Cologne, Germany
I packed light for this trip. I can wear the same pair of jeans for the whole trip. I try to milk two or three days out of a t-shirt. Socks and underwear require daily changing. So my luggage is basically just socks and underwear. I brought two button-up shirts, and today I rip open the back of one of them trying to do a Ray Cappo jump in a music store parking lot.
Tonight’s club is another one of those converted factory/warehouse spaces. Not sure if it’s a squat, necessarily, but it definitely feels like one. The promoter is a very outgoing, boisterous, jolly German guy named Uncle George. It winds up being my favorite show of tour thus far. Good sound, good crowd, good vibes. Even Deafheaven seems to have gotten over their whole choking-and-punching incident from Paris.
Thanks to Brad Conrad for sending us some great live Marriages photos from the Sargent House show at SXSW 2012. Speaking of Marriages they will be hitting the road with our very own Russian Circles and Chelsea Wolfe for some US tour dates in August to be announced soon!
(Source: marriagesband)
And So I Watch You From Afar will be heading to the United States and Canada for a whole bunch of touring with other Sargent House bands. First to Canada for some shows and Sled Island Festival with Russian Circles , Boris and Indian Handcrafts, then to the west coast joining up for some shows with Deafheaven and ending in Los Angeles at the El Rey at the big Sargent House / 1656 Music Show with Chelsea Wolfe also playing. In July they will do a co-headliner tour with Zechs Marquise. There are still a few more shows to be added so keep an eye out for updates HERE and always make sure to check directly with venue websites for door times/ set times and age restrictions.
AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR & RUSSIAN CIRCLES - 2012
Jun 18th - Winnipeg, MB @ The Park Theatre w/ Indian Handcrafts
Jun 19th - Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos Cantina w/ Indian Handcrafts
Jun 20th - Calgary, AB @ Dicken’s Pub - Sled Island Fest w/ Indian Handcrafts
Jun 22nd - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Jun 24th - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Jun 25th - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Jun 27th - Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s w/ Deafheaven
Jun 28th - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall w/ Deafheaven
Jun 29th - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre w/Chelsea Wolfe & Deafheaven
AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR & ZECHS MARQUISE - 2012
Jun 30th - Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
Jul 1st - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
Jul 2nd - Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
Jul 4th - San Antonio, TX @ The White Rabbit
Jul 5th - Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
Jul 6th - Austin, TX @ Red 7
Jul 7th - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
Jul 8th - Norman, OK @ The Opolis
Jul 10th - St Louis, MO @ The Firebird
Jul 11th - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
Jul 12th - Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar
Jul 13th - Toledo, OH @ Mickey Finns
Jul 14th - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Jul 16th - Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
Jul 17th - Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s Music Hall
Jul 18th - Nashville, TN @ 12th & Porter
Jul 19th - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
Jul 21st - St Petersburg, FL @ local 662
Jul 22nd - Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box
Jul 24th - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
Jul 25th - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
Jul 26th - Cambridge, MA @ T.T. the Bears
Jul 27th - New York City, NY @ The Studio at Webster Hall
Jul 28th - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
ALL UPDATED ASIWYFA SHOWS & DETAILS HERE
Continuing on from last week…
Hamburg, Germany
You know what’s depressing? Cutting through a red light district in broad daylight with the prostitutes already hanging out in their windows while Adele’s “Someone Like You” plays over outdoor speakers.
Just down the street from the red light district is Hafenklang, one of my favorite venues in Germany. The people who work here are always a pleasure to work with, the size of the room is perfect, and the club is easy walking distance from the Reeperbahn. Tonight’s show is a drone festival. Two stages, six bands. And the ticket price is still less than half of the fest we played in Estonia. But ya know, as much as I enjoy listening to drone stuff when I’m at home, it’s not really the kind of music I want to spend an evening watching at a club. I watch a few of the acts before I start feeling narcoleptic. I’m not even bothering with beer tonight; I’ve switched to some sort of carbonated yerba mate drink in an effort to stay awake.
Tonight is Derek from Deafheaven’s birthday. There are plans to go out on the town after the show, but by the time we’re packed up and loaded out, it’s 3am. The other guys go for it, but Che and I opt to sit in our hotel room and eat Burger King before going to bed.
Indian Handcrafts will be playing a few Festivals coming up along with some club shows soon. Very excited that they will be meeting up to play with their new Sargent House label mates Russian Circles & And So I Watch You From Afar . damn those shows will be so RIFFY. I think I need to buy my flights…
INDIAN HANDCRAFTS LIVE
May 26, 2012 - London, ON @ The Grickle Grass Festival
Jun 18, 2012 - Winnipeg, MB @ The Park Theatre **
Jun 19, 2012 - Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos Cantina **
Jun 20, 2012 - Calgary, AB @ Dicken’s Pub - Sled Island Music Festival **
Jun 21, 2012 - Calgary, AB @ Ship & Anchor Pub - Sled Island Music Festival
Jul 14, 2012 - Toronto, ON @ Downsview Park - EdgeFest 2012
** w/ Russian Circles & And So I Watch You From Afar
SEPT 2012 - Victoria, BC @ Rifflandia Festival 2012
MORE IH SHOWS TBA SOON - Check HERE for details and Updates
Sled Island Festival in Calgary just keeps getting better. Just announced is our third band to join the bill this year, Canada’s own Indian Handcrafts (BITCHING RIFFS) who join Russian Circles (CHUGGING RIFFS) and coming over from Belfast And So I Watch You From Afar (JOYOUS RIFFS). Together they will all represent the House of Sargent. And as a bonus treat the three bands will be playing together shows in Winnepeg and Saskatoon - Don’t Miss out Canada… They are all Wicked.
Russian Circles / And So I Watch You From Afar / Indian Handcrafts
June 18, 2012 - Winnepeg, CA @ Park Theater
June 19, 2012 - Saskatoon, CA @ Amigos Cantina
June 20, 2012 - Calgary, CA @ Dickens ( all three bands)
June 21, 2012 - Calgary, CA @ Ship & Anchor Pub (Indian Handcrafts only)
and then….
Russian Circles & And So I Watch You From Afar will tour together for more shows in the USA and Indian Handcrafts will head back East to play Toronto’s Edgefest
Click here to see ALL Russian Circles SHOWS
Click here to see ALL And So I Watch You From Afar SHOWS
Click here to see ALL Indian Handcrafts SHOWS
Russian Circles will be playing some Canadian shows including Calgary’s Sled Island Festival along with label mates 
And So I Watch You From Afar coming over from Belfast
and Canada’s own Indian Handcrafts.
Russian Circles and ASIWYFA will then hit the States and join up with Deafheaven for a few shows as well. Below are all the Russian Circles shows. As for ASIWYFA, they will be continuing on their own US tour starting around July 5th with some other Sargent House bands to be announced soon. These shows will ALL RULE. You would be a fool to miss it. Riffs and Chugg for life.
RUSSIAN CIRCLES / AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR
Jun 18, 2012 - Winnipeg, MB (CA) @ The Park Theatre ^^
Jun 19, 2012 - Saskatoon, SK (CA) @ Amigos Cantina ^^
Jun 20, 2012 - Calgary, (CA) @ Dicken’s at Sled Island Festival ^^
Jun 22, 2012 - Vancouver, BC (CA) @ Biltmore Cabaret ^
Jun 24, 2012 - Seattle, WA (US) @ Neumos ^
Jun 25, 2012 - Portland, OR (US) @ Doug Fir Lounge ^
Jun 27, 2012 - Sacramento, CA (US) @ Harlow’s **
Jun 28, 2012 - San Francisco, CA (US) @ Great American Music Hall **
Jun 29, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA (US) @ El Rey Theatre ** Special Guest TBA
Jul 02, 2012 - Denver, CO (US) @ Bluebird Theater - Russian Circles only
Jul 03, 2012 - Kansas City, MO (US) @ The Riot Room - Russian Circles only
^ w/ Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar
^^ w/ Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar & Indian Handcrafts
** w/ Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar & Deafheaven
When the band I play in, Russian Circles, announced our European tour with Deafheaven for Spring 2012, Grant Brissey asked me to write a tour diary chronicling our trip. I was a little hesitant at first. For one thing, I’ve typically tried to keep my band business separate from my music writing. Additionally, my bandmates aren’t the kind of people that want all their day-to-day business made public. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that most tour documentaries and diaries focus on either the luxuries of wildly successful artists or the trials and tribulations of struggling acts. There aren’t a lot of stories of financially sustainable working bands out there. Presumably, that’s because our stories aren’t particularly interesting. We’ve figured out how to tour in a manner where things are relatively stress-free and efficient. We aren’t partiers. There’s no cocaine or groupies in the green room. We sleep in hotels and travel in vans. I can’t promise this will be particularly insightful or even remotely honest. But this is how we roll.
Seattle to Chicago to London to Prague
My flight itinerary is SeaTac to Chicago to London to Prague. I leave Seattle at noon on April 2nd. We’re scheduled to get into Prague early afternoon the next day. The rest of the band lives in Chicago, and I meet up with them at my layover at O’Hare. The last time I flew out of O’Hare, three separate strangers asked if I was a DJ. Not wanting to get caught up in those conversations again, I choose a seat at the gate next to a guy that looks like Wayne Coyne, figuring he’s less likely to ask me dumb questions.
Russian Circles live from the sold out show in Vilnius, Lithuania at Propaghandi on April 11, 2012 with Deafheaven all pictures by Vytenis Jurevičius
Deafheaven live from the sold out show in Vilnius, Lithuania at Propaghandi on April 11, 2012 with Russian Circles all pictures by Vytenis Jurevičius
Russian Circles vs Pelican
Two of Chicago’s finest ‘post-metal’ heavyweights sit down to tell us lies about Brian May // Feature by Ryan Drever and Benny Blanco.
Pelican and Russian Circles not only share a talent for creating densely atmospheric and crushingly heavy instrumental records, but both bands also hail from the mecca of experimental rock that is the Windy City. To capitalise on their respective excursions to Stereo this month, we got them in a room to shoot the proverbial over a range of questions plucked from a hat.
Belying the moody ambience of their records, the resulting ‘interview’ consists mainly of cheap jokes and mass laughter, with the occasional broken glass and at least one audible fart. Occasionally, though, they break away from the madness to talk about the city’s rich musical heritage, being in a band without a singer, and voice support for Howard Stern’s fictitious presidential campaign. Disclaimer: Shit gets silly…
Q. What do you think about adding ‘post’ in front of a genre – does that make it cooler?
Russian Circles & Deafheaven European Tour Poster - big thanks to Xavi at Error Design for making this. Don’t miss this tour folks it’s gonna be a loud blast of greatness.
SEE ALL RUSSIAN CIRCLES SHOWS & DETAILS
SEE ALL DEAFHEAVEN SHOWS & DETAILS
(Source: artistdata.com)
Brian Cook of Russian Circles
In addition to being the bassist for the Chicago-based instrumental metal group Russian Circles, Brian Cook occasionally contributes to Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger.
See Full List of 20 Musicians That Write About Music
Words could never sum up all that I love about Mike Sullivan. Known only to those that are close to him this seemingly stoic Guitar master of Russian Circles is in fact the funniest human being I know. Today, is his Birthday and I will be giving thanks for having him in my life. Not only do I love his band, but he makes me laugh for days. So happy birthday Mike, I hope you like that gift I gave you “making you spend the next 18 hours on planes to Europe to go on tour”. You are welcome. Love you CP/SH
This afternoon I was aimlessly walking around downtown Chicago. The well-to-do and bejeweled middle-aged women were in abundance, walking their dogs. The new-moneyed 20-somethings were running around in their business suits looking for something important to do. The obvious tourists with their street maps were standing puzzled at the street corners. Suddenly from out of the blue, deep, dark black clouds rolled in from Lake Michigan. With thunder and lightning and torrential downpour everyone began to scatter and run for cover. Chicago went from smiling faces and jovial conversation to utter fear and dismay. At the time, I was listening to the second track of Empros by Russian Circles, “Mládek,” and I couldn’t help but think that this was the perfect soundtrack to this scenario.
Whether you’re running into a viking battle, stuck in a nightmare that’s going from bad to worse, or watching a sunny day turn into disarray, Russian Circles has you covered. The band manifested out of the ashes of Dakota/Dakota in 2004, which was very much its predecessor, but Russia Circles took on a much heavier breed of instrumental music, delving more into melodic death metal and metalcore than math rock. Originally made up of guitarist Mike Sullivan, bassist Colin DeKuiper, and drummer Dave Turnkrantz, Russian Circles turned the sleepy idea of instrumental music that most were familiar with on its head.
Later in 2007, it was announced that DeKuiper decided to part ways with the band, and that Brian Cook (These Arms Are Snakes/Botch) would take his place. Since then, the trio has done nothing but sell out shows and receive more and more praise.
THE BOMBER JACKET spoke with Cook in anticipation of the band’s upcoming, extensive European tour.
