England, Ireland & Scotland: My Two-Week Tour Adventure with emetrex
“Everything I do, writing, touring, travelling, it all comes from the punk & hardcore attitude, from that expression - from being open to try things but relying on yourself, taking what you have into the battle and making of it what you will, hoping you can figure it out as you go. Make some sense of it.” - Henry Rollins
Since I’ve been travel writing over the last couple of weeks, I thought I would commemorate the 20th anniversary of my band’s tour through the British Isles, by sharing some stories from my tour journal.
Exactly 20 years ago today, as I write this post, I was with emetrex on a two-week tour (2/19 – 3/3) through England, Ireland & Scotland promoting our first full-length release, Metacomet.
We had signed a record deal in June 2000 with Seriously Groovy Records, an independent London-based label. After promoting an EP, entitled “Birds Your Brothers” back in July, our pre-release single, “King of Animals” got reviewed in NME and Melody Maker twice in October:
“…like laconic Yank lo-fi that just sort of burrows its way into your skull, like demon possessed and badly bloodrusted farm machinery. And then sits there throbbing” – Steve Wells, NME
“Gloriously loose-grooved indie rock…fantastic.” – Melody Maker’s ‘This Issue’s Soundtrack’ section
“a fuzzed-up, clunkily melodic Pavement relive their Sonic Youth.” – Melody Maker’s ‘This Issue’s Soundtrack’ section.
The label was pleased with the reviews and airplay the single received. Then, in December 2000, when “Staring at the Stone,” our next single started playlisting on London radio on BBC Radio London Live and XFM, along with Poptones Radio4, Spyda Radio, Music Choice and regional BBC stations, a promotional tour was scheduled. I couldn’t believe it!
Here is the original tour itinerary:
2/21 London – Poptones Radio 4 Club at Notting Hills Arts Club
2/22 London – City University
2/24 Limerick, Ireland – The Globe
2/25 Dublin, Ireland - Frazers
2/26 Glasgow, Scotland – 13th Note
3/1 Durham - University
3/2 Nottingham – Bunker’s Hill
3/3 Oxford – The Point
along with in-studio radio appearances:
2/19 XFM Radio
2/20 Student Broadcast Network
2/21 BBC Radio London Live
Signing a record deal and going on tour, especially overseas to the British Isles, was a dream come true. Everything that the band had worked so hard for, had led up to this moment… this is something I had been dreaming about since I was in high school. Never in a million years did I ever believe that I would ever get signed by a record label, let alone go on a tour to promote a record that I had created in my basement… it was wild!
This post highlights some of my journal entries while I was on tour.
As a note, while on Seriously Groovy Records, emetrex put out 9 CD's & EP's: over 50 songs between 2000 – 2005. In that time, we playlisted on British radio 100’s of times and received over 500 magazine & press reviews including a 5/5 stars in The Big Issue (April 2005), for our "Wish Me Dead" full-length release including this comment, "...hold on, it might just be one of the best albums of the year!" We also played North by Northeast in Canada and had the opportunity to open for a number of headlining bands including: The Darkness, The Sea & Cake, the Wedding Present, Ambulance Ltd & Wheat.
On a personal note, I can’t thank Dave & Lorraine from Seriously Groovy enough for their tireless effort, hard work and unwavering support & belief in the band throughout our entire time with them. Much of the success we had, can be attributed to their work… they were great partners and incredible people… I am extremely grateful for everything they did to help me and my bandmates Rick, Ben & Michael realize our dreams of releasing & playing music as a signed band for over five years. Love and light to you both!
And did I mention that we actually saw some of London as well?
2/19 – Monday 8:23 AM, London England
“And so, my journey, or better yet, OUR journey, begins as the four members of emetrex head to London to greet the inevitable and begin our band adventure in earnest. Everyone appears to be in good spirits as we sit & patiently wait on the runway at Logan airport. I can’t believe it actually appears to be happening., even though we do have one last checkpoint at a custom station in London. Hopefully in six-hours’ time, we will touch down and meet the people responsible for making this happen for us. The wonderful folks at Seriously Groovy Music, David H and Lorraine S. It’s all quite exciting…”
2/21 – Wednesday, 10:35 AM, London England
“Second full day in London. The first day was a smashing success! Dave & Lorraine are fantastic people! They are extremely nice, very accommodating and just as sarcastic as we are. It is a great match of people. Dave cracks my shit up! He can just talk & talk & talk… About anything, anytime, & all the time! We have been getting along great. As I said, Lorraine is SO NICE! And they appear to be working their tail off on our behalf and I am extremely grateful for it and appreciate it a great deal! They have done enough already to manage this trip. I think it’s a testament to their hard work, persistence & ability to take a risk with a new, unknown band and make us, well, known.
Yesterday went splendid… we did a radio interview at the Student Broadcast Network with a DJ named Allister. The session went great. We did four song, “Califone is Dead”, “Thunderstruck”, “No Big Loss”, & “Staring at the Stone.” The interview itself left a bit to be desired. Allister was not at all prepared for the interview and seemed to have no questions prepared. This led to a comedy of errors and the whole thing was quite hysterical & wrong. I can’t say we were really prepared either and it was a good lesson learned for me. Still, at one point Rick talked about two kids that had been released from prison after 10 years and the swirling controversy around it… which led Rick to say Princess Di had an alien hand coming out of her head… as I said, it got out of hand.
Our next session was for the BBC, a show called, “London Live with Gideon Coe.” Gideon actually interviewed us. I couldn’t get a read on him, but he has been playing the song quite a bit and came off as a big fan and supporter… He was really nice and extremely professional. It was amazing to actually play at the BBC. Like THE BBC, in LONDON. CRAZY. Pinch me. Everyone said we sounded great. Later, back at Dave & Lorraine’s flat, we did another interview for an internet magazine called NETBEAT. Everyone treats us like we’re the real deal; an up & coming band. It’s surreal.”
2/25 – Sunday 2:53 PM Limerick, Ireland [driving in the van to Dublin]
“So, the inevitable has happened. I am now rejoining all of my friends in the wacky, wacky, van. It seems from the stories they’ve shared with me, that they had a hellish trip in the van. 8 hours on a ferry ride from Liverpool to Dublin, a flat tire, they ran out of gas, basically anything that could have gone wrong for them, did. When I met up with them last night at soundcheck, they all had these real serious, intense beat down expressions. For the first few minutes, there was an awkwardness between us. Eventually everything got smoothed out.”
[As a note, I had actually flown to Limerick with my girlfriend, while the three of them stayed in the van. We saw the sights, checked into a bed & breakfast, they had that other experience I described. That’s what led to the initial tension between us. I had missed the entire 24 hours of craziness with them.]
“Ben [our drummer] ended up staying with us at the B&B. He was able to sleep in a bed, get a hot shower and a warm breakfast. He told me this morning that last night at the B&B saved him. He said that he needed a break from living in the van, especially after that crazy trip.
We are now driving out of Limerick towards Dublin. The last few days have been eventful. Our Poptones show went well. It was our first show in London, and it was sold out. Lots of people and I was amazed at the excitement and interest level they had in us. Dave and Lorraine really have done a superb job promoting us in London and the radio playlisting is working. Apparently, it was the place to be. Everyone says, you never know who could show up there, so everyone shows up just to get a glimpse, of whoever shows up.
Alan McGee, the manager of Oasis, owns the club and I was told that he was actually in the club spinning records and listening to the bands. I will say it was incredible to play in front of that many people… in London! Dave & Lorraine said there were lots of press there. Lele, our friend from Italy who is interning with Seriously Groovy, introduced me to the “John Peel” of Italy and we had an interesting conversation. My life is something… the John Peel of Italy, really?
Econoline opened. We are actually on tour with them for most of our dates. They are incredibly nice too. Ian & Steve have a great sense of humor about everything. They have a few songs I really like…
So yes, the first show in London was a ‘mad success’ we’re being told. Everyone is extremely excited. Ben was so excited that he even took pictures of the crowd off of his drum stool and had women in the crowd blowing him kisses. The smile on Ben’s face, to see him that happy, was priceless.”
“Thursday we did a radio interview at XFM and recorded three songs too… they were really into it. It’s still hard to get used to, to show up to a radio station and get the red-carpet treatment. We’re treated like, mini celebrities. My theory is that they’re not sure who’s going to turn out to be the next star, so they treat everyone like one, just in case. It’s wild. Everyone is so nice, ‘we love your stuff’, ‘this is going to be great’, ‘so glad you’re here.’ I am just grateful for the support and the opportunity to do this with my friends. Ricky and I have played together for over 6 years. Started in Blair’s Carriage together, then Hallucinating Arkansas, now emetrex. Whatever happens from here is a gift.
Later the entire crew had dinner in SOHO at a Chinese restaurant. The meal was extremely good. SOHO itself reminded me of the set from Blade Runner. It was surreal. The stores, the items, the products & services. A porn store next to a pharmacy. People literally on top of one another. Crazy. Juxtapose that to the Irish countryside outside of the van window right now. It is absolutely beautiful. It is large tracts of green fields, lined with stone fences, trees lines and tree groves. Crows are everywhere.”
“Last night the show in Limerick went really well. Another night of firsts. I signed my first autograph as a member of emetrex. And we performed our first encore as well, after the cheering crowd brought us back onto the stage. To hear a chant, ‘one more, one more’ from backstage is was cool. In Limerick… IRELAND! How crazy is that?
Another sold out, full room of people watching us, really into it, some even singing the lyrics to some of the songs. We even sold tons of merchandise and CD’s. I am sure we are destined to have a bad show, but given the adversity we’ve already faced and rose above, (i.e. overall sound on stage, drums falling apart, no monitors and disinterested sound people), we’ll be fine.
Right now, we’re stuck in traffic driving along at 20 mph for the last 40 minutes. Still, before you know it, we’ll be in Dublin, playing another show in about 3 – 3 ½ hours from now. On another stage in yet another foreign country… the home of U2… one of my favorite bands of all time. Perhaps I’ll have a pint with Bono & the Edge and talk music. Ha!”
2/26 – Monday 8:55 AM, Northern Ireland to Glasgow, Scotland
“I am working on about 5 hours sleep. Currently I am sitting on a ferry leaving Northern Ireland, heading towards Scotland. We just drove through Belfast. Surreal. Lots of military personnel at checkpoints with serious guns. Scary. To be woken up in the middle of the night, to be asked for your passport by someone with a semi-automatic weapon and a flashlight… they know you’re in a band. They suspect we have drugs. You can imagine the scene.
Next stop, Glasgow. Last night’s show in Dublin went well. We played at a place called Fraser’s on O’Connell St. We played with Econoline and an Irish band called Joan of Arse. They are set to record with Steve Albini (the producer of Nirvana’s ‘In Utero.’) As with everyone we met, they were extremely nice. Everyone is nice! We are so lucky. We talked well into the night after the show over a few Guinness pints, because why not. Another good crowd for a Sunday night. We continue to have an enthusiastic response, sold a few t-shirts & CD’s and, a few people even danced! More later…”
2/27 – Tuesday 8:35 PM – Edinburgh. Scotland
“Stuck in Edinburgh. A snowstorm has hit the British Isles and we are stranded in Edinburgh to wait out the storm. Apparently, it’s one of THE worst storms to hit Scotland in years. We started out in Glasgow this morning, but after 30 miles, the highway was closed… we had lunch & dropped Econoline’s drummer off at the airport and headed towards Edinburgh. We almost got stuck, had to push the van out and then almost slide off the road! Harrowing experience, really. Shell-shocked, we stayed at a B&B outside of Edinburgh. Missed the Durham show.”
3/3 – Saturday 11:33 AM – London, England
“Last day of the tour. Tomorrow we head home. In fact, if all goes according to plan, we will be in route to the airport in about 24 hours. It has been very exciting so far. The tour more than lived up to its expectations. I’m sure I’ll recap all of this tomorrow as well. A tour epilogue so to speak… For now, prepping for a show at the Point.”
You can hear more emetrex on my website in the “music & video” section or visit iTunes.