West Indian Girl

we’re playing a FREE SHOW at the bordello this thursday december 13th. metromixla is our proud sponsor of this event. they have been awesome to work with. even though bordello doesnt list us on their site…forgive them…we are indeed playing for free. i promise. to get in just rsvp at rsvpla@metromix.com. sara melson who just signed to nettwerk records is opening for us and dj scott t sterling will be spinning all evening. scott’s another old friend from detroit – looking forward to hearing him spin. please note that this show is more like an office xmas party. the stage is very tiny so expect to see us on the floor with you. again…prepare yourself for this. its more or less like a glorified office party in downtown. technically there will be no real hookers at the bordello but just go for a walk around the block and you’ll be able to get all that and more. i was parked in front of our studio the other night and some toothless scab of a woman came up to my truck and asked me if i wanted to go get high and party with her in hotel around the corner. im glad i ate dinner earlier cos i involuntarily started to dry heave. poster design by john mavroudis. check out this post about him.

finally we have our first video from 4th & wall. it’s for the first song on the cd called “to die in LA”. this was directed by jean christophe chamboredon. think eurotrip but with a nice camera video phone. i got to drive around in my truck with tony and a hitchhiker for an hour. two random things to note. on my way to the video my truck got a flat tire. there’s also a great shot of my car stereo in the video. ironically, this car stereo was stolen out of my truck a couple days later. that now marks the third time my car stereo has been stolen in la. thanks to the asshole that it ripped it out of my dashboard – i wish i could have caught you in the act and then beat the fuck out of you with it. merry xmas fucker – i hope the crack was worth whatever you pawned it for.

i love tour posters. it seems like a forgotten art these days. that said, it wouldnt surprise you to see how geeked i was to meet john mavroudis who unbeknownst to me designed and silk screened the poster for the show at the independent. wow, minimal and strong – how i like it. in conjunction with john i will be selling these signed and limited poster in our online store. get them before they’re all gone. they are awesome. you can check out more of john’s work here. um…the dude just won 07 cover of the year award for his work on the new yorker. that’s impressive.

hey great people of northern california, we are playing in san fran for the last time this year. the show is for the 3rd annual d.a. taylor charitable foundation benefit at the independent. also on the bill is earlimart, who im really looking forward to sharing the stage with. they’re another great band from la that ironically i will meet for the first time in san fran. this is also a kcrw presents show. so, to sum up…. great benefit and cause with great bands at a killer venue. see you there.

this show promises to be one of the cooler shows we’ve played in la. its a party put on by the southern california institute of architecture. these sci-art people are nuts in a very very good way. after checking out their space which is rad it made me wish i was going to school there. adding to sci-arc’s mystique is that its not where you would expect it to be…in shitsville downtown la. hey, go figure, we’re neighbors…its just a few blocks east of 4th and wall. pretty cool if you ask me. randy stogsdill approached us about this a while ago and im glad he did. and of course…they’re building a stage for us. 4th and merrick here we come…can we borrow some sugar sci-arc?

thursday is starting to look like a pretty good day in the world of west indian girl. we FINALLY get to play morning becomes eclectic on kcrw. nic harcourt was the first person to ever play our music on the radio (our demos no less) . that’s pretty epic if you ask me. i think it will take the prize as the earliest show we have ever done as well. we’ve done radio shows but most of them have been after noon. load in at 8am…damn…might as well just stay up all night. our second show of the day is the hunnypot party at the highlands. those hunnypot guys are insane so their party should be dope (pun intended there). show starts at 9:30 and its fucking free. tough to beat that price. parking isnt bad in that place either. should be awesome – expect the hits – im trying to get the band to play one of those slap you in face and keep punching you sets…you know, the kind of set that doesnt give the listener time to think about anything except wiping the drool off their face cos they cant believe they’re being rocked that hard. time will tell.

today our song “to die in la” was featured as kcrw’s top tune. kcrw also invited us to be on morning becomes eclectic next thursday, nov 1st. we’re all really pumped for that show. it will be the band’s first time on kcrw. i cant wait to play a few songs on their studio. we have a pretty cool version of to die in la that we just did last week. i hope we decide to include that. it’s true what they….that it feels really nice to be loved. it makes you feel all warm inside. thanx kcrw

I just found a link to an in interview mariqueen did a couple months ago for Vidagirl. As stated on their front page “VidaGIRL is the hip and informative English language online magazine and newsletter that celebrates the life, culture, style and spirit of today’s young Latinas and multi-cultural women. VidaGIRL has created an online community with content that breaks down stereotypes and conveys a positive and inspiring message to its readers.” I guess Q is now our little multicultural girl now. Here is the link to the interview
… Muy bien Q.

we would like to apologize for cancelling our show in dc last night. unfortunately it was a result of poor communication and could have been prevented. another tragic epidsode in the never ending soap opera that we call our “summer tour”. in an effort to make amends to any fans that went to the show we would like to put you on the guest list when we return to the dc area.

now let’s get to pittsburgh. this show was cancelled by the promoter – we have a pretty decent fan base in pittsburgh and are really really bummed out about this. not sure what else i can say except this sucks cos pittsburgh is one of our favorite cities.

show reports should be up next week – dont expect the candy coated version either – this tour hasnt been the summer vacation i thought it was going to be.

Dear mark sgarbossa – how many times can we tell you that we love you? once again you have helped the cause by designing our july tour poster.  I’m not sure where your inspirations come from but i’m glad that we still visually inspire you. keep the black X hearts coming. thank you once again.

as you know we are recording, producing and mixing the next cd on our own. that said, you might understand why it is taking a little longer than usual to finish. are we professional mixers? just watch the videos of me attempting to mix and that should answer that question. i fondly refer to the song in question as “running man”. i think it’s gonna make the cd….one mix or another.

mixing and mismatching

more mixing… more mismatching

confusion and a case of the crazies

Finally! the blog is back and better than ever. now the world can fully appreciate the magnitude of our blog. on the right side column there is a cool “tree branch hierarchy” widget type thing where ALL the old posts are listed….ALL OF THEM… since 2004! these posts are archived not only by date but also by category which means that if your looking for a particular show report, just click on that link and all of the show reports will be listed. it’s pretty cool. another new feature is the calendar – just mouse over the dates for quick info on shows. the new official band website is also up and running so make sure you check that out too. thanx a ton to dave cohen out in nyc for all his hard work on the new site. the multimedia and photo pages kick ass.

we did our first “official” photoshoot for the new record yesterday. what an awesome day for a shoot. the lovely lucy hamblin (from nyc) was our photographer – it was a mellow and relaxed shoot with a few set ups. one inside on a couch and the others outside in and around a pool. we were up at roya’s house (from milan records) in the hills. great house, nice pool, awesome view. that’s la for ya. sometimes it’s just perfect here. check out the video below. nothing special but it’s better than a picture. thanx for letting us run around your place roya.

every now and then i do get to go out. normally it’s work related but sometimes it’s not. anyway, i thought it might be nice to post a picture of one of best friends in los angeles, marcos beltran. marcos is also my running partner when schedules permit – he’s a way better runner than i by the way. you may recognize the stud on the left as tommy alexander who is all over the blog when he went on the road with us during our turin brakes tour. this was taken at cha cha lounge in silver lake

so it was my b-day today (yesterday) and this is how i spent my day. went to bed at 8am the morning. woke up at 2pm. walked tony. ate food. went to pick up marc goldstein for a shoot he was doing for the book la with lisa gerrard. even though i expressly told goldstein not to advertise that it was my b-day the first thing the bastard says to everyone we come across is, yup you guessed it, “hey it’s fran’s b-day!”. great, that said, his big mouth led to lisa gerrard singing me happy b-day which is a pretty cool thing in and of itself. dont know who lisa gerrard is.?…click here to educate. after the shoot we went to real food daily and i had a veggy burrito (with not too many black beans). dropped off marc and then went home. jumped on an hour long conference call with ian and josh. during that call goldstein called to inform me that jason bentley from kcrw wished me a happy b-day on the air and then played “what are you afraid of”. how did he know….yup, goldstein. drats….damn you goldstein thanx for not keeping your mouth shout cos if made my day all the more interesting. after that i went for a great night run with q and tony. i chatted online with my buddy sascha and then q and i went to eat late night sushi at a place downtown. now here we sit in the studio listening to rob mix one of our new songs called “sofia”. – ps thanx to all my other good friends that called me to wish me a happy b-day – like joe and marcos especially. you know who’s got your back.

literally…at my house.  yesterday night legendary rock photographer mick rock stopped over my place to say hi. he was in town shooting queens of the stone age and was hanging out with q that evening. if you dont know who he is then refer back to this old blog entry about mick

later on that evening q. mick and nathan all went to a party at tk’s new place. tk’s a great guy – he’s also a dj at indie 103 here in la.

at tk’s house

q and i went to the demand media party at the trendy roosevelt hotel last night. as far as grip n grins go it was a pretty cool event. the tropicana poolside bar is a pretty nice place to have drinks. .tv (dot tv) is the next big wave for social networking sites. i like to describe it as myspace meets youtube but better. we even met carson daly who, by the way, is going to have us play his show this fall….right carson?

west indian girl is one of the first bands to have a .tv page. this page will serve as our official video archive. we will be posting EVERY single piece of video concerning the band on this page. anything and everything from ping pong games at the studio to official videos will be posted here first.   so check out westindiangirl.tv now. sign up and be our friend.

 q and carson

normally a drive down the 110S at 3pm on a friday afternoon in los angeles is not a good idea. on this particular instance though it had to be done. you see my friend jade howe was having a little house warming party at his company’s new digs. i recruited my best friend sascha linn to make the trip with me for a few reasons. 1. hes got a nice benz and on a hot day like today this trip in my landcruiser wouldnt have been pleasant (read sticky). 2. hes into clothes and 3. we needed a good reason to catch up. the party at howe was perfect way to kick off my weekend – it was intimate, good drinks, good music, and we got a guided tour. the office space is dialed and the new lines look amazing. you can check them out here www.HauseofHowe.com below is some video from the party.

i owe a lot to this man…specifically the 3 pair of jeans that i have been wearing for the past couple years. it’s never a problem endorsing someone whose product you love and someone who’s always so cool. jade was actually the subject of one of my first 10 with ten interviews haha check it out. he was the first non band member to be interviewed. i have to do more of those this year. special thanx to elsie for making sure i was there. elsie you are the best!

lewscious outside spaceland 3.24

Fran’s Flashback
almost a year later and we’re back at spaceland playing to a sell out crowd. on the bill – roman numerals and slow signal fade. this show and bill was a strong one. hands down probably our best and most inspired performance in los angeles to date! lots of love in the air for this show. we played a bunch of new songs like “rise from the dead”, “running back” and “blue wave”. we even got the crowd to sing along on blue wave. yes you read that right…a crowd at spaceland was actually singing along. after the show i also saw the image of jesus appear in the dew covering my car’s windshield. it truly was a miraculous night in so many ways. the pic below of is of scott sterling and joe puleio – 2 of my very good friends. after the show i ended up hanging out at joes house until 5 in the morning. want another person’s thoughts on the show – click here for a csun review.

dressing room and rider wrap up: there is only one spaceland. it’s in our backyard and it’s considered a mini indie mecca by musicians far and wide.

the facilities 17 points. at least there is a little backstage area at spaceland that is, literally, back stage. it’s cool because you can enter the stage from a door right next to the drum kit. that room serves as each band’s dressing room but usually by the time you play the other bands are out of there cos it’s so small. i like that little area cos it’s a good place to have the obligatory pre show band huddle/mini pep rally/pow wow. no private bathroom, not sure about wi-fi, parking was right out front and load in was an easy roll. their merch set up is decent and there’s a big room for all the smokers.

rider/amenities 10 points. beer, water and towels. the rock n roll basics. for that the basics gets you 10 points. good restaurants right around the corner though.

stage, sound, lights 15 points. for a small club the stage is great. it can fit all of us so that’s a plus right there. the sound is also fine. carlos was mixing the show and he always gets the most out of that place. more basszzzzzzzz carlos. lights…i dont remember but i think they were ok.

promoter 20 points. jennifer teft – my michigan sweetheart. she’s become a great supporter of the band. who do i call when i want to bitch about my booking agent?…jennifer is always there for me. she must have done a great job because the place was sold out. they had us listed online and seemed to be on top of their game with the promotion. posters were prominantly on display in the club. good to see.

staff 20 points. the phrase out of sight out of mind seems apropos here. didnt have any problems with them so that’s always good. if staff become a non issue and let you do what you want it usually insures a high score from me.

intangibles 10 points. the fact that jennifer said it was one of the most fun times she’s had at a show means a lot. plus she loved my boys from kc and partied with them all night. that’s hospitality.

TOTAL OVERALL SCORE = 92. spaceland you get the most improved award as you totally buried your old score from last year. (click here for a detailed explanation of my scoring system’s categories). there’s something really special about playing spaceland. it’s intimate, its indie, its indiemate. something tells me a residency is right around the corner.

Tony’s Take
you see that elizabethan collar around my neck. you think i like this shit? it’s bullshit that’s what it is. im not sure if this was fran’s sick idea of a joke but he kept this thing on me while i was in his fucking truck. unbelievable. i’ve been licking my paws raw but that’s only because he hasnt been taking me running lately. doesnt he get it? he’s too self absorbed sometimes to notice who his real friends are. im that asswipes best friend. at least he checked on me a dozen times during the evening. it’s all good. i will be his monkey for a while just to lull him into a false sense of security. the show….who cares, get this fucking thing off me.

billy from roman numerals doing the load out dance

lewscious during sound check

lillian and ian talking about how much they miss josh

kampy’s everywhere – the new waldo of my blog

  “heathers” v.2.0 – the mariqueens and jess is christian slater

Fran’s Flashback
we played at winston’s in ocean beach with roman numerals last night. i thought our set was pretty good. i’m glad devan thought it was awesome. it was exhilarating to play a few new songs (that we have been working on in the studio) for the first time. we also extended a couple songs into some pretty long jams. im glad san diego let’s us experiment like this. it’s nice to feel like someone’s got your back when you walk out on a musical precipice. before the show we dined and partied at sean simpson’s (pic) house. i posted it before and it wasnt a lie, this guy cooks like a master chef. dinner was thai inspired and it was the perfect pick me up before the show. thanx for all the hospitality sean. i was able to watch all of roman numeral’s set from the merch booth and thought they were great. q even jumped on stage with them (below).

dressing room and rider wrap up:

the facilities 15 points. there isnt a backstage area at winston’s and that’s too bad cos it’s the one main thing that this club lacks. parking was close by and load in was an easy roll to the stage. the merch set up is a refreshing change from most clubs as of late – nice area to sell your wares. there was also wi-fi.

rider/amenities 8 points. winston’s isnt really the kind of bar that has a a nice spread waiting for you. it’s just one of those things. yeah, it would be nice to have something in the way of food but i guess that’s why sean’s house is just around the corner. alcohol is never a problem at winston’s. neither are the party favor passin fans that seem to show up at our shows down there.

stage, sound, lights 17 points. the stage and sound is great there. the stage is one of the main reasons we like winston’s because it can easily fit the six of us on it. k-rud, who is one of our road soundmen does front of house there. he knows both us and the room very well so it sounded great. we always get a great sound check there too. the lights are so so – minimal – at least they have some.

promoter 20 points. tough not to give ted wigler 30 pooints for this. ted is a great guy to deal with. he helps us load in and load out. that’s a rarity people. show me a club promoter that does that and i’ll show you a dog with 3 testicles … it’s rare. there were posters inside the club and on the street – as far as i could tell promotion was great cos the place was packed.

staff 20 points. the entire staff at winston’s treat us well. no probs here. .

intangibles 10 points. here is where i can give ted the 30 points he deserves. did i mention he pays well?

TOTAL OVERALL SCORE = 90. high fives winston’s, you grade out with an A and made our visit a blast. (click here for a detailed explanation of my scoring system’s categories). it was good to be back in ocean beach. tonight was just as, if not better than the last time. ob has quickly become one of our favorite cities. the crowds there are arguably some of the best.

Tony’s Take

one would think i would enjoy ocean beach as much as the next dawg but that’s really not the case. remember, im a dog and i when fran drags me along for these one off shows i end up spending more time in the van than usual. my only real respite from the van seat was after load in when q and fran took me down to the beach. it’s only a couple block’s away. as far as everything else goes you should probably ask nathan or q to write something. i can tell you everything you ever needed to know about the van and that’s getting old. thanx for the prison time you a-hole fran.

bob doing what any good manager should be doing

post show bliss with roman numerals

the axis of mccevily now includes milan records

happy fan…wonder why