start a tour.
Lineup: A lot of fucking awesome bands

July 29th, 2007: The Mall, Grand Rapids, MI - Didn't happen. Drove to the house and the kid who booked the show wasn't there. All his roommates knew nothing about a show. Hey, shocking.....a flake in a punk house! Woah!
Drove to Chicago to stay overnight.
Lineup: Stale air, frustration, annoyance

July 30th, 2007: Shaman Records House, Chicago, IL - Fun basement show. Loading in sucked, but we got to eat pizza. I think I drank two Sparks and was full off of that. The place actually had a lot of people show up, but they did that thing where only 40% went and watched the bands while 60% sat outside and talked about nothing important. Drove to Milwaukee to stay at a very nice couple's apartment. I dove into Lake Michigan and forgot a towel.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, and a few others.....most of this tour, I won't be able to remember the other bands. Sorry, dudes.....my bad.

July 31st, 2007: The Breakfast Nook, Milwaukee, WI - Cool basement, not heavily attended. Was still a fun time. We at at a place called "Pizza Shuttle" after the show where most of the dudes chipped in and bought this fucking insanely huge pizza. All I remember is looking over at Mike and seeing his entire hand covered in grease.
Lineup: Protestant, Trap Them, Perth Express

August 1st, 2007: Was supposed to be in Minneapolis, but was cancelled. This ended up being a lucky break because a bridge collapsed there.

August 2nd, 2007: First Cup Cafe, Des Moines, IA - I don't really know what to say about this show. It was awkward. It also felt like we were playing in a off off off off off Broadway theater. Brian found wi-fi. They served coffee. That's all I got on this one.

August 3rd, 2007: Lemp Arts Center, St. Louis, MO - Really big room. Started the day by going to the arch. Everyone ate at their happy places and then I think we wandered aimlessly for a few hours. The show was filled with screamy metalcore bands. When we played, three kids stood up front and the other sixty or so stood about twenty feet pack, looked really confused.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, and I have no idea who else

August 4th, 2007: House Show, Indianapolis, IN - Got back to Derek's early in the morning. Slept in. Went to the show and there was no parking and it was raining. There was another band that played, that was from Indianapolis and I can't remember their name, but it was great. Fuck, my memory sucks.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, and a really good band

August 5th, 2007: The Brick House, Louisville, KY - This was an awesome benefit show with a bunch of great bands. I think it was something like 102 degrees out and no clouds, so we were dying. The show itself was a really fun one and it gave me an opportunity to see Black Cross for the first time. As soon as the show was done, we tried to escape to a cooler climate.
Lineup: Black Cross, Trap Them, Comadre, Graf Orlock, Plows

August 6th, 2007: Nara Sushi, Richmond, VA - It was a Monday and, evidently, Richmond shuts down on Mondays. Nothing was open, so it was an incredibly long day of killing time. I think we.....I don't know. We did something. Nara Sushi was awesome, though, and was one of the funnest shows of the tour. The place where bands set up was in the middle of a long, wide hallway, so you played to about six feet in front of you and about ten feet on either side. We got paid really good, which helped fuel the rest of the tour, since we had been eating shit so far.
Lineup: Ultra Dolphins, Wow Owls, Trap Them, Perth Express

August 7th, 2007: The Spazzatorium Galleria, Greenville,NC - I really don't know where to begin with this day. It was shit hot, so we stopped at a movie theater in the afternoon just to soak in some air conditioning. We saw The Simpsons Movie and, collectively, were somewhere between slightly unimpressed and moderately amused. We got to this fuckbarn and realized it was the type of house/space where no one that lives there seems to know what's going on. Somewhere around 9pm, bands showed up and we found out there were two rooms that were each going to have bands playing. The room we played in was alright to work with. We played fast and caught the attention of a few people that weren't straddling the keg in the kitchen. Some dickbag bro tried to dance with a beer in his hand during PE and then threw his can at us. A few of us responded by knocking his shit out and he left the house in a hurry. The "show" ended around midnight or 1am, in which time the "promoter" tried to pay us $15. He started panicking when we threatened to kill him, so he bumped our payment up to $20 because it was "all he had left". We couldn't wait to get the fuck out of Greenville after that.
Lineup: Absolutely no fucking idea

August 8th, 2007: The Waiting Room, Philadelphia, PA - This was another winner. I think it was around 105 degrees that day. The basement was in West Philly with one convenience store down the street that closed at sundown....always a good sign. We were stoked to play with The Minor Times and The_Network. We were not stoked to haul equipment down some sketchy, loose wooden stairs into a basement that was, literally, mud and dirt. I can't believe there was power down there. After one band played, it was probably at least 120 degrees down there. It was insane. We finally played, sweated our balls off and tried to load out as fast as possible. I got heat stroke and puked in some bushes. Brian said, this is fucking bullshit.". Mike at some pizza and Derek made weird jokes because the sun fried his brain. The Minor Times was able to only play a few songs, but they were fucking awesome. It made it even more intense, being as they were rushed and told they couldn't play to begin with. We were sure glad they did.
Lineup: The Minor Times, Trap Them, Perth Express, The_Network, Success Will Write Apocalypse Across the Sky

August 9th: Westcott Community Center, Syracuse, NY - Shit. I can't remember one single solitary thing about this show other than Ryan Hex booked it. It was probably really good. Why do you always remember the shitty ones so well? We did stay at Hex's house that night and I think I watched Total Recall.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express and other bands that were probably awesome, but I suck and can't think

August 10th: The Charleston, Planet Fucking Brooklyn, NY - Awesome show with a fully packed basement in the bar. I love The Charleston.....we've never had a shit show at this place. It was sweaty and loud and fun. Our Brooklyn ambassador, who goes by the name of Montana, gave us copious amounts of beer (and, thankfully, diet coke) and we watched his band, Tournament, completely destroy. They were a perfect noisy punk rock band and were a great band to start the night. PE had a great set as well. We played blew a fuse within the first three songs. Once that was out of the way, we made it through the rest of the set with no problems. We at Vinny's Pizza after. The night?: success.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, Tournament, Olde Ghost

August 11th: ABC No Rio, Planet Fucking Brooklyn, NY (afternoon show) - We booked two shows this day, so we had to run in and out of this one before getting to Amherst,MA. It was a good time, heavily attended because Ampere was playing. That's about it.....loaded, played, loaded out, drove. Oh, and we ate at Dash's Dogs.
Lineup Ampere, Someone else that was on tour with Ampere whose fans hated us, Trap Them, Perth Express

August 11th: Mercy House, Amherst, MA - We busted ass to get there on time, but still ran late. It wasn't a big deal, seeing as when we got to the hall, there were (at the most) twenty people. Didn't matter. I got to watch Relics play.....that's good enough for me....Therrien and Matt are awesome, awesome dudes. Always have been. After the show, we drove to Salem, NH and crashed for the night. Tomorrow was a day off, so we wanted maximum recharge time.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, Relics

August 12th: Day off. We went and watched Disfear play in Allston, MA. Therefore, it was a PERFECT day off.

August 13th: Washington St. VFW Hall, Brookline, MA - I remember Tides playing and not much else besides enjoying playing another New England show. We were also stoked that we only had a few days left on a tour in the middle of August. Shit....this tour is hard to remember anything about.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, Tides, one more

August 14th: Day off

Augst 15th: The Last Stand, Buffalo, NY - I know this show happened.....I KNOW it. But, again, I have no other recollection besides the house being on a one way street with no parking. I think we went to Niagra Falls. Luckily, our dude Andy Czuba was there to hang and give us an audience.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, two more

August 16th: The Davenport, Parma, OH - really bizarre bill, but we were lucky enough to watch Masakari again, who were just as great as the first time I saw them. This was a bar type venue and the stage was kind of tall. I think it was the only show on the tour that we had monitors. We sold some merch and were grateful to Cleveland and it's suburbs for helping us with gas money. After the show, the Germans (PE) got wasted, kept playing AC/DC on the jukebox and Enrico (the drummer who was dubbed "The Disco Cowboy" for this weird dance he did) got into Derek's van. As they were driving away, Derek realized Enrico had a pitcher of beer that he was still drinking because he thought he was in Germany, where you can drink everywhere, like at a children's fair. Or in church. We also found out that we were going to be going out with MLIW in September. All in all, a pretty good day.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, Masakari, Iron Teeth, and a metal band.

August 17th: Refuge Skate Shop, Dearborn, MI - Last day of tour. People brought vegan snacks, I got to see Eric Z of Element Records fame, and we were done driving in that tin can. The show was fun...not heavily attended, but a good bookend to the three plus weeks on the road. Nightbringer played and were great. We said goodbye to PE and drove our asses back to NH.
Lineup: Trap Them, Perth Express, Blackbirds (who were awesome) Nightbringer, Spitting Cobra

01.18.11.....loud noises everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 01:24:00 +0000

Wow. Not sure where to begin, but I'll try to summarize the last two weekends as quick as I can.

First off, a huge thank you to those who made these shows as great as they were. We all spent a ridiculous amount of time in airports and in long car rides, but it was all worth it. Special "fuck yeah"s to Fred at Brooklyn Vegan and Rich Hall/1000 Knives for all they did to make our NYC weekend possible.

01.07.11 - Reggie's Rock Bar Club Thingy, Chicago, IL - This was the first of two free shows with two incredible bands in Mammoth Grinder and Black Breath. Reggie's had a no stagediving policy which did hinder the atmosphere, but every band didn't give a fuck and simply raged. Mammoth Grinder was absolutely fantastic and Black Breath did what they do best, which is kick much ass. It was a filled room for all three bands and the show was done by 8:30....so the rest of the night was spent with such an unrepeatable amount of insanity, it's better not to dive into it. Things broke, hysterical punches were thrown and a fair amount of alcohol was used as fuel for all of this. I drank Mountain Dew and hid behind a box of crackers while laughing my ass off.

01.08.11 - The Roxy, Los Angeles, CA - All three bands had to get on a plane at 7am. I'm pretty sure 50% of TT was still drunk. We peeled our crusted eyelids open and hopped over to O'Hare airport and got to LA at about 10am. Got to our hotel where we were told it wasn't ready. We were very stoked. Farted around until soundcheck at 2pm. This was an extremely early show. Kids filled the room and, again, because it was free, there was a fully rowdy crowd that seemed to enjoy the whole "not having to spend money" thing, which we were more than happy to be a part of. A lot of friends were able to make it out and the whole thing went off great. Spent the night at some cowboy bar where Greg from Southern Lord talked almost everyone into riding a mechanical bull. Scuba was very drunk and not only had a hard time even getting on the bull, but watching him try to STAY on it was.....legendary.
This was followed by watching a washed up Headbanger's Ball DJ host a bunch of ladies competing to ride said mechanical bull. Most of the group stayed outside and hung with Black Breath and assorted Southern Lord comrades as they smoked weed out of a grannysmith apple. So, all in all, a pretty regular night.

One week later, (this past weekend), we had the opportunity to headline two shows in NYC. Scuba and I each flew in from our present abodes. Chris,Brian and Andy all drove, and we all voltronized at Rich Hall's apartment. Brooklyn greeted me with Hanah Foods, a magical sandwich wonderland.
After a night of sleep we started the next day ready for our two day tour.

1.14.11 - Union Pool, Planet Fucking Brooklyn, NY - Sold out show. This was the first of two days with Black Anvil and All Pigs Must Die. Tonight was APMD's first show, but might as well have been their hundredth. Absolutely punishing. This shouldn't be a shock to anyone who is familiar with them, seeing as the band is made up of four seasoned vets. They blazed through their 30 minute set and left most jaws hanging. It was quite a privilege to be part of their live debuts. Black Anvil had a similar effect. They are, simply, a dirty slab of metal that never really takes a moment to breathe. Unrelenting and nasty. We like.
The room was full of 21+ bodies, so the reaction that we received was more than surprising. You tend to lump the "older" age group as (slightly) dead inside, more willing to put a fist in the air or headbang as opposed to, say, getting fucking nutty. Tonight they got nutty, and it was awesome. Not much else to say....everyone had a great time and the set went off without a hitch. Probably one of the better NYC shows we've ever had. Rich worked his ass off to make this happen and we were glad we could make his efforts worthwhile.

1.15.11 - The Cake Shop, Manhattan, NY - Sold out show. This was an early show, starting at 6pm. There was a little worry before the show because The Cake Shop was not going to allow full capacity, but Fred and Rich worked some magic and were able to take care of the situation.
Psychic Limb started the night and were fantastic. I was surprised to see the band had two former Seattle-ites in it. Both Casey and Seamus were two of the first people I met out here, and it was good to see they were making rad distortion together on the other side of the country. PL reminded me of a lot of 90's powerviolence/grind/hardcore hybrids.....short blasts of rage and an overall sarcasm and bitterness throughout. So this means they are great.
APMD and Black Anvil were pretty exciting to watch in a venue as intimate as where we were. After watching them both for the second time in two days, I was just bummed this wasn't a full tour.
Our set was rather rowdy, which I have brand new wounds to prove. The stage was only about eight inches off the ground, so it was perfect eye-level chaos. We had a fucking blast, especially watching kids already singing along to "The Facts". No complaints whatsoever about the entire two days we were there. Everything went as planned, and it was a nice little feeling to sell out a few shows and have packed crowds enjoy what you do.

Again, thanks to all that came out, whether you sang along, got nutty or just gave us your time. Rich and Fred are super dudes. Andy Williams is fucking rad and it's great to look over on stage and see him with us.
We'll see you again in March, NYC....along with a bunch of other cities.

Fuck yeah.

01.05.11....and now you have The Facts

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:53:00 +0000

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/01/trap_them_relea.html

01.04.11.....taste test

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:49:00 +0000

This is a reminder, folks.

Tomorrow on brooklynvegan.com you'll be hearing a brand new song from our upcoming record.
The song is called, "The Facts" and it's good.

Bang your fucking head.

12.31.10.......Show History, Volume Two

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:13:00 +0000

Happy New Year's Eve. Our resolution is to fuck your shit up and not worry about the consequences.

This is volume two and covers our first tour in spring of 2007. There's probably a lot I left out. Sorry. Or.......am I?

The weeks leading up to our first tour were spent prepping in every facet possible. We had Shane from Cannae filling the bass duties, so Brian had to spend a lot of time with him, making sure everything was spot on.
I had put the money together to release a tour version of the "Sleepwell Deconstructor" LP. The night before flying back east to start the tour was spent cutting and folding the 300 screenprinted covers that had been made. Shit looked real pretty. For you vinyl completists, they show up on ebay every once in a while, so keep your eyes open. They were printed on black (French stock?) paper and screenprinted with metallic gold ink. There were fifteen test presses that were screenprinted black on black.
After landing, Brian and I drove to Salem, MA and went to Deathwish Inc. headquarters, where we signed on with them to release some cool shit. We were stoked and they were stoked....it was, as I believe it is called, a win/win situation.
We had a practice all together that night, headed back to Brian's and folded shirts.

April 13th, 2007: Maniac Mansion, Worcester, MA - Got up, got in the van and went to pick up various members, the trailer, etc. Luckily, the first show was in Worcester, which was only an hour from Salem, NH. Somehow, it took all day to get everything taken care of, which is not surprising to those who tour. Getting gas turns into a thirty minute stop. Subway turns into forty five minutes, etc.
The show was in the basement of a punk house and was filled with kids ready to run around. As far as first shows for a first tour, this was perfect. Low ceiling, room barely lit, and a ton of punks going apeshit. Broken bottles, random items being thrown around the room and two full stacks making the walls shake. Great time.
Lineup: Trap Them, Furnace, Nadir

April 14th, 2007: (early show) Valentine's, Albany, NY - It was my bright idea to do two shows in NY on the second day of tour. What can I say? Punk rock ambition sometimes outweighs common sense. Show was an odd one, seeing as it started at like 3pm. I cannot remember the lineup at all, but I'm pretty sure Cockpunch! played. As soon as we were done, we packed everything up as fast as we could and headed to NYC.

April 14th, 2007: (late show) 538 Johnson, Planet Brooklyn, NY - This show would have 100% been awesome if we had been able to show up on time, which we very much did not, due to traffic. By the time we got there, the last two bands were playing, which were The Cancer Kids (!!!) and Ampere. At first, the residents of the venue/space/warehouse weren't going to let us play since we got there so late. After some considerably convincing talks on my end, they were going to let us make our noise for 15 minutes. Seeing as our set was like eighteen to begin with, this was not a problem. We blazed through the set to those that chose to stick around and watch a band not on Clean Plate Records.....so, you know, like twenty people stayed. Regardless of what faces were watching, we were so frustrated from having to fight to play, I remember we had a brutal set and played pretty pissed. Day two....success!

April 15th, 2007: Westcott Center, Syracuse, NY - We had stayed at Scuba's apartment in Brooklyn the night before. Got up, got bagels and headed out. We also realized that night that Shane had to sleep in the van from now on because he snored louder than an air raid siren. Two hours into the drive, we popped a trailer tire in the pouring rain. Ever so reliable, AAA arrived two hours later, right on time(?).We ended up getting to the show late as fuck, as in about 30 minutes after the last band played. But, in a stroke of luck, almost everyone stuck around long enough to watch us tear through a set. Promoter and solid dude all around, Ryan Hex, had made sure kids knew we were on our way.Ryan has probably done six or seven shows for us in Syracuse and they've all been great.
Lineup: Engineer, Tides, Trap Them
So, we got out of the van, played, and then got right back in to drive back to NYC. Half an hour into the drive, we hit a whiteout snowstorm and had to get a hotel. We all tried to sleep through the snoring, while Mitch McArtor (who had tagged along for a few of the shows) watched "Doom" and "Real Sex".

April 16th, 2007: Lit Lounge, New York, NY - Lit Lounge is a dank cellar in Manhattan that looks like terrible things happen in it. I love it. Great show and was my opportunity to finally see The Horror, who were on tour from the UK. Will from Chainsaw Safety came out, who I hadn't seen for a few years. The Horror was awesome. I ate Atlas Foods. We stayed at Scuba's again, much to his roomate's dismay.

April 17th, 2007: The Tower, Lakewood, OH - We got up early and got to the show early. The Tower was this house/space that was in the middle of Sketchville. Slowly, kids filtered in. Masakari played and were fucking fantastic. I remember being blown away, thinking they reminded me of Wolfpack/Wolfbrigade "Allday Hell" era meets Artimus Pyle.Love, loved, loved it. We spent the night at the space. The dude who lived there was trying to explain something before finally saying something along the lines of, "I don't know what I'm saying. I took so many pills tonight I can't tell if I'm talking or not." He then staggered upstairs to his room.
Lineup: Trap Them, Lord Mantis, Masakari, Iron Teeth

April 18th, 2007: The People's Project, Chicago, IL - This was the show I had been looking forward to the most on the tour. We lucked out and were able to play with Sweet Cobra. I had off an on conversed with guitar player Mat Arluck. He was really stoked we were passing through and was able to help get the show together. It was a basement show in a pretty cool art space on Milwaukee Ave (I think). It was a long and thin room, so even though there were only about sixty people, it looked pretty full while we were playing. Sweet Cobra was heavy as Hell and sounded amazing. We ate Mexican after the show and stayed with Remus' (sp?) from Sweet Cobra's house.
Lineup: Sweet Cobra, Lone Wolf and Cub, Trap Them, Rager
Sidenote: Mat Arluck passed away from cancer at Christmas 2009. He was one of the first supporters of this band and was someone we looked forward to seeing every time we passed through Chicago. Individually and collectively as a band, we really miss him. He was an amazing person and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Our "Filth Rations" EP was dedicated to him in his memory. Watching the smile on his face as he saw Bolt Thrower at MDF 2009 was a perfect way to remember him.

April 19th, 2007: Blackbear Lair, Louisville, KY - Roughly fifteen people showed up, which we were told was pretty good for that era in Louisville punk/hc. Among those fifteen were old friends, which made the room feel like 100 people. The Patterson brothers were there as well as Steve Sindoni, who had sung for Breather Resist. I hadn't seen him since shows Brian and I had played with previous bands. The show went as well as a show in a 10 foot by 10 foot room could go. We had fun, went to Steve's bar after the show where everyone got drunk but me so I could drive us to Indianapolis.
Lineup: Trap Them, Plows, local acoustic singer/songwriter whose name escapes me

April 20th, 2007: Secret Location, Indianapolis, IN - Derek Black, who basically books any show that matters in Indianapolis (including Dudefest), hooked us up with a house show. Had a great time and was nice to play a place where kids seemed to have already heard of us and were stoked for the show.
Lineup: Nixon, Trap Them, Worldeater, a few more.....I forget things.

April 21st, 2007: Siren Records, Doylestown, PA - Siren Records was/is(?) Bob from A Life Once Lost's place. You played in the corner of the room looking at a large store of music. The kids that came out were on the younger side, but seemed to have fun. The dudes from The Minor Times came to say hi and watch the set, which was pretty nice of them.
Lineup: Trap Them, Passion, War Pigs

We drove home after that. There was supposed to be a show in Allston, MA on the 22nd, but the house got shut down. We dropped everyone off at their respective homes and called it a day. I flew back to Seattle the next morning and Brian got back to working on the songs for the "Seance Prime" EP.

12.29.10......countdown

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:16:00 +0000

A reminder:

One week from today, brooklynvegan.com will be debuting a new song.

Get ready to say, "holy shit".

12.29.10.....show me yours, we'll show you ours

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:45:00 +0000

It goes without saying that there are an uncountable amount of family and friends that were/are extremely supportive, so that list is incapable of writing down. This is Trap Them's list of collective insomniawesomists:

Top Ten of 2010 (in no particular order except for the tie at #1)

10 - 03.13.10 Scion Fest, Columbus, OH - Goddamn, this was insane. Not much more can be said and there's little to no proof that our set existed, seeing as I saw about fifteen cameras flying through the air after getting kicked out of hands.

9 - Southern Lord Recordings - Greg went above and beyond to ensure the "Filth Rations" EP was presented exactly how we wanted it. It looks amazing, sounds amazing and we were incredibly happy with it.

8 - The fine people at Deathwish Inc. that continue to support our brand of distortion.

7 - Prosthetic Records and their patience as we slowly created a record that they'd be proud to release. They did their job and we sure as hell did ours.

6 - After four years of musical chairs, we became a full band.

5 - Every Time I Die. Without getting too gushy, this band gave us more than they could understand. After numerous roadblocks that prevented previous tours with them from happening(sorry, Australia and Europe...not our fault!), the opportunity to support these guys around the US for a month was nothing short of exactly what we wanted out of this fall. Seeing a band like this in a live setting, in clubs much smaller than they usually play, was insane. We all watched them every night. They are, hands down, one of the best live acts I've ever seen and it was awesome to witness it for thirty some-odd nights. This tour gave us the best shows we've ever had since we started touring.

4 - 08.08.10 Power of the Riff Fest, Los Angeles, CA - The line-up for this fest was ridiculous. Sam and Greg made this thing a mammoth. Plus, we got to see From Ashes Rise again.

3 - In September 2010, we made a record that will blow some fucking minds.

1 - Dan Richardson. The phrase "merch dude" or "tour manager" or "road guy" doesn't cut it. Dan was a "dad" in that van for us, and took care of anything and everything we forgot....whether intentional or unintentional. Dude drove through snowstorms like it was a dusting, streamlined merch like it was a lemonade stand and, above all, did his best to keep us (including this bipolar motherfucker writing this...) sane. Never cracked. THE most solid dude. We wish him luck in his pursuit of finding a "smokin' hot wife" and reaching his goals he's set for himself.

1 - Kurt Ballou. This guy and TT go hand in hand like peanut butter and chocolate. Oh, you don't like peanut butter and chocolate? Well then, fuck you. Moving on.

Since this band started recording in 2006, we have gone to Godcity once a year. Each time felt better than the previous session, and this year was no different. We've come to understanding each other's approach to recording and, this being the fifth time we went to Salem, MA, it was fully realized on this session. We came prepared....more prepared than we've ever been and, in turn, so was Kurt. Both parties knew that this was a very important record. He got his hands dirty on this one and was willing to dig through the rocks until he found gold. What he was able to do was to help us create our own piece of art that we are infinitely proud of. Not only is he a great producer, he is a great friend of TT and his dedication to his trade is something that garners the utmost respect. Thanks (again) Kurt, hopefully we see you on all those year end lists in 2011.

12.25.10....Why not?

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 11:34:00 +0000

I had so much fun doing our latest tour re-cap, I've decided to dig my own grave for the sake of comprehension.
Starting from the inception of the band, I'm going to attempt to re-cap our entire show history. Some will have a good description and some will be glossed over because they were a blur, and some may be forgotten completely, due to being senile.
Regardless, I'll do the best I can. Expect them to be put up every week or two until it's all here.

The post below is the first. Enjoy? Enjoy.

12.25.10......Show/Tour History, Volume One

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 11:29:00 +0000

August 5th was the day "Sleepwell Deconstructor" was mastered by Nick Z. One month later, we got busy.

September 5th, 2006: Redrum, Providence, RI - Our first show was on Mitch "Trash Art" McArtor's birthday. We'd had a month of practice as a makeshift full band, which included Nat from Transistor, Transistor and John from Abhorred/Grief. For a first show, we did pretty well, playing about 18 minutes of grind to unsuspecting onlookers. Watching Mitch smile with pride was the best part of the night. We played with Mind Eraser and Breathing Fire (I think?). We had a t-shirt for sale and that's about it.

December 15th, 2006: Tyler's Basement, Manchester, NH - The date escapes me, and we have nothing to jog my memory. Somewhat of a "homestate" show and the release of our "Cunt Heir to the Throne" 7", which showed up about an hour after we played. Before the first song was over, we had blown a fuse and took all the power out. Once that was taken care of, we finished the set to a lot of familiar faces that were excited to finally see us. Great show. We played with Wasteland, which has always been one of my favorite New England bands of all time.
Lineup: Furnace, Wasteland, Trap Them, The Carrier, Unrequited

January 27th, 2007: American Legion Hall, Nashua, NH: The CD release show for The_Network's "This is Your Pig's Portrait" record. Packed house. Roughly 250 kids showed up in a snowstorm to go apeshit for The Red Chord and T_N. And apeshit they went. We started our grand tradition of bumming out the crowd immediately by insulting the bullshit posturing of a bunch of fake "hard" motherfuckers. You're from NH. There are no ghettos. 98% of you have not led a hard life. Fuck off.
It was great to play alongside a bunch of our friends, who were very enthusiastic of our set. The_Network's set was, unquestionably, epic. Not many times in the history of going to shows have I witnessed such insanity, and it was beautiful. The Red Chord cased a riot and all in all, it was a great night. Lineup: The Red Chord, The_Network, Architect, Trap Them, In Remembrance (excellent band) and Kings.

January 28th, 2007: The Elks Lodge, Cambridge, MA - Quite a setting for our fourth show. We had the privilege of playing on an amazing lineup. We opened the show, played louder than we ever had and exposed ourselves to a great crowd. The best comment I heard was immediately after we were done, someone said, "Well....I sure as hell wasn't expecting that."
Lineup: The Hope Conspiracy, Shipwreck AD, Bloodhorse, Clouds and Trap Them.

February 25th, 2007: Another warehouse I can't remember the name of, Providence, RI - A memorable day for numerous reasons. Mainly personal, because directly after the show, my wife and I started our cross country drive to move to Seattle with absolutely no plan.
The show was filled with familiar faces from Providence that I had see for the previous decade of playing and attending shows there. I remember busting my nose open and I remember it being very cold.
Lineup: Wasteland, Architect, Trap Them, Playgirl

March 17th, 2007: Redrum, Providence, RI: I flew back east for a weekend of shows. The previous night was to be in Amherst, MA, but was cancelled due to a New England style blizzard. The Redrum was freezing, but the show was fucking awesome. We played first and started around 11pm. That's Olneyville style. Great show with people pushed right up to the band. Torche (on a day off from their tour with Isis and Jesu) started their set around 2:30am and played for a good hour and a half, including Floor covers. I was happier than a pig in shit.
Lineup: Torche, The Body (amazing as always), Four Horse, Trap Them

March 18th, 2007: The Brickhouse, Dover, New Hampshire - I lived in Dover the first 24 years of my life before moving to western NH. I can honestly say NOTHING existed there for distortion. We had The Queers and The Drunks.....and that's about it. Portsmouth had the Elvis Room, which was the closest place to witness anything awesome and was home to many great shows of my youth. Anyways, to return to my hometown, where there was now a venue, was in a word....surreal. This venue is still running, I believe, and I'm extremely happy that kids in NH have a legit place to go see a show and be exposed to aggressive music at an early age. Props to those that keep it going. The show was proof we were doing something right. Circle pits were had, and the night was a success. We also received the "Sleepwell Deconstructor" CDs and were pleased as punch to sell about twenty copies that first night.
Lineup: The_Network, Porphyria, Trap Them, Despotic Robot, Goodbye Cruel World.

And thus concludes all shows that occurred before we became a touring machine. Anyone that can fill in the blanks, correct my mistakes, or remind me of something I missed, please feel free to leave a comment and jog my memory.

12.22.10......remove the duct tape

noreply@blogger.com (rjm) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:37:00 +0000

Oh hey, here's those shows I was talking about. No big.....just free stuff and tons of noise.
Chicago.....remember when we were there last month? We expect you to cause enough chaos at this one to make that one look like a tea party. Death doctor's orders.