West Indian Girl

smooth radio – the kcmp acoustic session

the day of our minnesota show we were invited to play a few songs on the air at kcmp. this was pretty kick ass. it’s funny how different radio stations are from city to city. kcmp was cool – it was located in what used to be a music school. our whole visit was made possible by mandy cox who works over there. she has been a long time patron of the west indian girl arts and we love her. there’s a picture of her with rob and mariqueen in the minneapolis show report by the way. so the interview was great. danny sigelman (in the pic) was our dj/interviewer and he was cool. anyone that gives props to our blog is immediately in our good graces so danny could do no wrong. for this show rob was on acoustic guitar, q on vocals and i was on digital camera patrol. it was a solid performance (although i’m sure rob and mariqueen will say they sang out of key in this verse or that word or whatever blah blah blah). bottom line is that it sounded good and danny was a fun interviewer and we want to come back again. thanx a bunch to derek stevens who was the producer of the show and scott liebers was the engineer — total pros and nice as hell. again – big hugs to mandy for making this happen. we got your back woman. —F TEN

Mariqueen’s Mind

before our show in minneapolis, tommy, rob, fran and i drove over to st. paul for an acoustic set and interview at kcmp. i was apprehensive about this particular appearance because after our chicago show we drove four hours to stay at a hundred dollar a night motel six. where have you ever heard of a hundred dollar a night motel six? that’s like charging ten dollars for a big mac. so anyway, i didn’t get to sleep until six in the morning. then we had to wake up at eleven and get driving because we were four hours away from st. paul and were scheduled for the radio show at three. we stopped somewhere in wisconsin and ate a bunch of greasy shit. i hate going down from the car to pee and get food because i get stared at like i’m a three headed unicorn. rob says it’s because i’m a “hottie”… i think it’s because i have darker skin and better wardrobe than any of the locals. nevertheless, it’s always a less than thrilling experience in these quaint little midwestern pit stops. the best part of loading up on gas and grease was when we found a statue of an adorable gigantic cowboy mouse standing on top of a big piece of cheddar and holding a sign that said “welcome to wisconsin”… because it was so “cheesy” we had to capitalize on the moment. we took a bunch pictures and i do believe they are classics. if only you could see all of them. we are so cute, it makes you want to vomit. i only wish the whole band could’ve participated but carter and mark were on the tour bus. oh well. most of the car trip was spent trying to nap in the burban, trying being the key verb in this sentence.

we got to the venue on time, and may i just say… goodness, st. paul sure is pretty. good job, minnesota… two thumbs up. derek stevens greeted us and was nice enough to wash a coffee cup for me and serve me some tea. thanks, derek… you are fantastic. rob and i ran through the acoustic set which consisted of “trip”, “miles from monterey” and “hollywood”. i thought i sounded crappy but i blame it on lack of sleep and that greasy meal i had in wisconsin. sorry, kcmp listeners, i swear i can sing a hundred and ten times better than what you heard. for reals. other than that, the interview was highly amusing. rob was in quite the comical mood and even cood like a baby. so, not only did i sing like crap but i also giggled like a dumb little girl. i might have even cackled i was laughing so much. what a great impression to leave… whatever, people… watch a live show and keep reading my articles on the band blog. momma didn’t raise no fool.

she’s actually really nervous here

good good good good vibrations with brian wilson

let me tell ya something, when i found out we were playing in chicago on a sunday night during the same weekend as lollapalooza i wasnt expecting a big show. surprise surprise, even in the sweltering heat a bunch of people came out. my friend brian told me that it actually came 1 degree shy of hitting the highest temperature ever recorded in chicago – obviously related to the hot hot set we were about to bestow upon the windy city. the set was hot and sweaty like good sex. speaking of which, i wonder who is getting laid on this tour. anyway, i think i have the slightest drinking problem because i cant seem to play without pounding a few beers. i think it’s because have so much on my mind right up until we play that i use those beers to help clear my head so i can just think about the music. it’s sort of like when you squint your eyes when you want to focus on something except your drinking great tasting beer. i love beer. hmmmm i hope AA isnt in my near future. speaking of AAA i think my AAA car insurance is due. i dont think you can pay online either. bummer. speaking of my car did i mention that the day before i left for tour my landcruiser’s radiator overheated and exploded. even though my truck breaks down a lot i cant bear to part with it because it really is one of the best things in my life.

i lost my camera charger in toronto so i wasnt able to take any pics in chicago. adding to this documentation debacle mariqueen’s camera was out of juice BUT thanx to my friends chris varady and brian wilson we have all the pictures you see posted. chris is responsible for getting an old band of mine a couple record deals. he’s a great guy and it was awesome seeing him…motor city love. brian drove all the way up from bloomington. now that’s a haul and i hope it was worth it and you had a good time b. personally i thought the show was excellent and was really taken aback by the crowd, not just because there was actually a crowd there but because the crowd was so enthusiastic. we did put on a hot ass gricky show though so i guess one plus two does equal three.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: chicago was scorching… so much so, that it was kind of gross. at least we played in a fabulous part of town… wicker park… way into it. i’m only bummed that it was so hot in temperature that i wasn’t inspired to explore all that it had to offer (shopping). i suppose the fact that i have decided to cancel my credit card has a lot to do with my lack of enthusiasm for sightseeing (shopping). life (shopping) just isn’t as fun if you can’t charge it. don’t quote me on that. i don’t really mean it. ok i’m lying… but who cares? so, instead of having tons of fun (shopping), we all went over to a cafe across from the venue and fran bought me the ultimate thirst quencher. it was called a frozen mango guava tea drink or something. if it hadn’t been for my much needed hangover denny’s breakfast session, i would’ve eaten everything the cafe had on its menu. after fran treated me to a drink, i treated my intestines to a nice session on the toilet inside the venue. speaking of which…

The Venue: two words: picture booth. that’s right, people… not since the local fair have i seen a picture booth. anywhere. why doesn’t every bar in the whole wide world do this? seriously… if you know what’s good for business you’ll get the gettin. trust.

The Show: eh… i don’t think i did that well to be perfectly honest. singing with a hangover isn’t the most genius move in the world. to make things worse i made the same dumb mistake that i had done at the san diego fischerspooner show. i put lotion on my hands and body right before i played. so i wasn’t just greasy… i was greazy. to make things worse the venue was just too humid to even understand. plusss i had those stage lights in my face… so i wasn’t just greazy, i was steazy. guh. sticky + greazy = steazy. i’d like to thank mark lewis’ brain for that one. i’m sure fran would have liked it better if i had used his new word, gricky… that’s right, gricky = greazy + sticky… but i think i was more steazy than gricky. steazy is when you’re just perspiring and moist… gricky i feel is when you’ve been perspiring and air drying from it so you’re just more sticky. either way they’re both heinous. if it hadn’t been for the fact that i found it extremely difficult to hold on to my instrument i would’ve been into the show more. i was actually sweating so much that troy had to throw a towel at my feet. despite all the adversities, supposedly, i sang great. personally, i don’t believe i sang that fantastic, but a ton of women came up to me and told me that i did. you gotta believe the ladies… i don’t think they’d ever lie to me or not come up to me if they really weren’t sincere. i was even told that my voice was “crazy”… that might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me after a show. i think it was the heat… who knows? all that sweat and what not made for a very sexy show between me and rob. maybe it’s because we’re soul siblings and both aries. aries is the first fire sign and is ruled by the planet mars, which is already a fiery planet. maybe that means the heat brings out the best in us when we’re doing what we love to do. who knows… maybe, maybe, maybe a hundred different theories. bottom line is… i didn’t think being so uncomfortable on stage would make for such a good show. lucky me.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “i can’t see… the sweat is seeping into my eye… shit” “ow, this tambourine is so slippery… i can’t hold onto it any longer… what if it falls out of my hands and knocks mark in the face?” “shit!” “this is far too much sweat for such a nice dress” “my god i hope sweat doesn’t on my boobs” “i should’ve worn a bra” “i need to shower after this as soon as possible” “ugh, i hope i don’t have to hug anyone tonight”

Interesting Things After The Show: not so much. i drank again because we’ve started the jaeger crew. it’s illustrious members are captain t-ommy, lewscious, the boogey bunny, franny boy aka franboyant and q, the master. how’s this for interesting? i’m sitting behind the trailer in a chair in the street with tommy’s new captain and tenille-esque hat on… hot… super rock and roll… sooo into it. anyway, so i’m sitting there and all of a sudden i hear a police mini siren behind me. you know what i mean… one of those dumb cop honks instead of a full on siren. so yeah, it’s two cops and they have completely stopped street traffic just to tell me how much they liked my tattoo. life is funny sometimes… isn’t it?

Carter’s Conscience Chicago– Rob drove last night, because according to state law I was not capable of operating heavy machinery, or driving for that matter. Motel 6 and Dennys. If I never set foot in either of those fine establishments again in my life, I would not be upset in the least! Chicago turned out to be a great show! Lollapalooza was the same day, so I was stoked to see that there was a great turnout to our show as well. The severity of my hangover subsided somewhat during our soundcheck, and I felt really relaxed and inspired on stage. Its like the feeling you get when you’ve been sick, and your starting to get better. Everything seems fresh and new, and you appreciate just feeling good. Anyway, I’d say it was the best overall show we played this tour so far. Or maybe i just enjoyed it the most. Who knows. . . Rob and I were connecting a lot on stage, in particular in the new song we play. ( the second to last song, if you were at the show) Met some really cool fans, in particular Brian who drove all the way from Indianapolis! Brian studies the media, and he turned me on to Chomsky, who i’ve never read. I’m half way through Holy Blood, holy Grail, which is a really interesting read. For those of you who aren’t familiar its the book that the Da Vinci code borrowed most of its ideas from. And you can’t lie to me, I know you read the Da Vinci code. And I know you loved it. Its literary crack. Wish we could’ve stayed on a bit in Chicago, but the bus was rollin on. Incidentally, ate one of the best burritos of my life around the corner from the venue.

chris varady and chicago’s finest

motor city love – frank, jubei, q and carter

the night before our detroit show mariqueen, carter and i put on face masks. ironically, chris who i had to cut out of the picture becuase he’s too worried about looking faggy, was the one who owned the face mask in the first place. classic stuff. good clean skin is nothing to laugh at though. so let’s talk detroit. i havent been back to mi in at least 5 maybe 6 years. funny thing about it was that once i got there i wanted to leave. oh well, i wasnt born there…so technically i’m not a true native…im a jersey italian. the best thing about playing in detroit was seing a bunch of my old friends like sue and ted lott, robin (in pic with mariqueen), anna, jubei, frank, and del(bottom right). it was real cool that they all made the drive up from either grand rapids or ann arbor – that’s love. i just want to let it be known that i really really appreciated you all coming out and that seeing you guys was the BEST thing about the detroit show. i really do miss all of you and hope we play in michigan again so we can laugh some more. sort of makes me sad that i havent kept in touch with you all like i should have. tissue please.

the show was great – i dubbed the magic stick the loudest smallest crowd we ever had. once again ward (in pic with q) delivered with the sound. i would like to thank the turin brake guys for letting us put 50 people on their guest list. thanx guys. rob actually had a gang of family out to the show. i wish i knew all of your names so i could give you all a proper thank you but i don’t. the stage sound at the stick was one of the best if not the best of the tour thus far. after the show the jaeger club continued to collect dues. i think i saw lewscious float away at one point. anyway detroit, west indian girl has left your state, at least you have the lions to tide you over until we return…sucks for you.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: no offense but detroit isn’t the greatest city in america. before we even had a sound check i encountered a bunch of really shitty and mean detroitians. there seems to be a dark and unhappy cloud that looms over the town. as we were searching around michigan for hotel rooms the night prior to our show, we noticed that a lot of the locals like to park their cars as to showcase them, in front of random stores and just hang out. uh, i don’t know about you guys, but that seems really boring and is called loitering where i come from. anyway, if there are any decent parts of detroit i certainly didn’t get the chance to see them. i can’t lie so don’t be upset. just know that all the locals that i did meet and got a chance to interact with, i really liked… you guys were super dope. dear detroit the best things to ever come out of you are mediocre vehicles, robert james, francis ten, ghetto tech and iggy pop. thanks. sincerely, mariqueen. kisses.

The Venue: the magic stick, majestic, whatever what have you, was fresh. i was way into the fact that we had wireless internet access and could bowl. because of our dumb soundcheck to showtime schedule i didn’t get a chance to whoop anyone’s asses on the lanes. we were supposed to do a west indian girl vs. turin brakes bowl off, but it never happened. lucky for tb, they would’ve ended up having to take all of us out to a fancy dinner in detroit. wait… is that even possible? i enjoyed playing at the majestic. it was a great stage and a fantastic venue. lavishly big and spacious. it could’ve doubled for a rollerskating rink. in all honesty, i would love to play there again. that area is probably the coolest spot in detroit, period point blank. if only that art gallery next door was open, i would’ve been a lot happier with my day. cest la vie.

The Show: we did great despite time and monitor problems. i thought it was really weird that we started our set before the sun went down. it really is just weird. that is probably one of the worst things about this tour. all of our shows have started so early. just lame. i mean, seriously… in l.a. no one is even ready to leave their house at eight o’clock. why would people even show up to our set if it started at seven thirty. that’s insanity. the detroit fans were by far, the coolest and most enthusiastic around. you all get two thumbs up. way up.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “we should’ve gotten a box of sunglasses to pass out to the crowd.” “i can’t hear myself” “i hope i’m not fucking up” “this dress makes me feel fat” “i hate performing and pmsing at the same time” “oh wait, spinning in this dress is fun” “weeeee!”

Interesting Things After The Show: everyone got WASTED. i plead the feeeeyefth…

Carter’s ConscienceDetroit– Space rock city baby! First time in Detroit! I know that I keep saying that, cuz its the truth. Rob and Fran had a huge posse of friends show up to the show, but it was strange starting a set when the sun hasn’t set. The sound on stage was probably the best we’ve had so far, I could hear every instrument crystal clear. So thanks to the monitor guy whose name has since departed my memory, its great to hear yourself onstage. I can’t say it was my most inspired show, but the crowd was great. People kept making me laugh, yelling “detroit loves West Indian Girl” and telling Fran to take his shirt off.

Things went downhill pretty quickly after the show, however! I’m not a big advocate of alcholism, I don’t drink because i think its cool, but it seems like sometimes on the road you need to have a drink just to stay sane, blow off the days stress. . . Thats what Detroit was all about. The crew we were partying with was hilarious, and that just added to the hijinx. I think I was signing one of our tour lithographs for a fan when I got the bright idea to actually sign the fan herself. (With permanent marker, of course) And then, what the hell, I had her sign me right back! Lewscious looked like he needed a tatoo, so I made a little drawing for him on his shoulder. Tommy got in on the poor mans tatoo parlor, Q got one Janet Jackson style! She returned the favor by tatooing my entire back! I didn’t know what it said until the next day, but needless to say it was vicious slander, and I might sue for defamation of character. Just kidding, I’ve woken up with worse. . . Q was in rare form that night. We need to come up with a good nickname for inebriated Mary Q. Maybe we should come up with a nickname contest. The winner can buy me a shot. And I’ll write something obscene on them in permanent marker. I love Detroit.

lewscious and jubei

sue and sutton

andrew james and teddy

james and matle

F.TEN

family dining at it’s best

we spent the day off before our next show driving from philly to toronto. what was unusual about this drive was that rob drove the whole way and he isnt known for driving long stretches. i attribute his penchant for driving on this particular day to either one of 2 things: one, the drivers seat is one of the more comfortable seats in the car or two, that he needed time to reflect upon me spanking him in 2 games of ping pong before we left my sisters. i went 5 and 0 in pong and now reign supreme. so, in buffalo we stopped and ate at an italian place called buca di beppo. we showed up right before they closed but they werent mad at us at all, on the contrary they were really really nice to us there.
dan and kristan (in pic) you’re awesome. we love you guys. thanx for all the food. i was so down with the manicotti because it reminded me of what my mom would make for me when i was growing up. after the meal we cruised into canada and made an immediate pit stop at niagara falls. that place is cool at night. it’s fun being a tourist sometimes – especially with this band. the falls were crazy, what a trip – i cant believe anyone would actually be dumb enough to try going over them in a barrel. we took some great pictures there.

the next day we played at the mod club theatre and this show, much like the pic of robert was a blur. i loved the mod club’s stage – it was deep set and made of old wood so it wasnt totally level in spots. the thing that sucked about the show was that it started way too early and we played to like 1/4 of a room. yes playing early is too be expected when you’re an opening act but come on people. some of these start times are fucking ridiculous. dear promoters of this tour….not smart. especially in the midwest where im from…shows start late…i mean late…not at 8pm. anyway, i cant wait til we headline our own tour so i can impose a late start time. i mean, seriously, if i went to see my own show i would miss me cos i wouldnt get there on time. many people have come up to me and said, “i cant believe you played so early” weird, hmmm i really dont have much to say about the actual show. it was good but the crowd was standing so far away and the lights were in my eyes it felt like we weren’t playing to anyone. the best part of my stay in toronto was after the show. lewscious, mariqueen and i went back to the hotel and regrouped. i took them down to queen st. we stopped off at the rivoli for a drink and then it was down to the bovine sex club where we had a blast. we started the jaeger shot club that night. the bovine has a great back room with real super high booths in the back. it was fun hanging with lewscious and mariqueen and finally relaxing and not thinking about the show. we we just laughing — good fucking times man.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: oh toronto, how i love thee, let me count the ways. one – you have trash cans with recycle options. gaaangster… two – everything is cheaper… three – kensington street… four – queen street… five – my fabulous hotel room… six – canadians are just the friendliest people around… seven – two words: niagara falls. one more word… it’s a compound one at that – breathtaking. i’d say my worst experience in niagara falls had to have been right when we got there. i was DYING to go numero uno but couldn’t find a decent bathroom. then we get to niagara falls and i’m about to keel over just so i could pass out and piss in my pants. seriously, people… WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD. i ran out of the burban and searched frantically for a bathroom… guess what… they were all CLOSED. thank god i had carter with me. he took me to an upstairs area where it was completely abandoned and he kept guard. let’s just say “le sigh” is the only way i can describe the feeling of finally releasing the fury. after that, niagara falls was all to the good. we took some fantastic pictures with my camera. it’s a casio. it’s the best. be jealous.

The Venue: the mod club was super hot. literally and figuratively. toronto was especially muggy when we played and i’m not sure the mod club’s air conditioning was being used. the layout of the place is gorgeous. the decor… just stunning. what i’ve noticed about toronto is that they have their bathrooms downstairs. hmmm… not into that so much. i had a lot of fun playing here because the stage was super choice. the lighting was ultra rock and roll and the acoustics were great. i’d do it again. yes please.
The Show: i had the time of my life singing. i gave this show a nine out of ten. momma likey.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i wasn’t. maybe that’s why i liked the show so much.

Interesting Things After The Show: well, aside from watching carter and tommy work the canadian girls. i’d say the amusing parts of my evening had to have been when lewscious, fran and i went out on queen street to kick it. we started out at the rivoli where the geminis had stellas and the supreme aries had a crowne and coke. that’s right, bitches… always choose crowne. we got bored watching the mentally challenged people walking by. you think i’m kidding don’t you? no. there were some serious crazies roaming the streets. one guy was wearing a santa hat with no shirt on growling at fools. this was when i downed my drink and snapped my fingers for my minions, i mean, my beloveds, to get the gettin. we walked, we talked, we laughed, we got stalked. then, low and behold… the bovine sex club. ohmygod this place was siiick. best music around. the three of us preceded to do jaeger shots and they had more beer while i got another whiskey and coke. no crowne at the bovine though… so jack was good enough for me. it didn’t matter at that point because i was nice and tickled pink. we hung out and talked about how much we loved each other and then we walked back to the car. at this point mark and fran were both hungry, as they always are. these two eat so much crap and yet stay skinny it makes me want to backhand them. we stopped at a hot dog stand and i took pictures of my darlings stuffing their beautiful faces. if you could see all the classics i captured you’d die of laughter. ask francis. so after the hot dogs we went back to the hotel where tommy decided to come to the light and come back home to the people who love him most. fran was too tired to keep going because he had somehow between the hot dogs and the tomminess over exerted himself. who knows… he wasn’t down anymore and so mark, tommy and i continued the party in our hotel rooms. we opened up the mini bar and between more whiskey and red wine we took a bunch of superheroesque pictures on tommy’s camera. we laughed, we whined, we discussed our futures and we clowned on fools and then watched the sun come up. it was a magical and beautiful evening. i think carter had more fun than us though… he is our west indian girl machine… in more ways than one. mhm, don’t deny it carter, darling…

Carter’s Conscience Toronto– Our first time in Canada as a band, and my first time as well! We stopped in the middle of the night to see Niagara falls from the Canadian side. Even in the dark it was amazing, just about the best thing I’ve seen so far on this tour! Tommy said it reminded him of Superman. Well said my friend. One of my best friends Heidi Good Times is from Toronto, she always tells me what a cool city it is, now I understand. I spent most of the time wandering around Kensington Market, checking out record shops and vintage stores, music stores, eating yam burritos, etc. Thanks to Elaine for being my tour guide! The Mod club was a really cool venue, its a little theatre right in the middle of everything. The show itself was cool, I think it was the first time a lot of the crowd had heard of us. But thats what its all about, makin new friends across the continent. . . After the show the Mod club turned into a regular club, with DJ’s and bubble machines and the whole bit. It was perfect, the party came to us after the show. Everyone was partying quite a bit that night, Fran Mark and Q hit the Bovine Sex Club, a well known drinking establishment in town. Tommy and myself couldn’t find a reason to leave the club, we tied one on till the wee hours. I woke up the next morning and realized that I left my backpack somewhere the night before. I attempted to retrace my steps the next day but it was a lost cause. At least i still had my passport, but i did manage to lose my digi-cam. I was a little sad for about 2 and a half minutes but then I remembered that I am a special person anyway. At least that is what my mom says.

honeymoon moment #1 mariqueen and i finally got marriedi married lewscious five minutes latermore band love – sickening isnt it
radio personality tanya aka “strung out sam” in the house

F.TEN

david dye and west indian girl

before the philly show we were invited over to 88.5 WXPN to tape an interview with David Dye and play a few songs live. xpn is really fucking nice. it’s located on the drexel university campus. if you havent heard of david dye the guy equals legend. check out this npr bio on him. david has been in our corner since the beginning and totally understands what we are going for. our interview with him was extremely fun, relaxed and it felt like we were talking to someone who had definitely done his homework…a total pro. i thought the questions he asked were very well thought out plus his interviewing style is very laid back which made us all feel at home.

personally i love playing live on the radio – it was the first time we got to do this as a band instead of just an acoustic thing with robert and mariqueen. we played ok but it was a bit weird listening to the whole mix in headphones. bass going into headphones is one of the worst things to hear when you’re a bass player cos it sounds like ass…no way around it. anyway, all bass tone stuff aside, this was a thrill and i would gladly put those headphones back on again in a nanosecond if we ever got the chance to go back and hang out at xpn. we played trip, miles from monterey, hollywood, and what are you afraid of. after the interview rob went and did some station ID’s and then mariqueen and i did some together. “hi this is francis ten and mariqueen maandig of west indian girl and your listening world cafe live with david dye” or something like that. hahah it was cool.

Mariqueen’s Mind
philly xpn was a great experience. i expected it to be like my first radio experience at 94.9 in san diego. i didn’t understand how the whole band was going to fit all of our equipment inside a radio station and play live, but the one thing i’ve learned since joining this band is to just go with the flow. expect the unexpected. you might just find a pleasant surprise.

so mark, fran, tommy and i drove into the radio station from our second night staying with becky. let me just say how sad your life is if you haven’t experienced a trip to the mccabe estate. that house slash mansion slash tour godsend was and is my favorite experience on this musical journey. just picture what may very well be the perfect family. tall, dark and handsome husband (tom) with the petite and beautiful wife (becky)… then there’s the girls. gorgeous. all of them. rachel, the oldest and most outgoing of the bunch. she’s always smiling and has one of those super soothing speaking voices. the kind of voice that boys will call and want to listen to. i know it’s kind of wrong for me to say but she has a sexy kind of voice. watch out, rachel… the boys will come running, and start calling if they haven’t already. then there’s katherine. super tall, super pretty and super shy. i don’t know that much about her because she’s so shy but it’s ok. i was and still am the same way around people. then there’s little sara. i got to sleep in sara’s room for the three wonderful days i was able to stay at the mccabe estate. sara is a cutie pop with shirley temple curls and a quiet demeanor. i am convinced that one of her drawings should be a new west indian girl t-shirt. fran, if you’re reading this… you have the power. make it happen. so ok, the family sounds perfect right? it gets even better. the house is siiiiiiick. wireless internet everywhere. eleven rooms. one acre all around. huge backyard with a pond, a hammock, fireflies, a swingset, a tool shed, a fire pit, a deck and room left over to build a pool. whaaat? yuh. for serious. this house was gangster. our first night there we were greeted with sanwiches, a variety of fine beer, and congo bars. i did my laundry, click clacked on my lappy, and watched blazing saddles. dope, right? anyway, i’ve completely strayed from the subject, sorry people. let me just end this ode to the mccabe family by saying thank you. for everything. becky you are so amazing. thank you. i can’t say that enough. lewscious and tommy say thank you as well. lewscious would also like to thank rachel for those amazing muffins. me too me too me too! rachel you are a fantastic baker. the congo bars, the heavenly muffins, the constant smiles and then that voice. you are a going to be dangerous when you get older. the mccabe estate is west indian girl’s official east coast home base. get into it.

so anyway our radio show went great. i was happy and full from the great eggs and cheese and english muffin breakfast that beck had prepared for me. love her. damn. seriously. i got to the building and spent some quality time in the bathroom. i walked out of there ten pounds lighter and ready to sing. i stuffed my face with scones and hot tea while the boys were setting up. when it was time to get it going we banged through “trip”, “miles from monterey”, “hollywood” and “what are you afraid of”. the interview went well. i think i’m finding my groove when it comes time to ask me stuff. i was nervous my first time i was interviewed but there’s something really soothing about being in a huge recording studio with all the boys i love holding their instruments that puts me in a natural comforting state. who knows. i wonder what david dye thought of me? david i know you read the blog, i want to know what you think. i’m bummed we didn’t get to chat more. i didn’t even see you at our show. hmphf.

some live shots taken tommy

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the world cafe live show was great. philly is turning into a real nice town for us with some really amazing fans. the venue there is top notch – big stage, clean backstage, nice restaurant – overall a great place to see live music. again, i just cant get over how warm and receptive the philly crowds are to west indian girl. these people are true music lovers, support their scene and are knowledgeable about their scene. maybe that’s due in large part to WXPN and it’s force as one of the best noncomm radio stations period. more parts of the country need to follow philly’s lead. seattle’s KEXP and of course la’s KCRW are on the same level in my opinion. this was the most fun i’ve had on stage in a while. plus i got to announce to everyone that it was the first concert that my nieces have ever seen so it was a bit of history for those three. in the pic on the left is derek who we met at the last tower show. he’s cool and one of the first people to own the new lithos we got in. they were shipped in to philly that day and proved to be a big hit. they’re limited edition, individually numbered tour posters on nice heavy card stock. they can be signed by the band too. pretty awesome mementos if you ask me.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: i didn’t get a chance to walk around because the second we got to town i had to get to work. i have three new goals for my next trip to philly: 1. dig for soul records 2. go see the historical spots 3. finally try a philly cheese steak sandwich.

The Venue: the world cafe is beautiful and is, without a doubt, the nicest place we’ve played so far. good food… great service… excellent staff. love it.

The Show: i didn’t feel like i gave my best performance. i don’t know. i could hardly hear anything, the stage was so huge. i had to force myself to loosen up. i heard later on that night that we sounded amazing which is crazy because i was watching ward a lot for inspiration and he was shaking his head like he had problems.
i’m not sure when i’ll feel like we’ve had a really amazing show because i think my expectations rise higher and higher every passing day. my favorite part of the set was “what are you afraid of”… the breakdown just gets more fun each time we do it.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “oh man it’s hot up here” “what is going on with the sound?” “wow, i can see everyone and their meal… again”

Interesting Things After The Show: not so much interesting things… but interesting people. hmmm… i drove back to becky’s fabulous house after the show, that’s about as interesting as it gets, people. deal with it.

Carter’s Conscience Philly– I love Philly! Both times in Philly we’ve had great shows. WXPN is really behind us, they set up a radio show where we played a live set with David Dye. (Sorry if I misspelled your name David) The show was cool, we did it all in the studio right next to the World Cafe, Good to see Dan from WXPN as well. You’re the man, buddy! The venue itself was amazing. Again, everyone was sitting at tables, but the crowd was rocking nonetheless. i saw a few familiar faces from our last show in Philly, even saw a guy wearing a shirt that we signed the last time we were in Philly! Anyway, it seemed that the crowd really dug it, we were really into it, it was a great show for us all in all. Thanx to Emily from Astralwerks for taking the train down from NYC. She’s a champion, even helping us out at the merch table. I’m bummed we had to leave right after the show. Anybody reading this from Philly, lets organize a big afterparty when we come through town again, I need some more Philly in my life!

some live shots taken by my bro in lawcarter and mariqueen with bill walshsaying goodbye to our little oasis

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the view from my deer sister’s house

i decided wear barrettes again today, mariqueen let me borrow her hello kitty one’s. i’m kinda into it just because most guys i talk to start giving me strange looks and im sure their thinking “is this guy a fag” …little do they know, plus i dont care….it amuses me. so the best part of the annapolis show was the fact we had a day off before the show. we spent that day driving down from maine. while driving down i decided to give my sister a ring. she lives in pennington nj about 45 minutes outside of philly. i asked her if the 4 of us (rob and chris were on the tour bus with turin brakes) could stay at her house. she said yes and this turned out to be the best stop we could have made cos her house is the lap of luxury. we did laundry, took showers, ate tons of food, and hung out in her beautiful backyard surrounded by huge pine trees and a koi pond. it kicked ass….did i mention the ping pong table and hi speed wireless internet access. it was so cool seeing my nieces too. i love those kids so much. anyway, we woke up the next day and cruised to annapolis – a few hours away.

let me just say this about the annapolis crowd. awesome…even thought there were only 77 people there 1 out of every 3 bought our cd. it was a great evening of recruiting new west indian girl believers. the show itself was bizarre because it was at the ramshead tavern which is basically a sit down dinner type venue. i mean there were tables right in front of the stage with people eating while we were playing. it was kooky – the whole show i kept thinking to myself how the hell can these people deal with my bass blasting in their face and eat. talk about taking one for the team the polite people of annapolis provided for a memorable evening. we even got to play our longest set of the tour – we opened with still lost just because we didnt want to blow their salads off the plates too early. gotta give a shout out to jennifer koster (in the pic with carter) who will live in infamy as the first person to buy something from our online store. she was there with her man ryan. i tried to give her my 2 free tickets for the show but she had already bought them…she’s wonderful.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: annapolis is, like most of the cities and towns we’ve visited thus far, picturesque and muggy. the one thing that sets annapolis apart from the others is that it is the home of west pointe and therefore, super duper republicanish. whatever, i don’t know if that’s a good thing or not for any of you readers so i’m not going to get into it. let’s just say i’m super liberal but my parents are republican and i love them with all my heart. hi mom, i know you’re reading this. i miss you. hi daddy, i love love love you. since i’m constantly around guitars, you are on my mind all the time. alright enough sentimentality… so yeah, annapolis… i didn’t see much to do besides play the show, shop for lingerie and hang out at a cool little internet cafe. but you know what? i am not complaining one bit. i really dug the city and hope that next time we come around i get a chance to go sailing.

The Venue: the ram’s head tavern is the only place in annapolis that has shows. the banquet hall room thing spot where we performed at felt a little funny. hey, don’t get mad, i’m just being honest. when i first checked the venue out it made me think of my old gig. when i was fifteen i used to play with a bunch of old filipino men in a big band and we would go sing at banquets in swanky hotel halls and what not. i think the rams head tavern reminded me of this because of the carpeted stage and tables everywhere. it’s nerve racking when you are performing and you know that someone can actually eat and look up your skirt at the same time. hmmm… the really dope part about the venue was that we got an unlimited amount of beer and wine for free. good stuff. after the show i went downstairs to the underground pub they had. i guess rob had discovered a fresh cover band making all the young drunk locals go insane. i had lewscious be my date and we checked it out. one word: amazing. the lead singer had a fantastic voice. mark and i ended up talking to him at the end of the night and find out that he used to play with p-funk when he was fifteen. whaaaaat?!

The Show: the show, despite the sketchiness of the layout, turned out to be a success for everyone. i had so much fun. i was a little dancing tambourine machine. i think it’s a lot more comfortable to dance around on carpet than hardwood floors so i let loose. the response that we got was great. i couldn’t have asked for a nicer audience. they were all so beautiful and friendly. i gave our show an eight out of ten. if the stage had been bigger it’d be a ten for sure.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “my god, i can see everyone’s face and meal… crazy.” “wow, i wish every theater we played at had carpeted floors, i know it’s probably bad for acoustics but my god, could it be possible for me to get any more nuts with these boots right now? i think not…”

Interesting Things After The Show: the coolest part of the night was listening to that awesome band downstairs and finally meeting turin brakes’ illusive busdriver. the enigma known as jay. actually, i also got a chance to get to know the boys in the other band pretty well. eddie, turin brakes’ bass player and i discussed kafka and girls gone wild… gale, mark and i discussed astrological signs and significant others and then tommy, mark, fran and i drove back to becky’s (fran’s amazing sister) god send of an estate in new jersey. i think i might’ve peed at a gas station on the way back but i remember waking up in the suburban when we finally got to her house and stuffing five congo bars in my mouth. if you don’t know what a congo bar is, i feel sorry for you. ask fran.

Carter’s Conscience Annapolis– Rob and i hopped on turin Brakes’s tour bus to Annapolis. We drove overnight, and had a day off when we woke up. I pretty much slept all day in Annapolis, chilled by the pool, ate good food, etc. I really needed just to catch up on some z’s. Not much to do where we were, so Rob and I saw War of the Worlds. The verdict? I thought i was going to hate it, but it was actually all right. Granted, Tom Cruise is a douche, that’s a given. Oh shit, I’d better not say anymore or the Scientologists might ruin my music career. . . My humblest apologies Mr. Cruise and Mr. Hubbard, but you’re still a couple of douches in my book. Anyway, on to the show– The Ram’s head– A cool little dinner club, where everyone is sat at tables, eats dinner, and watches the show. I think its great for the audience to have seats and a casual environment, but it is a little strange for the performers. You feel like you’re under a microscope a bit– its still fun, just a little less free. But the crowd was really cool and appreciative, I would definitely play there again. Incidentally, I didn’t catch the name of the cover band that plays downstairs, but they were kick-ass. Also, Happy Birthday Troy! Troy is our road dog, almost singlehandedly responsible for getting the stage set up and torn down. Unfortunately, what Troy really wanted for his birthday I wouldn’t know where to find in Annapolis, so he had to settle for a good cocktail instead. happy birthday bud.

robert james setting up shop

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post show drunkin donuts with tommy and lewscious

the crowd at the big easy wasnt so big or easy for that matter. it seemed like they were pretty tough to break through to but i guess its normal for the crowds there to just “listen” and not get all into it. at least that is what someone there told me. so with that in mind you could safely say it was like a los angeles crowd. i think there were under 100 people there but what do you expect….well, i expected more but we sold a fair number of cds considering the attendence. we always seem to sell a bunch of cds after we play these days which is very encouraging because that means we are making fans just on virtue of our live show. i dont think we had our best show and i credit that to the fact they dont allow alcohol on stage. how random is that. maine and i think iowa are the only states that dont allow you to bring drinks on stage. what year is it? i think prohibition started in maine…maybe they’re still holding on to the past. before the show we all ended up meeting at an ice cream shop where the picture above was taken. another rated g family moment.

portland me was a nice change of pace from the last two major cites we were in. it was really, well, quaint…and peaceful. as far as the food situation went my philosophy was “when in rome…: and i had lobster for lunch and lobster for dinner. it was pretty tasty – i had dinner at a place called the porthole with the band. my friend michael who was at the boston show also came to the maine show. it was cool seeing him again. so dinner was cool because you eat right on a pier or dock…basically right on the water. i was bummed i had to leave early to go play because a classic rock cover band had just started to play. they blew a fuse in the middle of their first song and all their amps died which was a hilarious and classic spinal tap moment if you ask me. after the show we unfortunately had to return to the shitty motel we were staying at. our hotel smelled like piss and mold. maybe that’s why there was a mole hanging out in front of our door. i guess that would explain the room being so moldy.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: portland, maine is a hell of a lot different than portland, oregon but still amazing in it’s own way. the one thing i hated about the town was our dump of a motel. god, it was the worst ever. don’t ever stay at the budget inn if you decide to go to portland maine. it was the smelliest shithole or should i say pisshole since that’s exactly what my room smelled like, i’ve ever been forced to stay in. just disgusting. on a lighter note, the town is superrr picturesque, well equipped with cobblestone streets and a nice breeze. this was the first time i can say i experienced a meal that made my eyes roll back in pleasure. rob, mark, carter and i ate at an irish pub or something and i had the pleasure of having baked scallops and other tasty delights wrapped in a tortilla. bomb. so fresh to def, it’s making me type out in ebonics… almost. that is how good it was. you what the best part of my meal was? sweet potato fries. mhm, that’s right child. sweet potato fries dipped in cajun mayonnaise or something. heaven. besides having mark lewis feed me the best lobster i’ve ever had, which is a sexy moment in itself, this was probably my big portland highlight. wait wait, that and the home made ice cream cone fran and i shared. that was kind of sexy too. we are such a sexy band. eating well = sexy. get into it, people.

The Venue: sadly enough, it didn’t live up to it’s name.

The Show: i gave this show a five out of ten. seriously, people, i’m hard on myself and on this band. we sold like twenty cd’s i think but i don’t believe we gave an outstanding performance. the one exception to that rule is mark lewis. he played immaculately tonight. i love my lewscious.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “ugh.” “why am i sucking so bad right now?” “i knew i shouldn’t have gotten so full before a performance.” “mmm… lobster.”

Interesting Things After The Show: i started and finished a beautiful book by steven chbosky and got some awesome pictures and video footage of the cutest blind mole that was hanging outside of my smelly room. god, i am so boring. you love it.

Carter’s Conscience Portland Maine– After driving around town till 6:30 am trying to get a hotel, we slept until 3 and went to the gig. I went on a little jog in the morning, ran into the forest, saw a squirrel, got my head together. The gig was a small place, probably the smallest we will play the whole tour, a bit of a logistical nightmare getting everything on stage. Really really hot and humid out. . . Portand is a really rootsy old city. its a fishing town. The coolest person I met was the lady working in 7-11 at 6 am. She called around and tried to find us hotels, all the while talking about her X-husbands, one of which is a shrimp boat captain. you just don’t meet many ex-wives of shrimp boat captains back home. . . I didn’t feel like I had my best show in Maine, I can’t remember why, just a feeling. Maybe just a bit tired. Touring in a Suburban will run you down, trust me

tommy working the roomcheck out lewscious’ shirt – looks like he has cartoon hand

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more cheers more beers – hangin in boston with brendan sullivan

we played at tt the bears in boston or as chris carter dubbed it, bear titties. i wasnt too excited to go boston cos every time i go there a fight seems to break out in front of me but this time there was no violence at all, it was all just good vibes from beginning to end. tt’s had a tiny stage and the sound system leaved a bit to be desired but all in all it was another kick ass evening. we made a bunch of new fans there. hats off to ward mcdonald who is doing our sound for the tour. he is turin brakes soundman and was nice enough to also mix us. he did a fantastic job for never having heard us before. the set was great. we opened with northern sky, then followed it with a long version of trip, monterey, hollywood, out of pink, and ended with what are you afraid of.

my old friend from los angeles michael mclaughlin showed up (on left). mclaughlin and i used to work at a dot com company in beverly hills. he lives in maine now and is back in school getting another degree. i havent seen him in what seems like a few years. it was great seeing him. the big story of the evening was lewscious’ brothers. boston is pretty much the town of lewscious as it seemed like 1 out of every 3 people i met knew him. all the lewis brothers where there (that’s david with beth in the pic below). i love it when we have family night at shows. the boston crowd was great and very receptive to the west indian girl experience. big thanx to reason who headed up our street team in boston. he did a great job promoting and it wont be forgotten.

so after the show we decided to drive all the way to portland where we were playing the next night and get a hotel there. this turned out to be the dumbest idea ever because every hotel we tried to stay at was booked. we ended up finding rooms at the shittiest little overpriced place in new england. i mean these rooms should have been going for like 19 bucks thats how fucking gross they were. i should have slept in my clothes.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: boston is picturesque but of course, i didn’t get a chance to walk around and explore it. we did, however, pass fenway park and i wanted to run out and touch the wall but didn’t get to. bummed. when i did get a chance to walk around outside the venue, i got a lot of unwanted attention from some of the locals. the male species in boston sure are forward and friendly. i’d like to give a loving shout out to chris carter for being so protective over me.

The Venue:what can i say about tt the bear’s? it’s small and cute and they pour stiff drinks. what more can you ask for? i know what i’d ask for… how about a bigger stage with a better monitor system?

The Show: i honestly thought i gave a better performance in boston than new york. the only problems the band seemed to have were technical. the monitors were heinous and carter had delay problems with his equipment. it was still a great show with amazing energy. i gave it an eight out of ten. the boston fans were great… just fabulous. i can’t wait to come back.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “god, i hope i sound alright.” “this stage is so small.” “is that guy in the audience really popping and locking right now? rad.”

Interesting Things After The Show: ohhh yes. good times were had in boston… but don’t ask me… hit up the boys… they always seem to have more fun and have better stories than me. all i did was finish my david sedaris book. read his books. they are amazing. after you ask the boys what happened at tt the bears, ask them if they hate me for passing out shotgun status while they drove around maine trying to find a hotel room. while you’re at it can you ask them since they took so long to find a room, ask them why we didn’t just sleep in the suburban because it would’ve been better than finally deciding on the shit shack from hell which we didn’t even get to settle into until almost seven in the morning. i need to stop talking about this or else i’ll punch a wall. but this should actually be for our portland show report, shouldn’t it? alright, the moral of the story is… boston was fun and i didn’t get enough of it so please bring me back as soon as humanly possible. alright?

Carter’s Conscience Boston– TT the Bears, otherwise known as Bear titty’s. Pretty small stage, but a really cool venue all in all. It doesn’t help that my keyboard rig is absolutely massive. But in my defense, those are the keyboards that sound the best, and I’m not willing to sacrifice sound quality for portability. I really don’t write that much about what happened during the actual show, mostly because I don’t remember much of the show afterwards. This isn’t because I was so wasted or any crap like that, ( I actually enjoy being sober on stage) just because I like to trance out and enjoy myself on stage. The moment I become aware or self-conscious about what I’m doing, the moment I lose the groove and fuck up. So needless to say, I don’t remember much besides being a bit nervous during the show. But the crowd was great, I got to meet Mark Lewis’ brother! Mary Q could start a riot just walking down the street, she must excude some kind of exotic pheremones or something. Anyway, we decided to drive to Portland that night for our next gig, which turned out to be a nightmare. . .

our boys reason and with mariqueencheck out the new women’s tank tops we haveit all happens in front of the merch standalan lewscious and kasiathe outsiderz of boston

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we flew in the night before on jet blue. jet blue is the only way to travel from la to ny – trust me…big leather seats, directv on the flight – nice simple airport out of long beach. you cant beat it – plus if you pop half a tab of ambien your flight will be even better cos you will be asleep for most of it. the hotel we stayed at sucked balls. it was the worst western on 38th and for the price it sucked. every now and then my crappy camera takes a good picture and the hazy one i took of Q in our hotel room looks pretty timeless. dont you agree – it’s got a good vibe like a song.
so, the day of the show i went to the virgin megastore to do an instore interview with dj mike (on left)- i guess you can say dj mike is the ny version of la’s dj dave who i’ve talked about before. ironically, just like dj dave, mike is really cool. we hung out for about an hour and played a bunch of tracks off the record and talked about everything under the sun. what was great about this store is that they had our video running on repeat the whole time. it was so cool to see it on a tv instead of the computer. it looked great. anyway, after that i cruised back to soundcheck with chris jones who flew in for the show. it was great having chris there. speaking of “it was great having them there” let’s talk about our publishing company, Cherry Lane who came out in full force. after the show the upstairs turned into a cherry lane party. rich and christa and brooke were there along with tons of other cherry laners. oh so how was the show you ask. we kicked ass and here is a link to a blog review of the show that i was just sent. just read this review in Warm Sounds because i couldn’t have said it better…this review made our collective day. i’m glad you enjoyed the show – next time say hello ian.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: we got into new york the night before the show. we as in rob, fran, mark and i. we stayed at some best western DUMP. my room was the size of bowery ballroom’s “champagne room”. seriously. it smelled and i hated it. our first night in town was less than thrilling. we went to eat at some cute diner/bar in soho at like one in the morning, which i think, is ridiculous because i hate to eat late but i was out voted so whatever. i love new york but not during the summer. it was hot and muggy and the smell reminded me a lot of downtown l.a., hmm… lovely? not so much. our second and final day and evening in new york was spent at the bowery so i didn’t get to have as wonderful an experience as my last time. i don’t care though, i still think new york is the greatest city in america. the end.

The Venue: i thought bowery ballroom was going to be grandiose… it didn’t look like a “ballroom” per se but i dug the layout… a lot. i’d go into detail about how cool the scene is but you’ll just have to go there yourself and see if you don’t already know. since we were the opening band we didn’t get the main dressing room but we got what i like to call “the champagne room”. the champagne room was pretty gangster… it was an intimate little VIP section of some sorts with a velvet curtain that blocked us from the rest of the patrons on the upper level. if it weren’t for the musky smell and all the dust… uh, historic dust? i probably would’ve liked it a lot more. the people at the bowery were fantastic. all the security guards and our sound girl were super groovy. i can’t wait to play a show there again… mhm, please and thanks.

The Show: we were determined to make up for what i thought was a pathetic new york debut at the mercury lounge. we succeeded.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “ah! this is so much fun!”

Interesting Things After The Show: lots of drinking and merriment and bickering with taxi cab drivers. we hung out with some awesome people: i’d name them but what’s the use… you know who you are and you all know that we love you… trust me folks, we were surrounded by lots and lots of beautiful people… lots and lots of beautifully drunk great people. friends, lovers, colleagues and label mates. it was too much fun. trust me when i say… too much. it might be mandatory to have too much fun in the greatest city in america. give. me. more.

robert james and mariqueen with rich from cherry lane
chris jones, scott, carter and lewscious
finally, the golden republic make the blog!

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mariqueen and r james lost in space june 14th

we played with the coral on tuesday night and i gotta tell ya…i have absofuckinglutely nothing good to say about those guys because their crew (ie road manager and roadie) were assholes. these 2 completely ruined any chance of me saying something remotely nice about that band in this blog. the attitude they gave me…i still cant believe it… seriously, i’m still shaking my head about it. hmmm, it’s like me flying to london and being a royal dick to everybody in the club as well as the local band that is doing us a favor by warming up in their own back yard. ok, enough bitching about the coral but did i mention that their roadie actually threatened me? i feel sorry for the guys in the band because their people made them look really bad. on second hand i dont feel sorry for them at all because they’re the idiots that hired them in the first place and to top that off they should have at least apologized to us for taking a 6 1/2 hour sound check and giving us the stage (begrudgingly no less) 15 minutes before doors. gee, that was nice of them. did i mention that despite all of this we rocked. i thought we played a great show…it was loose and the energy was palpable. hats off to the crowd which was really inspiring. it was by far my favorite show in la to date. thanx to everybody for coming out to support the “opening” band.

i usually dont drink too much after shows but this one was an exception…i was pretty buzzed…probably because my friend thomas(right) was giving me tequila shots and morgun was giving me vodka. i cant do that anymore because by the end of the night i was selling our shirts for 5 bucks. i still dont know how i got home…good thing i live a block away. on a random note – i got a call tonight from a blocked number saying i was hitting on his girlfriend. dude, get over it and call me from an unblocked number so we can “settle up”. how did you even get my number fool? —F.TEN

Mariqueen’s Mind
The Venue: the troubadour is the comfiest venue to play at. i only say this because it seems like we’ve had a trillion shows there, but in actuality it’s only been like five. i love the troubadour and their staff. the only thing i was bummed about was not getting our usual dressing room. i was not pleased with our stinkathon of a closet. it smelled like funk… tres nasty.

The Show: i coasted my way through that entire set. i thought it went well despite the pathetic soundcheck (big thanks to the coral for that) and the fact that i had two inches to move around on stage (once again, the coral… you’re awesome)… and i had been sick for what seemed like forever and on the verge of recovery. i didn’t hit my notes like i thought i should’ve but i heard that people thought that was one of our best shows. my expectations… they increase by the minute… i’m sorry if i don’t agree. i gave this show a seven out of ten. i was just stoked on how much fun we all have playing. i like how we all move as one… i give our band unity a ten out of ten. we kind of rule.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “is that morrissey?!” “wow, i love my job…” “i wish i had more room to move, i feel mark’s cymbal poking my ass…” “two words – air conditioning… like now… i can’t stop sweating…” “oh no, here comes the breakdown, i hope my voice will survive”…

Interesting Things After The Show: well i got to hang out with two members of the once infamous Femme Terror $quad. it was magical… if you don’t know what i’m talking about then i feel sorry for you.

dark side of the balls

Carter’s Conscience LA- the Coral– It was a bit weird opening up for another band at the Troubadour, just because we’ve been doing our own shows there. The reason we were opening was that we were supposed to do a little West coast tour with the Coral, but it got cancelled for reasons beyond our control. It was actually great because lately it seems like weve played a lot of high profile shows, and this one felt relaxed and stress free. I think we were all really loose on stage, we got a great ovation, it was all in all a great show! On a side note, I guess one of their crew guys was a real dick to Fran during soundcheck, just giving a lot of attitude and being a real stress case. that sucks because we were really cool about the fact that we got almost no soundcheck in the first place, considering that those guys had all day to do theirs.

I didn’t get to meet any of the guys in the Coral, I’m sure they are really cool, buts a lesson for any band, including ours– the crew you take on the road are ambassadors for your band, and if they behave like dipshits, like it or not it reflects on the band. Its a bummer because one of the kids on their crew was really cool, helping us unload our equipment, etc. I guess one bad apple ruins the bunch (sic) But all in all that was nothing more than a speedbump, I had a great night. now we keep writing and get ready for our next tour. talk to you soon
Carter

famous journalist alexander laurence was there


annie and heidi

and angela, todd, morgun and joe

adies and gentlemen…the amazing zontobi

carter and ?, zontobi and lewscious

hahha – coworkers from day job i try to forget

joe d my merch brain, peg, warren, and mike

these live pics were taken with my shitty camera

looks like the cover of mbv’s loveless…me love

—F.TEN

yes…our first show in broad daylight

the sacramento heritage festival is all about real music for real people damnit. this festival was really cool cos it reminded me of some of the towns i grew up in. unfortunately for me the day started way too early for my liking but that’s what happens when you have to sleep in the van the night before. you see, the night before at the super 8 motel the lady refused let me bring tony in. needless to say i just couldnt leave the kid out there by himself so i slept in the van with him and thus ended up waking up at like 7am when the sun came beating in down on my face. fun? no. even though it sucked it was kinda cool cos i got up earlier than i think i have in years, fed tony, and walked over to some psuedodenny’s type restaurant to have myself some breakfast. i also took tony for a long walk and called my dad who was wondering why i was calling him so early in the morning. as far as the show went i thought it was pretty awesome because we were real loose. i kinda liked playing outdoors in the daytime. yeah it was weird but it was cool to be drinking beer and playing on the banks of a river on a sunny day. overall i had a great time. the sacramento people were all no nonsense music fans and that’s a nice change of pace from the average detached snobby la industry wank that take up precious space at la shows. brian (above right) was a cool promoter and i’m gald he booked us at the festival because we made a bunch of genuine fans. on a really random note – i played the whole show with my fly down which is really fucking funny…and funnier that noone in the band told me. you can see it in the picture.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: um… i’m not a big sacramento fan only because i used to loathe chris webber. however, since playing this festival, i’ve changed my mind. sacramento is a beautiful town with some of the friendliest people ever.

The Venue: it was outdoors and grassy… nice and clean… as pleasant as pleasant can be. except the burritos… ugh, the most substandard burritos i’ve ever had to eat in my life. i should’ve gotten the barbeque chicken sandwich… i’m still kicking myself for it.

The Show: we were all a little disheveled from last night. we’re not used to playing our set before 9pm… much less outdoors. i didn’t get to go through all my usual pre show warm ups. no hot tea, no dropping deuces… no vocal warm ups. in spite of it all we managed to bust out the set. we got a great response.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i was jonesing for a hammock and some iced tea for most of the day. but most of the time these thoughts plagued me during the set, “i can’t hear myself”… “i can’t believe we’re playing outdoors in the daylight… crazyyy”… “i can’t believe i’m up right now”… “god, i must sound like crap”… “i need tea”… “oh i hope abbey or sabrina don’t think i suck (they were sitting right at the front and kind of making me nervous)”…

Interesting Things After The Show: well, i tried to buy sunglasses and found that no one at the outdoor festival was selling any. weird. what else? um, i used the port-a-potty… is that how you spell it? that was especially interesting because i hadn’t used one since last year’s coachella and i had just gotten a visit from aunt flow and i was in all kinds of weird chinese acrobatic positions and it didn’t exactly smell like a bakery in there… num sain? fear not… i am a pro and worked everything out. i hope we get to play in sacramento again… i have one request though… i think they should totally bust out the cowbells… i have a hunger and that’s the only thing that will satisfy it.

Carter’s Conscience Sacramento — talk about a doing a 180! Fillmore at night, then the Sac heritage festival during broad daylight. We played at 2:00, which is just crazy. I don’t even bother calling Fran or Rob at 2:00 on any average day, because more than likely there still in bed! But having said that, the crowd was really appreciative and cool, and we got a warm welcome being that it was our first time in Sac. I had a beer, ate a BBQ sandwich, wore a wifebeater and had a great time. For the rest of the afternoon people were stopping us and telling us how much they enjoyed our set, etc. I think that was the first time I’ve ever played with a band outside during the daytime. Sorry about the Terminator, SAccers, that was our bad down here in LA!

bernie – making it happen

what my bed looked like

what everybody elses bed looked like

well rested people outside my hotel room

again…what my hotel room and roommate looked like

— F.TEN

the crowd at the fillmore….the best ever

after 3 hours of sleep it was back in the van but this time with everyone, including bernie who decided to actually get in the van with us for this road trip. great bernie memory #1: at the anaheim show i remember looking out into the crowd at the soundboard and i could see bernie jamming while he was mixing us — now that’s totally inspirational when you see your soundman into a show like that. i’m real glad he could do this tour. anyway, back to san fran. so the trip was pretty smooth until i had a subway tuna sub for lunch. let me tell ya, subway sucks. an hour after that delicious meal i was sitting on some dirty ass toilet seat in the middle of nowhere california taking a dump while feeling some serious subway pain. question for jared…is it really that good?

oh yeah, the show…well it kicked major ass. it was a memorable evening to be on stage because it was one of those slow motion nights where you could pick out people and faces in the crowd that you knew. one of those people was my friend andrew (on left with lewscious) who was backstage when i was taking pics so i’ve got a bunch with him. andrew is running the 2005 dublin marathon in october and is raising money for the fight against AIDS. if you would like to donate some money for a good cause ie – the san francisco AIDS foundation, as well as help sponsor andrew then you should click on this tax deductible link.

anyway, at the end of the evening i was pretty bummed that we couldnt hang with casey and the fischerspooner people but we had to roll to sacramento for a daytime festival. these shows with fischerspooner were our best shows to date so if you were lucky enough to catch one of them then i’m glad you were able to share in the experience with us. it was a great moment in time for west indian girl.

Mariqueen’s Mind
The City: it’s always a pleasure going back to san fran. great town. just fabulous.

The Venue: i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. the fillmore is legendary and i always get excited when i find out we’re playing there. one advice… don’t eat the fish. the food guy was great… i wish i could say the same for his source of protein. dammit, i forgot our backstage manager’s name. she was amazing. she turned me on to something called throat coat. sounds a little x rated, right? well check it, throat coat is the new jesus juice. she brought me some ginger and lemon and taught me a new way to save my voice. i’m sorry i suck at names so forgive me. but just know, that you are fantastic and when i see you again i’m going to give you a big fat hug.

The Show: holy shit… despite digestion problems for the whole band we managed to put on what seemed to be one of our best and most fun sets ever. dear rob, fran, chris and mark, we’ve come a long way in only twenty two shows… i really love you guys. yours truly, mariqueen. excuse me mr. casey spooner, someone started a rumor about me and you and our backstage antics… it includes us going to second base… get into it… love you… can’t wait to see you and the new band again.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i think the reason why we had such a great show was because i wasn’t thinking… at all… i just coasted and throat coated my way through that whole set.

Interesting Things After The Show: hung out… took some pictures with some beautiful and fabulousss men… mhm. we discussed boyfriends and how amazing we were. god i love gay men. then after the whole show was over i said my good byes with the fischerspooner camp and wished them well and secretly wished i would be going to the red room with them. but noooo… i had to go to sacramento and sleep in a stinky motel 8 or some horrible ashtray smelling dump… in a huge bed with no warm comfy body (you know who you are) next to me. worst sleep ever.

Carter’s Conscience San Francisco– What an experience playing the Fillmore. So much history, I mean you can feel the ghosts in that building. Just seeing all the photos on the wall of all the bands that have played there gives me goosebumps. Also, this was a chance to redeem ourselves, as first experience at the Fillmore (opening for Gomez) was bittersweet, as we really didn’t have our best show that night. This night was a whole different story, the crowd was so into it!, and I had maybe the most fun playing on stage that I’ve ever had. It was like the crowd just put us in a trance and induced us into playing our best. I could hear the sounds I was creating echoeing off the back walls, looking into a dark sea of people grooving, and at some times I was watching my hands play like I was watching a movie. Everytime I looked around at Q, Fran, rob, of Mark, it seemed like they were in a similar zone, really amazing. Thats how it should feel!

As a band we are getting pretty good at playing without a proper soundcheck, which is what happens pretty consistently when you are the opening band. In a strange way, I think we play better sometimes without one. When you have 20 minutes, you get up there, make sure all the instruments are making noise, do a quick vocal check, if your lucky you run a chorus of one song, then you get off the stage as the doors open. In that situation I don’t even worry about trying to get things in my monitor. I just adjust my stage volume to match the band and listen for the sound as it reaches the crowd. Thats not a knock on Fischerspooner by the way, they were really cool about trying to give us much time as possible. Thats just the way it goes, when its your show as the headliner you take as much time as you need. We do it when we headline, and the opening acts have to suck it up then as well.

Unfortunately we had to make a hasty exit because we were playing the next afteroon in Sacramento. Bummer, because the Fischerspooner crew was ready party like rockstars after the last show of our short tour. Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to do another tour together in the fall, right? One final thanx to Fischerspooner for taking us out. They couldn’t have been cooler, it was by far my favorite band that we have played with so far. So have fun in Ibiza, you little bitches! Love Carter

amy and andrew – we love ya

abbey, drew and erin – you guys are awesome

bernie, abbey and of course lewscious

—F.TEN

after the fischerspooner show at the house of blues

so before the show the s-man and i stopped over to see my bud ed at GOMC so he could fix my road case (remember how it fell off the stage in la). after that we snuck tony past 2 disneyland security check points (they’re dog haters over there) and finally arrrived at the house of blues. the show was sold out and we had a gang of west indian girl fans in the house. newsflash: i love our fans. they kick so much ass. i think it was family night as well cos carter had his sis there and mariqueen had her mom and dad there. the high point for me on stage was definitely the last song -an extended jam version of what are you afraid of – what a cool musical adventure to go on (i’m also diggin this new part in hollywood that rob and i sing a double vocal on). after the show we sold a record number of cds and t-shirts. for some reason i really love working our merch booth and hanging out and talking to everyone after the show. thanx to all you guys that helped support because you’re helping to make our dream come true. anyway, by the time i got backstage carter was playing a casio keyboard and casey was singing a song about tequila which was brilliant. i was too tired to party so i ate some cold chicken that was still back at the buffet and then went out to the van to let tony piss. we had to drive to sf in a few hours…drag.

Mariqueen’s Mind
The Venue: meh… this is probably the least impressive of the chain in california. the dressing rooms are like closets compared to san diego and los angeles.

The City: um, i grew up in anaheim… go st. boniface.

The Show: it seemed like from the time i got to the venue until curtain, there was no time to be nervous. the crowd’s energy was amazing. the beautiful kids brought out the performer in me. so far, i’d say this is probably the best show out of the fischerspooner tour. wait, san diego was really good too…. tough call.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “i hope my parents got a good seat”… “damn, this getting more fun by the second”… “wow, i have the best job in the whole world”…

Interesting Things After The Show: nothing that interesting. just lots of loving moments with momma and daddy. the last time they had come out to a show was at chain reaction and i’m glad that they got to see the progression of the band. i knew they were proud… i got a lot of hugs and kisses. hugs and kisses from my parents are worth more to me than anything in the world. i walked away from the house of blues a very rich woman. jesus, can someone pass me some kleenex over here? one of the highlights was seeing my friend vivi… she’s seen at least three other west indian girl shows but her reaction to this night’s show put a huge smile on my face and an extra hip shake in my walk. i love you vivi.

Carter’s Conscience Anaheim! My little sister Lindsey, and her friend made the show, which was awesome! Also, a quick thanx to Josh and all the boys from Electric sunglasses for all the love. Josh hooks up our band on a regular basis, and he brought shades for Fischerspooner and entourage as well! Way to go Josh, you’re a legend! I’m a little pressed for time so I’m gonna do the bullet point synapsis: The venue– House of Blues, Anaheim, Downtown Disney, right next to Disneyland. Downtown Disney feels more like a prison to me than “the happiest place on Earth”. Perhaps they should rename it “the most corporate place on Earth”. I’m not sure what that means, its just seems a bit more appropriate. however, the House of Blues is a great venue to play, everybody is always really cool that works there, and Mary Q and myself both grew up in the OC, so its a great chance to see a few friends. What I was thinking during the show– I was thinking how fun our new song is to play on stage. I try not to think on stage. The more you think, the more you fuck up. Its an exercise in meditation in a way, keeping your mind clear and focused. The crowd was great, what can I say, so much fun. . .

2 cool live shots taken by ming and ping

r james with the best fans ever: cameron, tommy, chris and charlie

bao vo with todd at the merch booth, doug from sd – word

lewscious with emma(who interviewed us) and casey

ed, the s-man and my road case

the tequila song

carter’s sis and her friend

keyboardists unit

adrienne and casey

best fans plus a mom, a sis, a boyfriend, emma, and garret

—F.TEN

the next afternoon i drove down to san diego with the s-man and tony. we were playing at the house of blues. i had never been to the house of blues in san diego and it was pretty nice. the stage manager was a guy named pinch (he’s in the band called the damned…crazy huh?) as far as the show goes…totally blew away la’s show as it had a totally different vibe, probably because we were way more loose but more so because the crowd ruled. my boy walt was there with his crew and i also saw leo – who is starting to remind me of zelig. san diego was a FUN time. after i packed up the merch booth and after fischerspooner ended (who were great by the way) i went backstage only to find a full on party going on. i think that’s where fischerspooner and west indian girl officially bonded. hey cara, thanx for helping me with merch. thanx to the security guys at the house of blues were all really cool too. they kept an eye on our van and tony who was in it. and big thanx to walt (in pic) for helping promote the show. i got home at 5 in the morning and i knew the next day was about to suck because i had to wake up in few hours to swap uhauls. drag

Mariqueen’s Mind
The Venue: the newly renovated house of blues is beautiful. the only complaint i have is the lack of cell phone service in the dressing rooms. the best part of the san diego house of blues has to be el veee… she. is. the. ultimate. this woman took care of me like you wouldn’t even believe. incense, deep discussions on wine and champipple… teaching me new vocab… she was tight. hi el, apple of my eye… can’t wait to come back. for you. love you, lady…

The City: yeah, i’ve written about san diego before. so as not to be redundant i’m just going to say i love the following people in san diego…
1. dj willow… you are a musical genius.
2. jonathan castro… cacaw
3. wendy castro… you’re beautiful
4. minette lee… you are getting more gorgeous by the second, it’s scary.
5. fatima lee… come to a show, i love you.
6. susan rickard… see above.
7. feel free to put in your name if i’ve forgotten you… forgive me, i’m typing this on my laptop on my way to another show… i just got scratched on the leg by the love of my life, tony, fran’s boxer, and i can’t think properly.

The Show: let’s just say this… as soon as we got back to our dressing room, i jumped on rob and we hugged and he spun me around. mhm.

What I Was Thinking During The Show: “i should’ve worn a bra”… “god can you see through this dress”… “fuck it, i’m dancing, i don’t care”…

Interesting Things After The Show: ahem… well, let’s just say i had a good time. i hung out with my good friends, jon and wendy, whom i hadn’t seen in two years. then, i ran into my friend willow and hung out with him. by this time jon and wendy had bought me two jack and cokes… then i hung out with brien terranova from the label, you are great… who also bought me one or two jack and cokes, i don’t recall… ahem… and then after the show was all over, we partied backstage where i saw adrienne and sam fighting over a pickle. i think sam, fischerspooner’s guitar player, was shoving it in adrienne’s face (fischerspooner’s back up singer), after he had tried to shove it in my face… you know i wasn’t having none of that, child. uh uh. then fran, carter, casey spooner, ben, the bass player and i had a photo session that got a little out of control. all of a sudden adrienne started to pretend iron with a bottle of jack. i offered her my back to iron by climbing on the ironing board… then my fat ass broke it. then i tried to get back on it like it was a surf board. then fran ended up taking a bunch of pictures of my backside because i kept falling forward. graceful and ladylike as always… then i decided that it would be time for cara and i to go home and i woke up in her car the next day with no real recollection of how i got there. weeeeeee! viva san diego!

Carter’s Conscience House of Blues, San Diego – I found a little toy Casio keyboard the other day at my parents house. I used to play it when I was like 8 or 9. Its got a bunch of ultra cheesy drum beats that you can speed up or slow down, and you can make it play little chord rythyms, etc. It’s really stupid looking, and so much fun to play! I brought it down to the show as a joke, and we ended up pretty lit after the show writing songs and stupid dances. the next day i went over the video footage i shot with my digi cam. Here are few personal video highlights from our dressing room: Shawn, our utility man/ tour manager guy, and Adrienne, Fischerspooners female vocalist, having a hot sauce drinking contest! I mean dumping bottles of it down their throat! Is that the secret to being a great singer? Sorry Shawn, but Adrienne won hands down. Sam, the guitar player, attacking anyone near him with a giant pickle. Mary Q and Adrienne ironing their clothes with a Jack Daniels bottle!? And soon after breaking the ironing board. . . I think Q tried to ride it like a surfboard.. . . which was of course a genius idea at the time. Ben the bass player and Casey Spooner leading the entire band in an impromtu jam called “Magic Plastic Man” The beats were provided by Ben using the Casio keyboard. Oh yeah, and the show was great. The whole audience was clapping along with our new song (which doesn’t even have a name yet) Fischerspooner blowing up, had a great chat with Brien from Virgin, things are looking up! thanks to all our new friends/fans in San Diego for an inspiring night!

dressing room party – i shouldnt even post these


but i will…that’s adrienne licking sam’s armpit


leo/zelig and a nice fan – they weren’t at the party

backstage at the henry fonda theatre

we opened for fischerspooner on friday. i was pretty excited to play at the fonda just because i havent played there yet but i was also a bit nervous – i always get that way in la though. in general i thought the bill was bold because there wasnt a blatant overlapping of musical genres – it was just one cool artistic band after another cool artistic band and if you liked music you got your money’s worth. good call on whoever had this bright idea. i was also pretty psyched that the diehard fischerspooner fans were so nice to us. as far fischerspooner go, we didnt really get a chance to to socialize with them too much because the night was hectic for both bands. the reason why i liked casey (above in pic) and the fischyspoony peeps so much is because they were all just really cool, nice people with no fucking attitude – it sucks being around other bands that arent keeping it real. oh yeah, i want to thank goldenvoice and natalie for the show – i was way into how she treated us. on a sad note this venue will forever live in infamy because its the place where my crackerjack crew let my entire bass rig fall backwards off the stage. yes, my pristine well crafted bass tone dropped 4 ft onto its back like a piece of trash.

Mariqueen’s Mind
The Venue: the henry fonda is wonnnderful. great dressing rooms… actually, like ten of them. the people at golden voice took great care of us… wayyy into it.

The City: well… it’s l.a., i mean, how many times do i have to write about los angeles? didn’t i say something about this city in my troubadour show report? whatever, l.a.’s alright. it’s super pretentious but it’s still an aesthetically pleasing place to prosper. i love it… sort of. the end.

The Show: god… i was so nervous… it was obvious too… i was stiff as a board, not finding my groove… bummed out. i was just sketching out throughout the first half of our set but by the time we played our new song i felt alive and ready to blow minds. judging by what people told me after our set i’d say it was pretty fucking good. i’m telling you, man, my standards for the band have gotten way high. i thought we played ok and all these people are telling me we were amazing. gangster. marc goldstein, a wonderful photographer, and a very straightforward man, told me i continued to impress him. this might’ve been the nicest thing anyone had said to me all night because he’s watched my progress from my first troubadour show until now. we’ve only played twenty shows together and it makes me proud because i know we can only get better.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: “get over yourself and just fucking sing you nervous idiot”… no, for reals… i’m serious. “can marc and kevin see up my skirt?”, “jesus, this dress is fun… i wish i could get enough balls to move in it more”… “nah i can’t move in this… marc and kevin can see up my skirt…”

Interesting Things After The Show: mmm… i went to an outrageous boat party that the boys fromELSEWHERE studios threw in long beach where i’m sure everyone that went to the after party would’ve rather been. a couple of fine ladies that were at the show ended up at the same festivities and told me how amazing they thought the show was and how hot chris carter and i were. meow…

Carter’s Conscience To me, one of the best aspects of being in a band is the chance to meet and play shows with other great musicians and bands. Lately there have been a lot of speculation and rumors as to who we might tour with, and I get such a thrill when a band is mentioned that I really dig, or that I grew idolizing, etc. Fischerspooner is one of those bands for me, I’ve got both their albums, I spin at least one of tracks every night I DJ, and I’ve been really looking forward to these shows.

LA– Henry Fonda– I really don’t have much to say. Everyone in the band was really cool, turns out I went to school with Fischerspooner’s guitar player, a cat named Sam. We don’t remember each other but we have a ton of mutual friends. The show was cool, and to be honest, LA’s a pretty tough crowd. People just don’t show their emotions as much in LA, probably because there are a lot of industry types in the crowd, and LA’s saturated with so many bands, ranging from amazing to terrible. Nonetheless, it was great to play for packed house in our home town, for a lot of people who probably hadn’t heard of us yet. The party moved over to Star Shoes for a bit, then a dedicated band of mischief makers, including myself, invaded the Roosevelt hotel ballroom and pool for a makeshift after party. I wore my lucky headband on stage that night, the same one I bought for two dollars in Philly. Someone said I looked like the guy from loverboy, which apparently is pretty lame, so from this point forward I think I’ll be forced to retire the lucky headband on stage. But don’t worry, its legacy will live on! Casey Spooner told me after seeing me wear it, he was thinking of getting headbands for his entire band! Take that Loverboy haters! (Somebody tell me who the hell Loverboy is, I really don’t know) You try to supress the headband and it only grows stronger, and unbreakable chain of sweat protection and bad fashion handed down in secret from generation to generation, musician to musician! Just like in the Da Vinci code. . . except cooler! Jesus wore a head band. Its called a halo. So did big game James Worthy of the Los Angeles Lakers. I rest my case. (random odd fact – i met james worthy a couple months ago when i was walking tony down third st in front of el carmen…he was cool and wasnt wearing a headband – F.TEN)

all these pics were taken by kevin chao

all these pics were taken by marc goldstein

rob and lewscious before the big game

lewscious and joe puleio and genevieve

thanx todd and lisa, hey maria

thanx brooke and drunken fans after the show

lewscious and cool girl who bought a shirt

saturday may 21st sound check at the tower theatre

the tower theatre is the best place we’ve ever played…end of story. we played the NonComm festival sponsored by WXPN. the whole event was cool and chill. the stage was great and the sound was even better…it was incredible actually. west indian girl’s sound is tailor made for places like this. it felt like the tower soaked up our sound and draped it over the entire audience. big thanx to bernie for making the trip and really dialing it in. he’s our official 6th man and it’s always a drag when we don’t have him mixing our sound. he really works us like no other sound man. my sister becky and her husband tom showed up with a gang of their friends. it was great having a beer with them – my sister was freaking out so i guess the show must have been really good. the crowd at the tower was one of the best to date – i mean, we had fans that were like 15 years old and fans that were like 55 years old. it’s a great feeling being able to cut across genres with your music. man, i loved playing this show…it sounded so great i hope xpn invites us back to play longer next year. gotta love the merch guy there too. he did a great job and made the best display we have ever had. most merch guys that work at clubs that display your shit (ie the fillmore in sf) dont really display your merch with much care….mike did and i owe the guy one — F.TEN

Carter’s Conscience: All right, on to Philly. My first time in Philly, and we had a blast. The theatre itself was amazing, its just a completely different experience playing on a huge stage. Its definately something I think I could get used to! Anyway, while I was warming up my voice right before the show, there was a knock on the outside door of the room i was in. Low and behold, a few cute Philly females were waiting outside. Apparently they had been listening for a while, and they thought I was Jason Mraz getting ready for the show. (J. Mraz was on the bill later on in the night) Sorry to disapoint girls, but they turned out to be really cool, and came up afterward to say they loved the show. (I admit, the thought did cross my mind at first to just lie and say I was J. Mraz) J. Mraz that a great nickname for the guy– following in the footsteps of J Lo and J Z, and of course everyone’s favorite carpenter, J. C. You’re in good company, buddy!

Anyway, J Mraz was a cool cat, Rob and I shot the shit with him for about 15 minutes. He’s a funny guy, turns out he lives in Encinitas, which is about a half hour from where I grew up. I have to say, I never really got into his music before, and even if it isn’t your cup of tea, the guy is a badass performer. Great singer, great guitar player, his set was an unexpected treat. I saw a little bit of Sunvolt, who were really good, and most of My Morning Jacket’s set. MMJ put on a classic show. They had a guy conducting them like an orchestra through the entire set. Other highlights? How bout Bob Mould winning the award for the quickest soundcheck of all time! Normally soundchecks can take up to an hour or more, but Bob came up, plugged in his guitar, sang a half a verse, and that was that. All in all he took about three minutes. Pretty punk rock, my friend, hats off. . .

That’s basically it. Met some great radio people, had a cocktail or two, signed a few autographs, bought a ridulous set of sunglasses and a headband, and just basically pretended to be a rockstar for the night. We got such a warm welcome, got to play/hang out with some great bands, met a bunch of cool fans, and got a lot of really positive feedback from the radio heads. I left Philly with a smile, can’t wait to get back, thanx y’all for making it such a great night!
Much love
Carter

robert james and carter at a new jersey rest stop

mariqueen and bernie having their own rest stop moment

lewscious reinacting his moment in the rest stop bathroom

sound check at the tower – one of the best sound checks ever

lewscious in action

reg from cims and bo from my morning jacket

after the show at a diner in jersey…classic

lewscious

elevator…good night…west indian girl 2 – east coast 0

friday may 20th at the mercury lounge

before i talk about the show i want to thank some of my friends that came out to support: brad(on left), teddy, bass and erica you guys all showed some monster heart by making the show…now that’s real love. as far as the label goes…kavi, errol, lawrence, sean, george, alison, dave (the other italian) and scott — it was great seeing you all there and it means a bunch when we see you at our shows. way to stand tall by your little baby astralwerks and virgin….although i didnt see too many virgin people there (except for randy, doneen, d wolter and steve). hmmm, maybe they were all too busy combing jared leto’s hair.

lui, ohri, hueston, tarnofsky, and momma clarke

last but not least i want to thank all of the great fans i met. all of you guys were really cool and it was a pleasure meeting you…ryan and his girl polina (below), lisa, steve, jade, jason, bill w, mike w, and thomas. i appreciate you guys taking the time to talk to us and making us feel so welcome. ryan sent me a bunch of photos which i posted here (thanx bro)…all of the live shots were taken by him (im glad those shots exist because all too often i dont end up with many pics of us playing.

so, my thoughts on the show…well, i think it was ok, not our best show but im usually a bit too critical of how we play. i think we were a bit tense at the show just because it was our first live show since sxsw. i love ending our set with “what are you afraid of” – that song is the most fun to play probably because mariqueen really belts it out and rob lets out a screaming rock solo…hah gotta love that shit man. i cant wait until july when we can really kill it in ny again. we’re all looking forward to it.

robb bass, design guru mosher, george and thomas

as far as some other news and notes about ny…i got lost on my way back to the hotel the first night i was there. the cabby dropped me off in the “vicinity” of my hotel and i ended up walking in the wrong direction away from it cos honestly i didnt know where the fuck i was. i ended up on some dark street when this big fat guy on a fork lift drove by and asked if i needed a ride. i said sure so i got on and he cruised me over to the seaport where they were unloading tons of fish. he told me he thought i looked like prince and that i shouldnt be walking alone out there that late. it was like 2 am and the whole sidewalk and street was covered with boxes and crates filled with crazy fish like skate, shark, and a ton of other fish i didnt recognize. it was really awesome and i wish i had pics…i guess they’re closing the fish market soon so im glad i got to see it. it smelled pretty bad there but it sort of reminded me of home (i grew up in new jersey). anyway, hey big fat fish guy – thanx for picking me up, francis ten appreciates it (fyi i just referred to myself in the third person…that’s means west indian girl is about to blow up)—F.TEN

Carter’s Conscience: Where to start? Just had an awesome little trip out to NY and Philly. Believe it or not, I’ve never been to NYC, so I’d been looking forward to this for weeks! We got in late the first night, and had dinner with Kavi, our A&R guy at Astralwerks. Right away I was struck by the amount of different ethnicities and culture in NY. It just seems like such a REAL place, ( for lack of a better word) where the pressures and concerns of life differ drastically from those in LA. While I love the artistry and magic of LA, it is an incredibly insecure and self-conscious city in general. Go out in Hollywood and it can feel like eyes are watching your every move. Go out in New York and nobody could really give a fuck what you do, which is actually quite liberating. Plus, in California we live under the archaic laws that shut down nightlife at 2am, quite a bitch for those of us who come alive at night. But anyway, I digress Walking down the street in the East Village the first night with Mariqueen and Mark, I ran smack into a really good friend and former roomate named Scott. I couldn’t believe it! I guess that kind of shit happens all the time in New York, but I was stunned. In the blink of an eye we went from hanging with all the hipsters in dirty East Village bars ( which was fucking great) to going to the super VIP NY velvet rope/ ultra posh club, which his buddy owns. My friend Scott is primarily an artist, launching a high end T-shirt line as we speak, ( i think called S-squad or Scooter) and he does some modelling to pay the gigs. I’ve met some dipshit model types living in LA, but Scott is the real deal. Surfer, artist, the guy is the real deal, and he has a heart of gold. And the fact that him and his buddies showed up to our show the next night, with a pack of Vicotoria secret models in tow. . . well I gotta hand it to you, Scotty, you’re living the life my friend.

We played the next night at the Mercury lounge in the East Village, for what seemed like a packed house ( hard to tell sometimes when the lights are in our eyes) Our label is based out of NY, so it was great to say hey to everyone. I got their early and checked out a beautiful young singer/songwriter named Kate Earl. Turns out her manager, Shelby, is also a good friend of mine, so we all had a drink after her show. Kate played a really cool set, she has such an amazing voice, Nora jones-esque for lack of a better comparison. As far as out show, I think it went great. The crowd seemed really into it, I had fun, what can I say? To quote our drummer mark Lewis, “the best part of touring, hands down, is the 45 minutes a night you’re on stage.” Well said, young Jedi. The coolest thing I saw last night was my friend Rai, who came to the show by herself on crutches, and partied like a rock star. Inspiring A little side note- Watching Mark Lewis get angry at a cab driver for driving us in circles, was one of the funniest things I saw all night

Mariqueen’s Mind
The City: alright… here’s my two cents on new york… this is going to be long so bare with me…we rode in to the city from newark, new jersey and checked into our rooms at the seaport suites at ten something. i was quite pleased with my newly renovated room/apartment. why? because… picture this – two plasma tv’s… one in the LIVING ROOM and one in my OWN PRIVATE BEDROOM. shah buddyyy… plusss i had a kitchen and a pretty bathroom that didn’t smell like any of those other wretched motel toilets we’ve come across on past tours. what a way to start our east coast visit on a happy note. after settling into our rooms and comparing and contrasting tv’s and what not we all stuffed it in a cab… yeah, all six of us… and met up with kavi. we ended up eating at some fabulous cuban restaurant. best corn on the cob i’ve ever had in my whole life. thank you, kavi for taking care of our tummies on our first night in town. you. are. the best. after re-energizing with food. carter, mark and myself were ready to get inebriated… just kidding… sort of.

Before The Show: the next day we had load in at two which meant no work for me until the boys were done setting up all their equipment. i walked around the east village all by myself and loved every single minute of it. i’ve officially fallen in love with this particular section of new york. i ate at earth matters, where their motto is, “don’t booze it, juice it”… how sexy is that? shah… best place ever. i went shopping at marmalade vintage and did some serious damage. the sweet girl that worked there referred to my purchases as “pieces”… now that’s my kind of store. i walked away with three amaaaazing dresses, a pierre cardin clutch, a fabulous new red belt and a gangster ass pair of tan heels. be jealous. i went back to the mercury lounge and finished a great sound check and went to a crappy sample sale with fran. after that we went to h&m and i was less than thrilled with my selection of clothes. after pouting for a split second i looked at my marmalade vintage purchases and decided to not be an ungrateful little brat. i watched fran eat a hot dog and then we went back to the seaport and searched for oysters for a half an hour. we weren’t satisfied with clams so we went back to our rooms to get ready for the show.

The Show: i got back to the venue at nine, after hanging out with my beautiful friend ashley, who makes the most amazing jewelry, i pretty much just paced and chain smoked and warmed up my voice and went to the bathroom about four or five times. me? nervous? what makes you say that? the funniest thing that happened before we played was when security came up to me and told me there was a cop outside looking for me. apparently this man that had hit on me from the previous evening had remembered everything i had yelled out about our show and he showed up in his cop uniform. how hilarious. fran almost died and he was upset that he didn’t get a picture. hey mr. new york city cop, if you’re reading this, thanks for remembering all the information i told you and for being so sweet. it’s a shame you didn’t come inside and watch the show. i’m sure you could’ve found someone to cover your shift. cest la vie. after an hour and a half of pacing and going to the bathroom we were finally on and of course the rock/rap band before us… yes, i said rock/rap… screwed up my mic stand. i wasn’t the most composed and the brightest singer and for some reason i couldn’t figure out how to fix my stand. idiot. thank god for errol. i love you. we went through what i considered, a mediocre set. the crowd seemed to love it. my heart wasn’t into it because of a lot of technical difficulties and the whole band chi not being unified. my expectations for our performance as a band have just gotten a lot higher since south by south west… i don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. after the show i hung out with some family members i hadn’t seen in like ten years or more. it was cute. i also hung out with my brilliant friend edward [see picture] and we tried to come up with a karaoke after party. i was stuck at the venue for awhile so he left to go hang out with brazilian supermodels… i’m sure he’s weeping salty tears that we couldn’t karaoke but ya know… yeah. i can’t wait to come back to new york. as far as i’m concerned this is the best city in the united states. it’s so inspiring and alive. i left my heart in the east village and i plan on coming back in july to rekindle my love affair with vintage shopping… get ready.

on the dock after the show – good night nyc

Last night robert, mariqueen and i played an unannounced show at Rene’s in Santa Monica. It was real low key and under the radar…i mean, we didnt invite a soul so dont feel too bad that you missed a big show. anyway, the reason we played was because we wanted to test out some semi acoustic versions of our songs. we played 3 songs: Miles from Monterey, Hollywood, and What Are You Afraid Of. for these versions rob played acoustic guitar, mariqueen played a moog and i played bass and a little egg shaker. it was pretty cool but kind of strange for the first time (first times are always kinda awkward though huh?). overall it was a good time but very quick (again, kind of like my first time). At the end of the day we got some free food and a few beers and played to a bunch of people who really weren’t paying that much attention to us.

— F.TEN

WE KICKED ASS IN AUSTIN!

I’m really proud of everyone in west indian girl because they all stepped up and performed amazingly on saturday. this was the first time we played in front of all of the peeps from astralwerks, cherry lane and little big man and we delivered…even without a sound check and with some technical difficulties (ie rob’s monitor no being plugged in) we were clutch when we had to be. i walked away from this show knowing in my heart that west indian girl is going to play some mind blowing shows in the future. i also need to thank bernie (cos he delivered with a great mix) and troy (cos he’s the best stage manager/tech around). those guys allowed us to play better because in the back of our minds we knew that if anything went wrong they had our asses covered. this makes a huge difference when you’re up on stage….at least for me it does cos i don’t worry about anything except jamming. i would also like to say thanx to all the people at astralwerks that were so positive and supportive…errol, glenn, alison, lawrence, scott, katie and of of course dayna. i’m glad we made you all proud.

well, strangely enough there arent too many pics here. i guess we were all just too busy to deal with cameras that night. too bad i dont have any pics of the show cos im interested in how it looked. i did take 2 classic pics while i was at the merch booth though – the first one is of our agent jonathan from little big man (incredible roster). jonathan is our main man and busts his ass for us on a daily basis. thanx bro – we appreciate it. the next picture is of brooke, rich, and christa from cherry lane. i wasnt expecting to see them all at the show (paul was there too but i didnt see him) – seriously i was stunned for a second. whenever i see anyone from cherry lane i’m immediately reminded as to why we signed with them…cos they fucking rock and they’re all just really nice and genuine. you guys are awesome and we’re glad to have you in your corner. thanx for making the show…shit…i think i’m gonna cry.

Mariqueen’s Mind
The Venue: Where did we play? I forget… oh yeah Antone’s… right? I don’t know… I wasn’t impressed with the backstage area at all. I definitely wasn’t into having to fall in line to use the restroom with the rest of the antone’s patrons two minutes before stage time. The guy manning the door was a sweetheart though. That’s all I have to say about that. I feel like I should say something nicer but I can’t find anything truthful to say… so… on to what I think about Austin…
The City: Seeing as how I was so rudely awakened from my slumber in our van by Francis… I was pleasantly surprised when I got to my hotel room. It was pet friendly, humongous and the balcony was big enough to do cartwheels on without freaking out about hitting anything. I was excited about walking around the city during the day and checking out the shows but my mind, body and vocal chords needed sleep so I didn’t end up getting out of bed until about two in the afternoon. What I saw of Austin was cool… musicians everywhere… you could just smell the angst around you… it was like myspace.com had puked on sixth street. I wanted to buy a t-shirt that said “Fuck y’all I’m from Texas” for someone special but I decided against it. Besides Antone’s I went to a Starbucks with Bernie and then another coffee shop with Carter five hours later. Give me caffeine or give me death.
The Show: Three words — It was magical.
What Were You Thinking While Playing: I was sketched out about the fact that we didn’t get a soundcheck but seriously, as soon as we started playing I didn’t even care. I knew we had a job to do and I came to fucking bring it… so I put aside all my worries and concentrated on the audience’s vibe and gave our fantastic soundman, Bernie the occasional look of love. I had such an amazing time on stage at this particular show. There were so many people in the audience… it was great. I saw my friend Ken Blau and an ex boss. Crazy. I danced with Rob a little, I vibed with Lewscious, as always… I even made special eye contact with Frandizzle and Carter… we as a band were a single beating heart and it was fantastic. God, I really really love us. I am so happy to be working with four talented men. I read a Juliette Lewis quote a week prior to the show that said, “I am in love with my band like you are in love with your lover” or something like that… she is so right. I love you Chris, Mark, Rob and Fran. Gah! Now I want to hug the shit out of each and everyone of you. This is too much for me to handle I have to stop. Oh yeah… and I love Troy… he is the fucking best tech manager ever. EVER. Kbye.
Interesting Things After The Show: Mick Rock introduced himself and snapped pictures of Rob, Carter and I. We all joked and laughed and then Mick and I exchanged phone numbers. I hung out with Mark a lot and walked through the crowd. I met a really sweet girl who told me how (insert tons of flattering adjectives here) I was and she teared up. This pretty much made my whole life. Billie Joe, if you’re reading this, get at me… you’re on the guestlist forever ♥. I loved how I didn’t have to buy a single drink all night long. The douchebag bartenders did however, give me shit for trying to get a glass of wine with my drink ticket… apparently they were only good for miller beer. Um, gross. I raised my eyebrow and got my way. I was drunk by the end of the night and was trying to decide where to go party. My friend Tommy said he would pick me up and then there was Aaron from the Brazilian Girls who had also contacted me and knew of something happening. I was so tired and intoxicated from the showcase that I decided to just go back to my room and sleep. Being in a rock band is not endless parties, kids. It’s a lot of rehearsing, stress, love, labor, caffeine and lack of sleep. Seriously though, BEST JOB EVER.

Carter’s Conscience Austin. Saturday. The main event. South by Southwest. Starving musicians from around the world converge on a few streets to celebrate. Started off the day with some interviews set up by our lovely publicist Allison, and hung out with our labelmates, the golden republic. Those guys were great, so fucking cool. I hope we get to tour together, it would be a blast. Anyway, there was a line around the block to get into the show, 500 people plus in the audience, lots of em “important” people in the industry. The show was incredible, such a great energy coming from the crowd. One of my favorite shows we’ve played. MariQ was just melting hearts, she sounded amazing. I was really impressed with the Golden Republic, they played a great set. Thats it really. Astrelwerks is a really cool label, with genuine people working there, and it was a great party. Now lets go tour. Carter
here are the remaining pics from the evening:
below is an old friend of mine dave feeney. dave’s in a detroit alt country band called blanche. he also played pedal steel on loretta lynn’s record. you know the one that jack white won a grammy for and dave’s name wasn’t even mentioned on it even though he helped record it all…weird how that works.

carter and dave feeney from blanche

back stage – errol, k-os, and mariqueen.

voted best road dawg ever.

creepy texas gas station.

funny story about the pic above is that somewhere out in buttfuck texas i went into this gas station to take a piss. when i walked out the van was gone. hahaha! it was kinda funny but scary at the same time cos the locals in the station were looking at me like i was sports illustrated swimsuit model. anyway, i started walking down the road and took a picture of this creepy place when i saw the van parked behind a building. needless to say rob and troy were cracking up when i got in. it’s always funny until someone gets hurt kids…remember that —F.TEN