Tre Till Death

For To See My Depth Of Sorrow, You Are Not Allowed To Follow Me, Into This Town Square And Then Run Away...

I've linked the post from George's blog below. I love Blacklisted. I love what they are doing as a band. I am honored to work with them. I am excited for what might happen next. I hope there are many more songs to come.

For To See My Depth Of Sorrow, You Are Not Allowed To Follow Me, Into This Town Square And Then Run Away...: "....I can assure you that in my 27 years on this planet I have thought about my life more than you have. Every detail has been studied to a degree I am fairly embarrassed to actually admit. Borderline narcissism one could even say. I can also wholeheartedly assure you that In the 6 or so years I have performed in this band called Blacklisted I have thought about Blacklisted more then you have, recorded on more albums, played more shows, dealt with more people, cried more tears and so on and so forth. You get the drift. I can also assure you that all members of the band past and present have done the same as has every person we have worked with at Deathwish Inc through the years.

We recently released a 12' LP on Deathwish Inc. That album is called 'No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me'. Those are FACTS. We released this album because we felt the need to record it and Deathwish Inc blindly yet confidently backed us in doing so. Whatever time we had free in the summer months of 2009 we spent in Conshohocken, Pa with wonder kid engineer Will Yip at Studio 4 trying to create whatever it was we felt we needed to create.

Deathwish Inc handled the release of this album exactly how we envisioned it being handled, especially knowing all that we know regarding future Blacklisted releases. The handling of the release of this album was in no way a 'marketing ploy' (though it has in its own way become very viral in its existence), it is not meant to be exclusive to certain people and it was in no way meant to combat the last half plus decade of albums leaking due to, fraudulent music journalists, piss poor mastering places and wizards of the world wide web. Though, the album has successfully been released with out it 'leaking' so maybe something is to be said about the way it was handled. Like I said I can assure you we think about this band more then you do and know EXACTLY what we are doing. Thinking otherwise is a shot to our character as a band and the years we have put into it. It is a shot to the 20+ years Jake and Tre have put into this community both as musicians and behind the scenesters, and it is a shot at the 10+ years they have put into the label they run and we are fortunate enough to be a part of.

Pre orders, songs streaming online, magazine write ups, interviews, reviews, etc etc. At one time they were something we as a band felt necessary to do in order to keep our band afloat and 'safe' on tour. You put out a record and do a 12-18 month cycle of the same things over and over until its time to start from square one and start all over again. It became to professional, with very little gain anyway. We do not feel that is necessary anymore so we decided to simply withdraw from it. No one 'owns' us and we do not owe anyone anything. My apologies if that sounds snotty or narcissistic(told you), but its the truth. I will forever remain appreciative for every person that has bought our albums, came to a show, baked us a pie, sung along or approached me individually or anyone from the band just to talk. That will never change. And I hope your support of us as a band can say the same.

In the last couple weeks we released a 7' on Six Feet Under Records titled 'Eccentrichine'. We let Dave handle putting that out for the most part how he wanted, because, well, he is in the band.

Towards the end of the last U.S. tour we did in November of 2008, I became completely disillusioned regarding the entire world I was completely miserable and more than difficult to be around. I found my inner Judy Garland retreated home and tried to change those things. I have gotten countless emails starting out asking for an interview or to talk, and than turning into me being called, faggot (I don't think so?), asshole(depends), self-absorbed(I don't know, maybe), drug addict (I am still straight edge) etc, etc. One guy emailed me and asked if he could do a photo shoot with me at my apartment in my 'natural element' for a piece he wanted to write about Blacklisted, our new record and the Philadelphia scene. When I declined he told me I was a cock sucker and no one would want to read about some white trash band from Philadelphia anyway. I'm pretty sure he wanted to sleep with me. Creep.

We are about to embark on a U.S. tour. Why? I have NO idea. Because that is what we know how to do I guess. We are playing with bands from all walks of life. Not because we want to be different or whatever it is we are being called this week (we are still just a hardcore band). Not because we are trying to break out of hardcore. But because frankly we don't want to play with bands filled with the same people who do/say all the things I mentioned above. I would rather not be on the same stage as someone who only a week prior was telling people we are this or we are that, or in most cases specifically attacking a member. I'd rather play with the people in PS Eliot, who I have followed randomly throughout different bands than play with some band that is just chugging away and all they have to say is 'Smash each other, etc etc' when the reality is they have never smashed anything, they drove their moms Lexus to the show, have cool neck tattoos(not really) and borrow ALL of our gear, thinking about that scenario gives me the idiot shivers and makes me feel very embarrassed. If that makes Blacklisted overrated, pathetic, embarrassing, horrible, grunge core rockers or Sonic Youth Crew (I actually like this one) then so be it, I would rather be ALL of those things. The fact of the matter is, I don't want to answer questions. I don't want to really talk to people. Believe what you want. Hopefully at one point you realize that anyone can create any reality they want and that is fine. So believe me, believe others, whatever you choose.I write this here in this machine that I constantly delete and I do it because if you read it, I feel as though you care and I care about you, though you may have been told otherwise. I just want to play music and love hardcore. That is what I do.

"

The death of my favorite wallet.

This is my current wallet.

I hate wallets. I collect too much crap in them. So when I discovered the "wallet for people who hate wallets" from JIMI, I got stoked. I bought one immediately, and had been using it happily for the past 4 years. It's a simple plastic shell made of recycled plastic that holds your cards.

I will be purchasing a new one "ASAP" as I don't think the rubber band holding my cards will last too long.

New Pulling Teeth...

Spent some time just listening to two new Pulling Teeth songs on loop. Loop? Yeah, quicktime... I don't always like to import new and unfinished jams into iTunes. Down the line it can wreak havoc on organization.

The band is still putting some finishing touches on their next LP, "Paranoid Delusions / Paradise Illusions" We never like to lightly toss around the term, "concept album" but there is a concept at work here. They also have finished up work on their tracks for the split we are doing with them and Irons called "Grey Saviour"

I am a fan. New directions in modern hardcore. It's dirty and dirge-y...then fast... then dirty again... Can't wait for the finished record.