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BAND MASCOT
Ernie, the Lucky Origami Elephant, is the new band mascot. I received it from a generous and kind man who said the following of it: "It's lucky. Wanna know why it's lucky? Because if you put it in your wallet and NEVER spend it; you'll never go broke."
Here's to riches forever and the small things that make life better.
-Johnny Fitz
Charity
I recently read a book by Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS shoes. If your'e unfamiliar with the company and their ideals, the concept is fairly simple. TOMS is a for-profit business model that has a philanthropic element built into the core of the company. For every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS makes and delivers a pair of shoes to a child without shoes in a 3rd world country. They're currently branching out into eyewear, providing vision care services to those who can't afford it for every product sold. This got me thinking.
The pursuit of music as a career is kind of a selfish endeavour, at least in the beginning. Before people know who you are and what you're about, pushing your art to people really only serves yourself. Only when (or if) people connect with your music does it become about more than you and your goals. The most fulfilling moments I've experienced in regards to my music have occurred when friends of mine tell me that they use our songs to help them in some way. Such testimonials have varied intensely, from the common (coping with homesickness), to the intense (getting pumped up for an MMA fight), to the tragic (dealing with PTSD).
These examples are great and fulfilling in their own regard, but I feel like we as a band can do more, even for people who have never heard our music. With that in mind, we've decided to give half of all the money we make from our online store to a charity. Which charity has yet to be decided, but that should get smoothed out in the next couple days. Our first online sale happened shortly after making this announcement (which I suspect is from my friend Beth), and I find it encouraging that people are so quick to support this idea. I'd like to incorporate the habit of donating into the core concept of our band, just as Mr. Mycoskie has done with TOMS . We are fortunate to even have the opportunity to pursue music as a career, and our gratitude should be expressed in a multitude of ways. Giving will be one of them.
Micah
Aufheben
Google the blog title. Right now. It's a German word that means "to abolish, preserve, and transcend." I first came across it in one of my philosophy courses in my time at school, and it's a pity that the English language lacks an equivalent. It's a beautiful word. I chose it for the title because I feel that this is what we as a band are finally doing. With the release of our first album we can finally let go of the songs on it, recognize their legitimacy and importance in their specific place and time, and move on to greater things. It's not that we don't still love these songs as our creations, but our relationship to them has changed, just as we have changed not only as a band but as people. I suppose the whole point of this blog is to express my sincere hope that you do enjoy the songs on the album, but be prepared to hear greater things in the future.
-Micah
Ecstasy
It's a word that all of you espresso fiends can celebrate, for it too has no "x." It was the emotion ripping through our sweaty veins last night during the CD Release show at Spicoli's. What was even warmer than that choice beverage for you coffee tweakers, was the reception everyone gave us. For that, we are the kind of grateful that is nearly inexpressible. Thanks so much for all of you who ventured out to join us! For those who missed out- fear not! We are already back to work so we can deliver more goods in a hurry.
CHEERS ALL!
- Johnny Fitz
In Dying Days in Iowa City
First off, sorry for the lack of any real picture. It turns out none of us brought a camera and I can't seem to track down anyone who did.
Anyway, we just played a show at Public Space One alongside the musical talents of Aulos, Hanwell and Andrew Johnathon. Our thanks definitely goes out to Aulos for giving us the opportunity to finally play in Iowa City, which ended up being incredible. The turnout was great and Public Space One was a kick ass venue.
Surprisingly it wasn't that cold out and the worst part was probably hauling my 100+ pound bass cab up the three blocks that we parked from the venue. Parking spots are sparse in downtown IC, so I just snagged the first one I found. Would have been no big deal, but one of the wheels on my cab decided to stick like a crappy shopping cart, which made the haul orders of magnitude more stressful than it had to be. But I digress.
For being part of Iowa, Iowa City is an awesome place and after the show I was introduced to this awesome little BBQ resturant called The Pit, which was amazing. The whole downtown area there is just awesome in general and I'm really hoping we get a chance to head back.
To reiterate, the show was awesome and if you happened to miss it, you can catch both In Dying Days and Andrew Johnathon again at our CD Release Show at Spicolis on January 28th in our hometown, Waterloo, Iowa.
My thanks and love to all our fans,
Drew
