DAY 6

WICHITA KS, the Electric Snake.
Wichita is a strange town. I really like playing there, and the people at shows are very kind and nice but each time we go I feel like I get a taste of the darkness that is Wichita. We ate at a place next to the Electric Snake called Taco Shoppe. I'm pretty sure everyone in there was on some sort of bath-tub concocted drug. Everyone was really edgy and bleary eyed, staring us down as we walked in. We don't even look that rock and roll. I mean, sure I do because looking awesomely rock and roll is inherent to my nature but not so much yesterday because I was sick and just wanted a taco. And the show was sort of blah, the local bands played first even though we requested they play last so almost everyone left after their friends played. I don't know. That town is just bumming me out more and more the more I get to know it. And its so distabilizing and depressing when it seems like everywhere you go everyone is high or drunk or concerned about how soon they will be, no matter the time of day. but that's kinda been this whole tour. That's just not my scene, I don't like being around that. But, BUT, Some really rad people stuck around and watched us and Berry play and danced, that makes it worth it. Got home at 4:30am. Slept the sleep of the dead.

DAY 5

Lawrence KS, The Replay Lounge.
Today wailed pretty hard. Except for that I am officially sick. Cold or something. Sucks crap. Today we ate at Taco John's, which I've never eaten at but always laughed at. That's about as mexican a name for a restaurant as Taco Regis. It was pretty good for what it was. Then we went to Blue Collar Press where Eric and Ricky work. Met Jim from the anniversary and Sean from coalesce. That was pretty awesome. The show tonight was good, Some Oklahomies came out. I just felt so crappy but I did enjoy myself. The singer from the appleseed cast was at our show but I think he was there for the $1.50 well drinks. Lawrence has the best drink specials! Afterwards back at the house there were three girls in the kitchen that seemed to be having a yelling contest to see who could yell and laugh the loudest while everyone else in the house tried to sleep. I think they all tied and each took home part of the gold. Really looking forward to Wichita tomorrow.

DAY 4 Lawrence

DAY OFF #2

Since our Colombia and Kansas City shows fell through We've just been enjoying hanging out in Lawrence staying with the very hospitable Eric Massay and Kyle Sheline. The have the cutest kitty named Happy Birthday Barry Sanders. He's pretty rowdy but I like him a lot. Today we ate some really tasty thai food at Zen Zero, went to a punk rock book store, a crappy musical equipment store and a really awesome record store. Justin got the Hawk and a Hacksaw and Beirut records, they are both really awesome. I feel like we've been listening to some really great music on this trip.

Tonight we went to two shows, the first was Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at the Bottleneck which Kyle got us on the guest list for. That wailed. It was a fun show. Then we walked to the Replay and saw Chin Up Chin Up. All in all a really good night. Everyone stayed up late but I've just been so tired lately that I went to bed pretty early. I Look forward to playing tonight and hitting the road again. I'm getting pretty cagy. cagie? cage-ie? whatever, restless.

DAY 3

Lawrence KS, Day OFF

Woke up with a near migraine today, I was bummed about that. I don't know where it came from, I haven't drank heavily at all this tour. Maybe just from being awake too much and not eating enough. The shower, 600 milligrams of advil and food did the trick though. Drove to Lawrence today, It was a very nice drive, a little windy. I can't believe how many "ADULT SUPERSTORES" there are in this state. They all advertise that they sell shoes too. Who's going to buy a rubber giner and shoes on the same trip? Weirds. Now we're at Kyle Sheline and Eric Von Massay's digs. Such a rad town with rad doods in a rad house. I am enjoying myself quite a lot. very tired but that's okay, i will get some serious rest over the next two days. These dads I am in a band with just get up way too early for me. Might go to Blue Collar Press tomorrow, I'm stoked to see another screen printing shop other than ours! we're going to see ted leo tomorrow night as well, that should be way fun. i'll keep you updated!
be well my friends.

Day 2, March 21

St. Louis MO, The Red Sea Underground.

Wowee Zowee. Stayed up too late last night and then walked around a lot today. But, (BUT!) I did get to go to H&M and got a sweet new Hoodie and V neck. So stoked. We got to StL pretty early so we walked around a lot, ate Thai Pizza and Checked out the tattoo parlor. Wish I had some tattoo money sooo bad. Oh and on the drive here we stopped at a winery and got to be a part of a small wine tasting at which i bought some very on sale syrah that tastes waaaay awesome. I think I'll give the bottle as a gift to Eric and Kyle in Lawrence because they're letting us stay with them.

So this venue was wild. It was in the basement of an Ethiopian restaurant called the red sea but to load in or even to get to the venue you had to walk through the restaurant. So awkward. I was so pooped that i ended up taking a two hour nap in the back of our vehicle until it was time to play. That was kinda wild, Eric came and woke me up and said it was time to play so I walked down there, set up, plugged in and started playing 5 minutes after waking up from a very hard sleep. I don't think i've ever done that before. Deer hunter was playing for free somewhere near where we were playing but the show was still good. Good crowd and really nice people. We hooked up with the band we're touring with today, Berry, they really really wail. So stoked to watch them play several nights in a row. check them out. www.myspace.com/berry
We all forgot cameras so no good pic posts unfortunately.

STUDENT FILM TOUR!

DAY 1, April 20th, 2007.

Welp, what a day. What should have been a 4 and a half hour drive to springfield turned into a 6 and half hour drive that included arkansas. Kinda embarrasing considering there's only one highway that goes from OKC to Springfield. But, we made it. A very kind little lady named Hannah Hooked us up with a show at Nathan P Murphey's pretty last minute. Kind of a weird show, we were the only band so they made us do two sets. The sound guy made us sing acapella during sound check. But I think playing two sets was the strangest part. We played 21 songs including Justin doing three by himself. It's pretty awesome that we can play that many songs but there aren't many occasions that i would elect that we play that number of songs. I like the "wham, bam, thanks dude" approach to set lengths. We stayed with a killer bro named Evan, he had a really sweet dog named Buddy. I really liked buddy. St. Louis tomorrow. Pretty stoked about that.

WHAATSS UP DOOUUOODS!?

i'm not even going to say what day it is because i'm way behind. where did i leave off? shooot. maybe san antonio? good enough. so we drove to austin and on the way there we stopped at an outlet mall and i got some really great levi's for 25 bucks. student film played a show wednesday night at the hole in the wall, it was a very good time, good to see jill and the doods. it was fun to play. i never know what to say about a show because honestly i'm only focused on playing and not paying attention. what do you want? detailed accounts of how i was stoked that i slid up to the D# in the middle of the chorus of chopo and hit the 16th notes without rushing?
probably not.
anyway, we rocked. my G string is a little messed up but i'll get that fixed.
Day WTF:
Student film plays at 405 showcase.
The night prior Scott, Brady and I stayed with Pierce, the most hang hard dude i've come across. gave me some jameson, Reno 911 On Demand, all while solid in his faith. the kind of dude i would rather like to know. When we offered him some coke he denied before i explained that it was indeed coca-cola and not bullshit rockandrollerie.
we're not rock and roll.
we're hang and hard.

High fives to pierce.

Get up around 11:00am and get dropped off at progress coffee to play at 2:00pm. Ate a $1 dollar bagle and enjoyed the stock market crash and 40: of hell. Borrowed AK's Bass rig and played with student film. the sun was hot on my shins but the sound was good. first good outdoor sound i've ever experienced. It was a very nice thing to see all those oklahoman faces since they could have seen any of these oklahoman bands play on any given weekend back home in oklahoma. maybe we're doing something right? maybe.

Leave progress directly after playing, Eric gives me a ride to Momo's where umbrellas is playing. He is a solid bro. Hope he made it back in time to see ryan lindsey play. Momo's is a little dead, all industry types that i don't understand so i go eat some tacos across the street with brady. Got to see Everybody Else play, they wailed a good amount of ass. Played right after them, it felt like a good performance, I rocked pretty hard, made an oath with myself to just play hard and not spend any energy on anything else. felt good. rocked hard. Someone was supposed to see us but made it too late. We still fucking rocked. what else do you want? That's why i'll never make the big bucks.

Afterwards we just hung out, saw some celebs (wank wank) but got to see some people that actually matter to me like eric, nathan, jeff shoop, denison witmer and i got to meet rosie thomas who was quite altruistic. it was very nice to see them, kind of made the night for me. I don't know who Matt Pinfield is and i'm kind of tired of acting like i do. But Denison witmer did tell some great stories about his journeys in europe which is way more interesting to me then showing up on MTV2.

after all that we stayed up late at a house the the militia group rented for the bands which was a lot of fun. i learned that i am a huge fan of chase paegan, his music, his band and his very nice girlfriend. stayed up too late chatting about ghost stories. anyway, listen to his record. not in a Perez-Hilton sort of way, I won't show you titties if you do. do it in a self rewarding/ you'll be more stoked on music if you do way.

so this is my SXWSXSXSXSWSXSW account. I'll hit the road again soon, have a day or two off to recoup before i get back to the grind. I'm in hiding right now trying to find somewhere to do some laundry. Picture post ensues. Sorry for the spelling and gramatical errors, despite the fact that i promised unabashed reality, it's St. Patricks day and i'm plenty irish.

DAY 3 march 12

Day off in San Antonio!
Shitty weather. But, I kinda love it. Torrential rain and lightning. We're staying with our friend Kenny, he is a solid bro. Killer house, sleep-in sitch. love that. Ate at mama margie's just like I hoped, enjoyed some great tacos. Not a lot going on today. I lost 10 bucks to Jarod playing blackjack. I'm feeling pretty rock and roll. and broke. gotta hold out for tomorrow's per diem. Tomorrow we play here at a place called the sanctuary, which I hear is a misleading name. I'm really loving spending time with these guys. Brady and I are working on communicating without words and just using facial and bodily expressions. so far we've learned that we can't make very communicative faces. but it sure is fun to raise eyebrows back and forth until one of us gives up and talks. check brady's blog for more pics. oh, and he had to get a new one because they other one started jiving.
bradyandtheroad.blogspot.com

a couple pics for you chickadees.

DAY 2, March 11

It is always pleasant to sleep until you wake up. And that’s what we got to do today. After some lunch and coffee we made our way from Ft. Worth to Deep Ellum around 4:30. There is a festival going on there called North By South West. I had a great day, had a really good time with the bros, really enjoyed playing but as far as festivals go, it was a bust. No one was there. Bummer for the promoter. Down the street there was an all day death metal festival as well. That seemed even stranger for some reason, walking by a venue on a Sunday after noon and hearing brutal gutturals and punishing sweep arpeggios coming from there door. It seemed like there were about as many people at the show as there were at ours. Got to see Okkerville River play, that was rad. They were great. Oh, and I got a really great jacket for 12 bucks at a vintage store. I also determined that I think I’m starting to have identity issues because of my beard and hair, I don’t recognize myself right away when I see myself in reflections. That’s a wild sensation. The trips in the van are just getting better and better. When the drives get longer, everyone gets a little more candid, tells stories they maybe shouldn’t and we just all around really get to bond. I don’t know the last time I have gotten to laugh this hard. It’s a good feeling.

Last night I was having wild dreams about werewolves and how I was safe if I was in my car but I always had the wrong house keys so I could never get into my house and then I was stuck outside in the dark with giant werewolves. The weirdest part was that the werewolves had tie-died fur. I think that it was just a reaffirmation of my severe disdain for hippie culture.

On our way to San Antonio today, we’ll have the day off so we’ll be eating some good Mexican food at Mama Margerie’s and I’m going to push that we go to that outdoor mall thing. I have family in San Antonio, but I forgot to let them know I was coming and I’d hate to spring that on them. I don’t know, maybe I’ll call them. That’s just something my dad totally does and I don’t think I want to come to grips with the fact that I have those traits. I really hope we go to the alamo, I've never gotten to see the basement.

Day 1, March 10

Welp, here we go again It’s been a really long time since I’ve written in the roadlife. I feel like my life has changed a lot since the last time I’ve gone on tour. Finished college. I have a full time job. My life is exponentially more draining and hectic than it was last summer. I’ve really looked forward to this tour, essentially being forced to sit still for extended period times. Can’t do anything but ride in this van with these four friends and play these shows. I’m finding a lot of solace in the idea that I’ll essentially be single goal minded for the next two weeks. So, my esteemed readers, I think I’ll set some goals for this stint of musical traveled chronicled in this blog. This should make it more interesting for the both of us.
1) To live life for each day, concerned only with the time book ended by sunrise to sunrise. I’ve been working on doing some self-actualization as of late because I’ve been dealing with some heavy depression and anxiety the last few months that has not been common to my life thus far. One problem (among many, I’m sure) I’ve determined is that I generally live at least a day in advance, constantly worrying about the stuff that’s coming to me, not what’s happening at the current moment. So there’s goal number 1, enjoy the happenings of each day. I think that will also help me in my relational investments with my friends.
2) To be honest in my retellings. I have a real talent for talking myself out speaking my mind because I don’t want to step on any toes. Well damn it, you’re just going to have to watch your toes. Sethy needs to have some honest time.
3) Because I’ll be doing each day a day at a time this blog is going to be largely more exciting, candid and cathartic. Hold on to your butts.

I’m sitting in the van next to Brady typing on his computer. So we’re on our way Wichita Falls TX to play show one of two week tour. I’ve never been to Wichita Falls, but I hear that there are some very enthusiastic music fans down there. We’re playing with a band called gazelles, I’ve never heard them but I once bought a t shirt from them because it was such a rad design. And they seemed like very nice people. And I find the keyboard player quite attractive. Jarod suggested I approach her with a “mature greeting kiss.” Not gonna happen. So yeah that should be a fun time. It’s a VFW, I generally really enjoy playing VFW’s, less pressure, more of an intimate and relaxed setting. Well, I’ll let you know how it goes, We’re almost to Wichita Falls.

Welp, that was interesting. The VFW was right next to a lake so Brady, Jarod and I walked over there and enjoyed some sitting still by the placid washing of the water. The show was fun, good small town show. Lots of young kids, I don’t think too many people there were born before 1990. Wow, that’s weird to say. I had a really good time, when we played everyone sort of wrapped around us and that was neat because we were playing on the floor. I really like playing these songs with these guys. Oh and Gazelles ended up just being their singer, everyone else was doing other stuff, he was good, I liked it. The New Frontiers (formally Stellamaris) also played last minute. I really like that band.

So this band played that really got my cranial cogs a churning. All the guys seemed pretty young, under 18, maybe. It was like watching a way low budget A&E made for TV documentary about contemporary musical movements in rural towns, chock full of historical reenactments and this band was one of those scenes of reenactment. A new era of ADD culture fed on world of war craft, high fructose corn syrup and Jackass movies. They couldn’t really get through a song but damn it all if they weren’t having the time of their lives. That is, until they got distracted by boobs or their shoelaces. Then they were having the time of their lives all over again.

I was kinda bummed on how much underage smoking was going on. Just a bunch of kids trying to look cool and rebel against their parents that don’t understand them, who will they themselves turn into their parents who don’t understand their kids who drink, smoke and are sexually active at an early age.
Anyway, We’re on our way to fortworth to stay with one of Jarod’s friends. Tonight is spring forward, right? I like when it stays dark out later. Brady is asleep next to me, his computer is about to die so I think I'll sign off. be sure to read his tour blog as well, I'm sure they'll be conversational. bradyontheroad.blogspot.com

DAY 1 January 26

So student film left today for a nice little three day jaunt in Tejas. We almost didn't due to the classic vehicular trouble that comes just prior to driving one thousand miles. I guess that may have to do with our vehicle having close to 400,000 miles on it. What a stellar idea! but, we've made it down safely and the venue was pretty rad. we played with pompeii, or some form of spelling of that name. they were cool. and totally rad doods/ lady. The bar tenderress was very kind, enjoyed our set and bought me a shot of jameson. I thought that was very gracious. we played a little shitty because we hadn't practiced in a while but people seemed to still be into it. we stayed up way too late but i was rewarded to the gritty sheets of super 8 motel sheets, the railing moan of I-35 and different qualities of logs being sawed by the the rest of the band.

Today has been great (techinically it's day two, but hey, i'm at a computer, i've gotta take advantage) woke up and made some coffee, took a shower and we went and met our friends joshua and mauricio for good thai food and bad service at mekong river on sixth. now were at the progress coffee office looking at art, listening to jazz, drinking beer and just having all around gay old time. joshua hooks us up so hard every time we come down here. he's a real old friend. those are the best. tonight we're playing at his coffee shop, progress coffee, with tacks the boy disaster. then after that i plan on going to see zookeeper since our show is a little earlier. i'll let you know how it goes.

DAY ?? San Diego, CA

So we played the casbah tonight. it was tight! the last two shows were so jive. i wish i could have kept up to date on them. i promise to soon, when i get to point where i can. Here's some short, fun facts.

We (student film) are on tour, playing a ridiculously routed tour with 10 hours between every show.

We went to the beach and saw a guy taking a shower with an iguana.

We are in san diego, staying up too late.

We played with Ilya and they wailed so hard.

Gabe serbian (drummer of the locust) was at our show.

So was the dude from the album leaf.

It was tight.

Two shows left, Hollywood at the Knitting Factory, Alb NM with the hex.

i'm stoked about school starting, kinda.

there's tons of stuff i could do instead of go to school, but for some reason i feel compelled to finish up this semester.

Being on tour with Ryan Lindsey is a spectacular experience. You'd be so lucky to have him. The mints sure are.

Love ya'll.

sethy.

DAY 30 St. Louis, MO

WOOO we're in St. Louis, got up early to hit the road, pulled in here at about 4:00pm. It was smooth sailing until we got on the bridge that ascends over the mississippi river which divides the states of Illinois and Missiouri. How the heck do you spell that? that's a weird word. Missouri? whatever. It smells weird. We are hanging with Scott's life long friend Casey Reid who has a bad ass solo project called Casey Reid. His new album, CEPHACLOG is amazing. Seriously, check it out. CHECK IT OUT for fans of Fat Possum bands, EPHB, BLtheIII. I Freaking love it. That's why i'm encouraging you to get hook on him too.

So we went do to The Loop, it was so fun, ate some good food, got a souvineer. Ask me if you see me and I'll show it to you. Then we went back to Casey's loft and hung so hard. It was so much fun. Just pure, straight bro time. Now we're staying up to late considering how early we're getting up. HOME TOMORROW!

DAY 29, Springfield OH

So we're on our way home, Drove a good 8 and half hours today. We're at a Super 8 in Ohio, about 40 miles outside of Colombus Ohio. We're currently all sitting on strategically around the room, watching Son In Law (ah, the nostalgia), drinking beers and are full on pizza. It's weird to drive somewhere and not start loading out and immediately prepare for a show. We're driving to St. Louis tomorrow and going to stay with a Scott's friend Casey, I'm stoked about that. Then Home. I'm so stoked, I cannot wait to see Amanda. I miss her like the dickens!

DAY 28 Ridgewood, NJ

...once we got there, woke up at 3:00pm. Then we went to the mall where Brandtson was doing a Van's in-store and hung out with them, that was fun. It was easy to tell that everyone was a little bummed it was the last day of the tour for us.

I got to go to my first H and M store, I got some killer jeans and a Back to the Future hat. Then we ate crappy mall food. Then drove to the Venue.

So the venue sucked. So hot, moldy, no re-entry for the kids, not-sound guy sound guy and bad PA. But, the show was fun. All I could think about was that this is my last show while we were playing. It was definitely a bummer. Met some really nice people after the show, then we eventually all said our bro-goodbyes to the rest of the dudes we were on tour with. Tomorrow morning we start the three day trek home. should be fun, get to see the pretty country side, have some good bro time. It'll be weird not having Jude sitting next to me in the back.

DAY 27 Virginia Beach, VA

Holy balls it is hot here. Ridiculously hot. I don't think I've ever experienced this level of humidity and heat combined. I had the whole "i'm hot and I'm irritated" thing going on for a little while, then i finally just submitted to it and I eventually just got used to it. There's just nothing you can do about being hot, so i just let it happen and I got used to it. Easily the hottest show we've played. Right now we're at a house that is in the midst of being moved out of by a girl and her family. Her family is out of town but her, her equally underaged friends, and two dudes that are around my age---

///and then we got thrown out///

Ha, so I'm finishing this two days later. I was laying in my bed roll when angry neighbor busts in the room and says "YOUR ACCOMODATIONS HAVE CHANGED, BOYS." As i was saying previously, before I was rudely interrupted, two dudes around my age came over a little while after us with two cases of beer and preceded to pass them out to the creepilly younger girls. I wasn't really stoked on that, none of us were, but we were tired and just wanted to sleep. So Scott's in bed in a guestroom while Jude and I are in now completely empty room laying bed rolls. Sammy is downstairs chilling, playing big brother and keeping an eye on the girls. So it turns out when you've got loudass teenagers at a house that neighbors know full well is supposed to be empty, the proverbial shit hits the fan. Sucks though, we had nothing to do with it and still got the brunt of it. It wasn't even possibly to try explain to fatter Dr. Phil the situation because 1) he didn't seem like the kind of dad-aged dude that listens to reason, nor logic, nor weird looking guys in their boxers. 2) i could totally see where he was coming from. So needless to say, we all slumberously lumbered into the van and looked around and said 1) "what just happened?" and 2) "what do we do now?" so, 3:00am, we hit the road, drove up the coast from Virginia Beach to Ridgewood New Jersey. Got to Jude's parent's house around 10:00am. We couldn't really believe it happened. I slept the sleep of the dead...

DAY 26 Vienna, VA

Vienna is suburb of Washington DC, it's very nice here. The drive through Virginia was beautiful. The venue was really nice, it was a sort of typical coffee house (typically named "JAMMIN JAVA" but with a very full bar. This was also a good show, save for some guitar amp technical difficulties. Two girls wanted their pictures taken with me and none of the other dudes in the band. Yeah, that's right, I'm the hott one. I feel completely better and healed of my cold, I am operating at 100%. Maybe even 110%. No, on second thought, just 100%. We're at a nice dudes house who has so many amazing guitars and guitar ams. Sitting next to me is are two American Telecasters, A white Flying V, A White Les Paul special, a Gibson Firebird, an Orange 4x12 cab, a JCM 800, Jcm Slash series, a Splaun half stack, and this is just in his bedroom. Its wild.

well, i gotta keep this short, i think we're about to drive to virginia beach. BEACH! Hope we get to see some beach.

Only two shows left. How weird.

Hopefully more pictures soon.

DAY 25, Charlotte, NC DAY OFF

We're spending two nights at the Ho Jo (the endearing term for the Howard Johnson motel establishment) pretty nast. But, cheap. Our day off has been relatively uneventful. We went and saw a movie. Bad idea. Lady In The Water is pure straight trash. M. Night Shamalammadingdong has been losing his touch systematically since the Sixth Sense, but now his touch is officially gone. And his acting skills were never there. It's too bad. Plus, there went 3/4ths of my per diem down the drain on a crappy movie. But, can't totally complain, there was amazing air conditioning. that was definitely killer to sit in for two hours. But i would have rather watched two dung beetles build a poop house then that movie.

Then there was some swimming done in the Ho Jo pool, i did not partake, something about it just sort of skeeed me out. I think it was the stuff in the water that looked like belly button lint. But I did soak my feet. It's just been a chill day, which has been nice. But staying in one place for more than 24 hours starts to feel really weird when we are often in places for anywhere from 8 to 16 hours.

DAY 24, Charlotte NC

re·ju·ve·nate
P Pronunciation Key (r-jv-nt)
tr.v. re·ju·ve·nat·ed, re·ju·ve·nat·ing, re·ju·ve·nates
To restore to youthful vigor or appearance; make young again.
To restore to an original or new condition: rejuvenate an old sofa.
To stimulate (a stream) to renewed erosive activity, as by uplift of the land.
To develop youthful topographic features in (a previously leveled area).

That's right, we were reeeejuvinated by Traci's house. At least, I definitely was. We went on a boat! I was feeling pretty sickly, even after sleeping a nyquil induced 13 hours, but the fresh air and sun did wonders for me. Definitely operating at 75% which is way better the 40% i was operating at just last night. So yes, I am ver greatful to the Barry family for being so cordial and hospitible towards us, many thanks to them. My heart was warmed by their kindness.

So Charlotte wailed too, Definitely the most energetic crowd thus far. Lots of participation despite the impossible hottness in the venue. I think the sweating did me some good, just more purification. I drank about 10 bottles of water at this show. that's 200 ounces!

Okay, so I don't have much to say in this entry. Morale is UP.