I woke up this morning and went downstairs to make coffee. I was met by the largest swarm of fruit flies I have ever witnessed in my entire life. It's as if I had awoken some ancient and malignant beast within the dregs of our garbage can. The house I live in is not so much a living space as it is a place for coffee grounds and cat litter to shift and sway like a vast sinew desert. A place that time and bleach has forgotten. I moved forward with a heinous gait and forged a path through the Fruit Fly Fortress into the Flion's Den where I slayed the Fly King and sat upon the Rotting Throne. In laymen's terms I took the trash out to the curb. The downside to this is I noticed a spider had set up shop right next to our garbage can and was probably benefiting greatly from the swarm. I really like spiders, I used to be terrified of them when I was young and I am glad I overcame those fears. I still would not enjoy having spiders crawling all over me but I find them fascinating and they naturally dispose of what we consider "pesky" insects. Which saves me the trouble of having to wage war as I described earlier. I'm sure my efforts were only a temporary set back for the fly kingdom though and the spider will have plenty to eat still. One upside to the dead of winter in Michigan is the lack of fruit flies, but of course there is the whole frigid death choking the life from your veins every hour of every day for several months. Can't wait.
Kill em' all.
Our set in summation.
In current events, Ruined played a show last night with Bird Lord, Scowler and Dakhma at Spoke Folks. It was a cool spot that I had never been to before in a strange and mystical nugget of Grand Rapids that I had never driven by before. Right next to the bicycle shop was a motorcycle club on one side and an auto-mechanic's shop on the other side. The motorcycle club was doing what can only be described as decibel shattering sub-sonic burnouts up and down the street the entire night. Which was nice to know that noise complaints wouldn't be a problem for us. Otherwise the space itself was a cool narrow industrial workshop that was perfect for a two piece band like us. The first band Bird Lord was an amalgamation of several members of different bands around Grand Rapids. It was their first show ever but I would have never suspected that if they hadn't told us. Every member was really talented and had a great familiarity with their equipment and effects. We played next and as always shows are a bittersweet affair for me. As a misanthropic shit-shingle, I pretty much always assume I am unwelcome in any space I am inhabiting; often times even in my own living space. Sometimes when I talk to people after a show, I feel I may be seeing the experience through my shaded perceptions or I may be projecting my abhorrent spirit onto others. With that being said, I felt as though we confused and confounded many attendees last night and I left alienated and pensive. One thing I need to always remember is that most people go to shows to have a good time, and we are certainly not a good times band. So I shouldn't be surprised when people are saying to themselves, "Why the fuck is this guy bumming me the fuck-out, I just wanna watch some cool bands and go home and jerk-off stalefish." Which I can completely admire and respect. But otherwise we played really well and I felt like everything sounded really good. I certainly need to get back on my work out routine though because I was out of breath after the first song and I'm sure I was flat for 2/3 of the show. Sorry to anyone who had to listen to that.
I wonder.
By the time I fell asleep I landed on the conclusion that there is a time and place for everything, and that within any given music scene or D.I.Y. culture there are going to be things people like, and things that they could give Jack shit about. And although I don't think our "thing" is really hip or happening in Grand Rapids right now I still want to try playing as often as possible in and around Grand Rapids over the next several months. And realistically the alienation and contemplation I feel after a local show is nothing more than inspiration for my musical endeavors and I should be grateful that everyone hates me and my whiny stupid band. And I am of course also extremely grateful to the couple of gloom gargoyles who do seem to genuinely dig what we're doing and I wouldn't really have it any other way. I would rather relate to the lonely and the forgotten few then be a cool ass band everyone likes. Where is the character building in that? Stay Gloomy.
P.S. A blog called "Captain of Lies" did two short reviews for "Vessel" and "Familiar." Check it out HERE!
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