Things To Avoid

Living on the road there are a number of things that someone can experience. As a touring musician you get to travel all over the world and soak in culture, see beautiful architecture, try cool weird food, and most importantly (also the reason your there) you get to rock every night and best of all you get paid for the whole thing.

Of course every great thing has its downside. There is the obvious homesickness, actual sickness, lack of showers and laundry facilities. Some of us refer to this as the "life of scum" Ive posted below some photos of some stuff that I've seen in the last couple of weeks in euro land.

Drug Use. Europe as a whole is much more accommodating to drug addicts and other fools. Some countries even supply Heroin to addicts to avoid disease from sharing needles, and also to eliminate drug related crime. I took this picture at the venue in Prague. If you cant see, its a vent in the floor with a bunch of needles and cigarette butts. gross.

Problems with gear. In other countries the electricity is different. A common outlet in the US is 110, but a European outlet is 220 and has a different shaped plug. So any gear you bring over with you has to plugged in to a power converter and an adapter for the plug. This is a recipe for disaster. This is a picture of our Korg recording console that we use live to play click tracks and samples. Its also is my line in for my inner ear monitors. Wouldn't ya know this thing started to freeze up and do other crazy stuff, so I took it all apart to see if it was fried. This took all afternoon because there are about a thousand little screws and knobs and all I had to work with was a leatherman. It is working again but is still temperamental.

Also this. More to come folks.

What I'm missing

So I've been married now 2 and a half years and a proud parent now for 7 months and I am very happy. But I'm sad to say that for more than half that time I've been away on these stupid tours. I guess I shouldn't say "stupid" but It has been a long run touring on this last record and it has come at a great cost to me personally, and I miss home a whole lot more than I let on. After we finish this European tour we will be home all summer. I get to be home For Jess and Zoe's Birthdays, and hopefully see Zoe's first steps and words. This whole thing having a child has changed my whole outlook on life. The only way I can describe it is that I feel like a totally different person. And being on the road so much I feel like a part of me is missing. This life playing in a band may seem like a dream to some and in some ways it is. But I am jealous now of people that get to wake up every morning in their own home and see their family every day. I'm gonna make the most of this summer and make every minute count.

Amsterdam

Just finished day five of the "thrash and burn" european tour. Amsterdam has become one of our new favorite places to play. After years of coming here and playing hard, the shows are starting to rage. The kids made it awesome.

Enough with the show talk, today I walked and walked with camera in hand and soaked in a lot of the sights of the city. The streets are all cobble stone and everyone rides a bike. they actually have public bikes that you can just claim. most are broken or have flat tires, but if you fix it up its yours. Its kinda inspiring, and makes me feel like a lazy asshole with my two cars that get driven for every little errand, while my bicycle collects dust. maybe when Im home I'll try and ride the bike a little more often. Or just walk a little more. I live in a small enough town. I also got to see some awesome old Buildings and the famous waterways that run all through the town. I also saw about a million people, a dozen souvenir shops, McDonalds, and the crown jewel of the day when Myself and about ten other tour mates walked into a "coffee" shop to see the "menu" they serve it up in $10 and $20 bags. One of the dudes bought some Purple Haze, a "brownie" and some magic mushrooms. I just wanted to see it.

So there's my Amsterdam experience. I didn't get time to load pics, but hopefully tomorrow.

December 18, Russia

Although the two Siberian shows were cancelled we still got to go to Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Also because of the cancelled shows we now have a lot of free time in Moscow to sight see and experience some culture. A highlight for me was visiting Red Square The Kremlin was massive, and the cathedral was so beautiful I couldn't believe it. It was all done up for Christmas with lights, Christmas trees, and an ice skating rink. The next day we came back to see Lenin's Tomb. His body has been on display since he died in the 20's, in a class casket. We lined up and left all our cameras with a friend walked through metal detectors and a pat down. When you enter the building you must remove your hat and stay quiet in a single file line. You walk a dark hallway with a series of turns with two armed guards in every corner. then you reach the center room and there the dude is. It's very surreal. I can't even describe it. The closest comparison I can make is when I saw ground zero a couple weeks after 9/11, your brain doesn't quite believe what your eyes are seeing.

After 3 days running around the time had come to play the shows. Moscow raged hard and we hung out after and met every kid there. we then rode an overnight train to St. Petersburg and played another rager. and got straight back on the train to Moscow and then straight to the airport. A brutal couple days. Now we just have about 18 hours of flying. 

The posse

Me outside the Cathedral

Lenin's Tomb

December 10th. Bullet tour is over

After some kick ass shows in Finland the tour has come to an unexpected end. The Final show in Arhus, Denmark has been cancelled by Bullet due to "exhaustion" or at least thats what their official statement will say. All it means to us is that we miss out on a guarantee, and merch sales for another show, have to travel about 24 hours in the wrong direction, pay for bus and gas for two unnecessary days, and instead of 3 days to kill before Russia we now have 5. Thanks guys!

Sincere thanks to the crowds in Helsinki and Tampere. Finland has been a long wait, and turned out to be awesome for us. Cant wait to come back.

Heres some footage I found of the show in Tampere

and this

First Post

I'm about to disembark a ferry in Helsinki Finland. A 16 hour boat ride across the Baltic Sea. I got the best sleep I've had in the last month (which isn't saying much). I'm sick, tired, and miss home more than I can describe. Only 3 more shows with Bullet to be followed by 2 shows in Russia. 

The tour has taken It's tole on all of us. We started out sharing the bus with a bunch of drunk, teenagers (and their dad) who have no Idea how much has been handed to them. They managed to get wasted to the point of pissing themselves, puking, and passing out every night. Plus we get to walk up on a stage every show and play for thousands of 14 year olds who could care less about us (or music) They just wanna watch Matt Tuck get up there and scream their heads off.

We haven't headlined in a long time and it's getting to the point of desperation. These 3 shows will feel like an eternity. But the Russian shows mark the beginning of Bleeding Through headlining worldwide for the next year or so for the new record. I'm quite rejuvenated now though. Going to Finland is a great milestone and a privilege that a lot of bands don't get offered. And Russia, forget about it. I thought that was impossible until probably last year. So I'm stoked beyond all expectation at where we've made it as a band and I know I'm fortunate. I'm just extremely worn down and homesick at the moment.