Now I ain’t gonna be updating all crazy like since my last update was so recent, but I’m sorting through my e-mails and want to address a question sent in.

I have a few questions, if you don’t mind.

How long did it take you to be noticed as a band?

What’s your fave Nothingface, and Brand new song?

So after listening to “Girl directions” and reading that you used to live in Pheonix, Az. I’m curious as to where about did you live. In a complete non-stalker way of course.

Keep up with the music. <3

- Kira

I like easy questions.

My favorite Nothingface song is either Breathe Out or Villians on “Audio Guide to Everyday Atrocity.” Can’t decide. I love that record.

Play Crack The Sky is my fav Brand New song. I didn’t really dig their newest record, but “Deja Entendu” is badass.

In regards to where I lived in Phoenix, I bounced around several times. First it was Scottsdale, then Tempe, then Tempe again, then Phoenix, then… Phoenix again. All in the east valley, as I did not like the west valley very much. However, if you wanted to stalk me there you just might want to give up now. I’ve relocated halfway across the country.

Upgraded to WP 3.0 here. So far it’s snazzy. I’m sure most of the major changes are under-the-hood, which I like. Major navigation changes tend to lose core fans and audience members, although Facebook seems to be an exception to this rule… strange, no?

So it’s been a little while since my last update. Didn’t I somewhat promise more frequent updates? Hell naw. I don’t know what you’re talking about. *shifty eyes*

I last left you somewhere in California several weeks ago. Since then we’ve wrapped up that goofy “Parental Advisory Tour” (which I have to admit, was a very plain and boring name for a tour – hey, it wasn’t my idea, so don’t blame me) and started the “Pay Off the Van Tour.” Guess what we’re trying to do? Business 101: minimize liabilities, maximize assets. While the van will always be a liability of some kind with maintenance and whatnot, making monthly payments on it is quite an expense that we’re ready to be done with.

Thank you Aaron for introducing me.

Also the trailer that we bought from Indorphine is on it’s last legs. Did you know that if you squirt grease externally into your bearings that you end up compromising your brake system? I’m sure I vented about that at some point. Either way, it’s time for a new trailer. We’re also gonna end up ditching that extremely heavy merch monster that’s made of 2x4s, 4x4s, and plywood. It’s easily several hundred pounds. Turns out all that weight ended up bending the axles INWARD, causing our trailer tires to wear down very unevenly.

Wait, this isn’t the crap you want to read about. BEER AND DRUGZ LOL

Just kidding. I suppose I could talk about a few things that are actually interesting.

Anyway, the shows we ended up playing in the LA area and San Diego were great. Mower came out to San Diego to show some love, and it was greatly appreciated. It’s always reassuring to know our dumb band makes some sort of impact on other bands; enough for them to want to actually take the time to visit you when you travel through their hometown. Great stuff.

The Phoenix show was surprisingly awesome. We played so early that 30% of the overall draw that night was there so the show was a rough one for us. Yep, even in our hometown. The “Hometown Curse” applies to Psychostick in full force. Luckily some of our good friends came out and showed their support, and that was completely worth it. After we hit that last note and loaded out, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. We hadn’t been an opening act on a tour for a long time. I’m proud of how we rolled with a lot of the punches that were thrown our way, made the best of the situation, and rose above the challenges.

After the show I was wandering around talking with some friends when suddenly someone I was once very close with appeared out of nowhere. We talked for a while and I find out she got married which took me by complete surprise. Definitely a wonderful thing for her and I’m very happy for her. What a character building experience. Mega congrats to you; you know who you are!

Anyway, Phoenix was the last show of the tour and saying bye to those fellers in Jello and Nashville was bittersweet. We spent the next day in Phoenix catching our breath, and from there my manager and I drove all the way back to KC, MO for a well deserved respite. I spent several days playing video games, sleeping, and hanging out with my lady. So freakin’ relaxing, lemme tell you. Touring is a lot like boot camp, y’know? Wait… no, I don’t know. I’ve never been to boot camp. Touring is like… touring. There’s nothing like it, and while it’s fun and insane, it’s exhausting. You quickly learn to appreciate time off and the simple, mundane things in life that most seem to overlook.

A delicious farewell.

We spent the following week preparing an extra-entertaining show for this tour that I’m on now, “The Pay off the Van Tour.” Before I knew it, I was packing my bags, running tons of errands, rehearsing, and kissin’ my lady goodbye for our departure. I do wish I had another week to catch my breath a bit more, but humorcore calls.

We played in KC first and it was a great show; ALL AGES finally! Tons of kids came out and rocked their faces off. Probably our best KC show to date. Next time I hope we can get the radio behind it.

The next night we were in St Louis for a incredibly badass show; 700+ people came out. Not for just us, though… heh. It was some festival show announcement… show thing. We killed it; such a badass show. I love Pop’s and the mediocre diner that’s in walking distance.

Next up was Danville, IL. Slang Metalfest, which is a local metalfest for that area. Turned out way better than I was expecting. Most “metalfests” that we play are chaotic and poorly executed. This was not the case at Slang Metalfest. We ended up meeting a ton of really cool people, including the guys in God Forbid. Maybe someday we’ll get to tour with ‘em. You know, once humorcore isn’t a scary concept. ;P

Chicago was our next stop. We got to briefly hang out with Murph and his crazy friends. Had some badass deep dish pizza. Can’t imagine not eating that when in Chicago. I wanted some Chicago dogs, but alas, this did not happen. Next time… next time…

Smash hit? Where's my fame and fortune?

We then headed to the Masquerade in Atlanta, GA and met up with Look What I Did (YEAH!). First time there, and it was awesome. Apparently this is one of THE spots in Atlanta to play; we played the smaller room downstairs and did extremely well. Can’t wait to head back.

That night we drove back to Nashville, then over to Cookeville for our “reunion” with Green Jello. They had almost everyone back in tow on this go-round, and we got to witness a different set with Jello. The turnout was bad, but the show was good. We were support for Jello, and after the whole thing was done I was glad to be headlining the rest of the tour. Except Skatopia and Mayhemfest.

We made the drive to Amelia, OH next. Good show; got to see Jake (ex-guitarist) and his lady. Good to see ‘em.

And then there was… Skatopia.

Now I can’t exactly give a fair assessment of this show. We didn’t have a set time, we didn’t know where we were playing, we didn’t know jack shit. That frustrated me. Turns out Bill in Green Jello got us a few songs in at 2:00 AM at this shack barn thing. So we waited all day for this. I pretty much hung out in the van to stay cool. I saw GWAR for the first time, and they were AMAZING. Almost right after that we hit the stage in the barn thing and blazed through 5 songs. Great reaction, lots of fun! Afterwards a bonfire broke out and folks started tossing fireworks into the bonfire, creating pure chaos. We escaped not long after that thankfully; I’m not crazy about that stuff.

We got back to Columbus, squeezed in some rest, and headed out to Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh. AWESOME show. I love all ages shows; so much more energy than 21+. They were passionate about their Psychostick, and we gave it to ‘em good. Shows like that make touring worthwhile. Thank you Pittsburgh!

Look What I Did started to experience some van problems that night. As of right now they’re getting their transmission fixed/replaced, which is a bummer, but they’re dedicated and have assured everyone that they won’t miss any shows. What a great bunch of fellers; they’re so professional and easy to work with. Class act.

And now here I am, enjoying a few days off and updating you on most of the stuff you might care to hear about. I’m considering finishing watching Inglorious Basterds, but I might need to sleep in order to run errands tomorrow. Hmm, all work? All play? Stupid Last Airbender not coming out tomorrow…

I enjoy ice cream selection.

Ever wonder if Hollywood is the place to be for anything entertaining? Wonder away. I’ll tell you this much: Famous people are still just people, and having some beer here and there will enhance your experience.

Of course, knowing someone awesome in Hollywood (Bill Manspeaker, for example) always makes things far more interesting and entertaining.

Update time. I last left you at Reno, and a few things have taken place since then. Just a few.

We hit up Bend, OR at this venue called “The Domino Room.” Some art of actual dominoes were scattered about, and I found myself mostly spending time in the “Staging area,” which was a giant room 4 times the size of the actual venue.

The turnout was alright; bit of a tough crowd. I got to play bass for Green Jello again for a song, “Toucan Son of Sam.” All in all, eating Del Taco and having some Dutch Bros coffee made the Bend experience enjoyable.

The next night we made a long drive to Tacoma, WA for a show at “Hell’s Kitchen.” We drove to their original location by accident; we learned that they moved to a downtownish area. Once we got there, I ordered me a delicious Philly Cheese Steak and waited ’round for the show to kick off.

The place packed out and we had a great show. Some friends came out, including some Fall of Troy guys, so it was great to see them. I got a bit toasty and ended up passing out in a Motel 6. Good times.

We got to Portland early and wandered the area. Josh and Anthony went to Voodoo Doughnuts while Mark (Nashville’s sound nerd) and I hit up the Ground Kontrol Barcade.

Oh yeah.

As you can see, I was beyond impressed with this place. I’ve always wanted to open up one of these Barcade type places, and to actually see it happen has made me a happy Rawrb. I decided to continue with my dream and do it someday once I have the funding and a location picked out.

Just you wait.

Solid show overall at Roseland. Good crowd, great response, delicious mac ‘n cheese.

More updates soon from Hollywood and Bill’s house. Awh yeah.

First off, our trailer is ’bout to go the way of old Yeller. Once this tour is up I’m taking it in and gonna try and get a new one. We got what we paid for, that’s for sure… but it’s sustained us for long enough. The maintenance I don’t mind; it’s the fact that it’s falling apart and wasn’t well taken care of prior to us purchasing it.

Did you know that it’s possible to over-grease the bearings? I found that out after the entire brake system was compromised due to grease being flung all over them. Heh. Naw, I don’t mind paying $800 to replace the brake system! That’s FUN!

*ahem*

Then, just yesterday, the frame of the trailer had a HOLE due to it being crappy and old. This hole what where the wheel wells connected to the frame, thus part of the wheel well wasn’t attached to the trailer. Dangerous.

AND the trailer is unbalanced so our tires don’t wear down evenly!

It’s time for this thing to go. The amount of money I’ve thrown at it to keep it going could have paid for a new trailer by now, or at least half of a new trailer.

That’s right. I just vented. Chew on it, it’s delicious.

Tour update? Oh yeah.

Grand Junction, Colorado. The Mesa Theater was a nice spot. Sadly, Green Jello wasn’t on this show. I don’t recall why, but I think it was a dumb reason. For the most part the show went alright, but it seems as if it wasn’t very well promoted… hmmm.

Josh and I had some badass sandwiches though. There was an art festival going on the street where we were playing, so we chowed down. Yeah!

Salt Lake City, UT. Returning to Club Vegas is always a pleasure. Dusty, the owner (who resembles someone who could be a professional wrestler/UFC fighter) is incredibly hospitable. It’s worth playing there just to hang with that guy.

Great turnout this time ’round; having Jello and Nashville on the bill definitely helped. Sadly, some of my Salt Lake friends didn’t make it out. Couldn’t get ahold of ‘em either.

Then… we had 3 days off. 2 is fine, 3 is a bit much. We ended up staying at the Super 8 in downtown SLC. We ended up launching our new digital EP The Digital Appetizer. This is awesome. Very awesome. I’m very proud of these new songs.

Reno, NV: FINALLY a good show in Reno! Every show we’ve had there has been along the lines of “meh,” and we’re happy to get in front of some people. I also got to play bass for one of Jello’s songs. Very fun, actually. Didn’t know I could play some bass, did you? Heh.

Awh yeah, got Steam for the Mac. Bye!

I’m gonna attempt to type an update with an iPad. It has been rumored that ipads are not laptop replacements, and I mostly agree with this. The on- screen keyboard is a little awkward at first, and doesn’t quite measure up to the real deal… but it’s close. Closer than you might think.

Yep.

We spent a couple days off in Odessa where Josh and I grew up. Always fun returning there because I get to feel nostalgic briefly. I didn’t get much of a chance to see my old house or anything like that because I was busy sleeping and eating delicious food. Mmm.

After all that awesomeness we headed to Amarillo for our next show. First time at Club Khaos, and we literally went on around 7:30 pm… which usually means that we don’t get to play in front of many peoples. Boo.

Heh.

The venue did provide us a hotel room, so Anthony, Alex, and myself went there while Matt and Josh headed to Josh’s brother’s house. Sleep? No, 8 hour drive the next day.

Up at 6 am. Off to Denver, but not before getting breakfast burritos. Yum. We also made a pit stop at my Grandma’s house for lunch. She made some awesome delicious chicken noodle soup, which we consumed with great angst.

Once we arrived at Denver, we hit up a soul food joint and thoroughly ingested it. I had smothered pork chops. You are jealous.

Overall, great show! The altitude here wore me out but we pulled though so good. Blat.

Next up is grand junction… and more food.

Ipads are awesomeness.

Somehow, someway, some douchebag managed to use my personal debit card to spend $300 on the Playstation Network. Time to dispute charges and destroy the douche. DESTROY.

Anyway, I’m gonna attempt to catch you up on the past week of touring since I’ve slacked, slept, rocked, slept, ate, etc.

Let’s see here… I last left off at Louisville. The next night we went off to St Louis, MO at this little venue called the Library. Normally we play Pop’s, but we couldn’t because of *insert behind-the-scenes-band-business-here*, so you understand. Right?

The draw on this show wasn’t so great, but the sound was nice. They had a large backstage area and a small stage. Makes me wanna ask ‘em to extend the stage, but it’s not my call. Heh. My lady came on out that night from KC, MO – so I was a happy boy. Fairly uneventful night.

After the show she and I drove back to KC. Nice and calming drive home.

Next night we played at The Aftershock in Merriam, KS (which is a suburb of KC). Nice venue; good sound, good stage, good spot. I think we might’ve finally found our home in KC. The place packed out and we had a great show overall. I had myself a Cajun Chicken Sammich and mingled with the fans a bit more than normal that night. It was raining all day too, so loading in and out was extra fun. Alex got to play his new Orange County kit for the first time that night. Yeah!

The next morning we headed north to Des Moines, IA. We played out normal spot, The House of Bricks, but this time ’round there was an actual crowd! We seemed to have found ourselves the right promoter for Des Moines. The places was PACKED. GREAT show. Ended up stuffing our faces with Jimmy John’s (YES YES YES). Had a nice drive back home to KC and a stupendous day off.

Spent most of the day off running errands and trying to catch up on some sleep. Both were successful and awesome. Had some Olive Garden for lunch and Legends of Asia for dinner (which is the best Asian buffet I’ve ever been to).

Tulsa, OK was the next night. We were very late due to us having to pick up more shirts from Fedex (they had the wrong address). Once we arrived at the venue, The Other Side, we immediately loaded in and had one local playing right before us. The draw was… bad to say the least, but we had some hardcore fans out and they were happy to see us. We went up and played, rocked it good, came off of stage, and waited for Wendy to go up. The rest of the package didn’t play that night due to the fact that the promoter wasn’t there and failed to pay up. Heh. Epic Fail. After all that nonsense we went to IHOP with a few fans, watched a nutty fan chug shots of syrup, and stayed at another fan’s house.

The next day we had a long drive to San Angelo to play at the Dead Horse Saloon. Nice venue with great sound. There was miscommunication between the venue and those that were calling in to find out when we were playing. Turns out a lot of people missed us because the venue was telling them 9:45, and we went on at 9:05. BOO. Bad. Great show otherwise, the place was packed and had a delicious TACO stand next door. So awesome.

After that pizzazz we headed to San Antonio for our first show at the Backstage Live. Large venue, bad sound, echo chamber. Draw wasn’t so great that night either. More miscommuncation between the venue and the first band, so the show got behind about 10 minutes. Doesn’t seem like much, but it is when it comes to loading in and making sure the headliner has breathing room to play. Saw some friends I haven’t seen in a long time show up, plus we had Bill Miller’s! Mm. Earlier that day we introduced Matt to Rosa’s Cafe, which is a seriously badass Tex-mex place. Hell yeah. Stayed at our buddy Seth’s house that night. Good times.

Now we’re heading to Houston and I’m almost out of juice on my laptop. Stay tuned, jerks!

I’m all, suck. Need to get you better tour updates. Yes.

Josh is sleeping in the van. I’m in a hotel lobby (SUPER 8 OMG) trying to get you an update before we drive another 5 hours to St Louis tonight. So forgive me if this is rather rushed. Forgive me or I’ll stab you in the liver/pancreas!

The first show after our couple of days off was in Waterloo, IA. This is the definition of an over saturated market: We’ve played this area about 6 or 7 times over the past four years and it shows. People got too much ‘stick and now they’d rather not come out, and I can’t blame ‘em. “Awh, well they’ve been here 20 times. They’ll come back and I’ll see them next time.”

Think again, WATERLOO! We’re not coming back. If we do, it won’t be for YEARS! HAR HAR HAR

The show itself was… bad. Well, our performance was bad. Two days off made us that rusty? I dunno. Crowd was tiny due to over saturation, but we did have a good time. The new location of The Reverb was much better than the old, though more people went to the old. Hmm. So many variables.

The next night was in mighty Chicago. Quite the jump from Waterloo. We were at Reggie’s, one of our favorite spots, and it packed out very nicely that night. Murph was there with Matt and some buddies, and the entire show overall was just pure fun. Had me a Reuben from the bar for dinner. Tasty. Murph got to join Green Jello briefly and danced like a robot, which I think was a dream come true for him. Congrats Murph!

The highlight of the night: Some really drunk, bald, out of shape looking guy tried to pick a fight with a *ahem* midget wrestler who looked like a seasoned fighter. I was there, outside, waiting for it to happen with camera in hand. Alas, there were too many security folk to make sure it didn’t. Probably a good thing, but… but… goddamnit! I almost had a youtube smash hit on my hands! How cool would THAT have been; a midget wrestler taking down a stupid drunk guy? Holy hell.

Anyway.

The following night was at the Expo 5 in Louisville, KY. We made our first return to the venue where we had our very first show on any tour.

Without being too much of an asshole, I can’t really say the show went well. I feel we performed very well, the small crowd that was there enjoyed it, and we sold some merch. We got fed delicious BBQ pork before the show, and the staff there was super cool. I dunno where the peeps were; I was hoping this show would be better this time ’round but I guess it wasn’t promoted. Strange.

After the show we found a Super 8 outside of Louisville, which I’m about to check out of. OOh, I think we can go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Yeah!

Things I learned: Appreciate all fans (even the creepy ones), midget wrestlers are awesome, Murph’s reaction to a certain un-named artist was priceless (“NOOOOO!”), and Final Fantasy VI is still badass.

Playing a venue with a history like the Alrosa Villa has isn’t something you could actually put into words. If you haven’t been there since the incident, the vibe there isn’t one of death or negativity or anything similar. It’s positive; very warm and inviting. People there are all respectful and supportive of the venue’s staff and despite all that’s happened, all bands that play there know and understand that the incident doesn’t make the venue.

Complete and utter respect.

The show was absolutely awesome. It was packed out – our best Alrosa show yet. The nice runner lady went and got us Jimmy Johns; Rick (the owner) made sure we got our Lunchables, and the sound was incredible.

YES.

I learned some interesting stuff about the industry and Green Jello’s history from Bill, all while watching him build a coffin out of foam rubber stuff. Heh.

We had an amazing response from the large crowd that came in with a nice sales numbers to show that we did something right. Must’ve been my booty shaking. I’m… pretty good at it. Heh.

After the show we headed back to Alex’s place. Sleeeeeep.

And now we’ve got a couple days off, so if I’m feeling SAUUUUCY enough I’ll post something about me doing nothing. Mmm. Nothing.

What I learned: Sometimes blondes live up to the stereotype, Jager on stage still kicks my ass, and Happy 6 Months to my Sugarbuns! Yeehaw!

Toledo was last night! As I sit here and reflect on the lack of events and anything really that interesting from that show, I sip on my lukewarm coffee and digest my Chipotle. Mm.

The show was solid; decent venue, not so great sound, happy crowd, etc. We got to meet our booking agents in person for the first time, so that was cool. I dunno if I mentioned this, but there’s a lot of industry folk that’ve seen us on this tour that are watching us and grazing their chin thinking, “Hmmm… maybe…” Heh.

Toledo is a small town in Ohio that we haven’t played in for a while. Smaller towns usually bring out a few more folks, but I think some sporting event was going on so the draw was hurting. That’s always our biggest competition is other events going on in the city. Other bands aren’t it; it’s something like someone’s party or a basketball game or something like that. Yup.

Alex is enjoying his new snare stand. I’ll try and get pictures of the one he broke in half on stage and put ‘em up here.

Anyway, yeah – good show, nice venue. This tour is definitely shaping up to be a very good move for Psychostick, and I’m really looking forward to what’s in store.

What I learned: Pizza before performing is bad idea, trumpets are NOT metal, and the best tour jokes are the ones that walk around upright.