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First Taste of Our New Album: Feet Aren't Sexy

It's the second song we've started working on for our newest album.

Check out the other version of this on youtube with guitar.

Feet aren't as sexy
As they once were
Ask me, I know feet
Stop romanticizing me
There's nothing romantic about me

I need you like I need death
Death needs me
Death needs you
Stop hating me and I'll stop loving you

just a small sample:



ps. we're working on our new site: go to http://dothetrikey.wordpress.com/

happy recording midi

i have begun making beats for the album... FINALLYYYYYY.

starting with gumball.
i almost foolishly put it online in this infant stage ... hahahahahaahahaha

that would be ... foolish.

love you guys.

xox
stevie

ps. FRED! see past the annoyance because it's strangely brilliant.

The End Of Yet Another Tour: Stephen's Perspective!!!

Wrote this last week, before our last show of our tour:



Götenburg, Sweden. Kontiki bar. Our LAST SHOW will take place here soon....

My stupid "built-in camera" isn't working (with absolutely no explanation. It happens often) on my laptop, so I can't film any more today). I may have a small vlog, however... using the footage I filmed in the station earlier. Perhaps the camera will work later. Spent $2000 on this macbook and since the beginning the camera has been on and off; working at times and not working at other times. Sheer frustration.

I'm a wee bit tired, after spending 10 hours on the bus from Hamburg. Sleeping upright on a full bus is a HUGE CHALLENGE. Thanks to Björn, we both had small pillows, and I sucked back a sleeping pill around 11:30, just after boarding and watching half of "Ali" (w/ Will Smith, which gave me renewed respect for him ... and Ali himself). Slept a fair amount (five hours max), but we're both pretty bagged today.

* * *

However:

Yesterday was something special. As some of you know, we are "sponsered" by the German department of Yamaha. Thing is, Claus Kruse (who works in the product department) saw us play last year, loved the show and said he would give us a keyboard and if I liked it I could keep it. Thus explains the second keyboard. It's a magnificent beauty, with all sorts of dials and knobs so I can twist, morph and alter the sound in various ways. And a million voices. Yes, it breaks fairly easily, but when it works, it's a thing of beauty.

Xania, Björn and myself met him at the Yamaha offices around noon. He took us on a tour of the place. MASSIVE rooms full of grand pianos, brass instruments, a sound room specifically made to test pianos. He showed me an amazing keyboard. "You can combine different voices and add many effects, change the quality of the sound... basically create whatever sound you want to make." he said. He went on to tell me about how you have hundreds of drum voices, bass voices... anything you like. You can basically construct entire songs, tweaking every sound on this keyboard. AND we can borrow it for however long we need it, within reason. "Can we have it for three months?" I asked. "Of course" he said, scribbling down "October 31". HOLY SMOKES!!! We get a killer keyboard, a massive mixing board compatible with Cubase with really great pre-amps and compression, a microphone, cables and any other trinkets we may need. For a poor band travelling Europe like gypsies, this is a magical opportunity to make a really nice album with great sound. Forget the last album with its many trials and tribulations. We need to make something from scratch... Not to say the last album is a waste of time. Perhaps we can release it later as alternative versions of the songs we recorded.

So that's what we'll do. We'll take a break from touring. Three months, with two small touring breaks in between. We'll stay in Copenhagen for a few reasons:

a) we're hoping to woo Crunchy Frog (label), or at least milk them for advice on what to do/ where to go from here
b) the various venues and venue owners in town that we have already made a connection with when we popped by Copenhagen a few months ago.
and
c) because our lovely friend Oliver has offered for us to stay at his place for the first two months! in return, we cook him meals. I have some sweetass breakfast ideas in mind: banana pancakes, just to mention one.

* * *

We are sitting in the Kontiki (a bar with a Hawaiian feel; bamboo everywhere, soft square cushion-chairs) and the soundguy repeatedly tells the sound check-ing band they're too loud. "There is a neighbour upstairs" he announces. "I play guitar too, and I understand the desire to make it loud, but... come on, kids" (kids? I scoff. He's the same age as them!). Tonight it's our last concert of our second European Tour. We are doing two more very small tours in one month and two months, respectively, but this is the END of six months of pretty much straight touring. Many many many UPS and DOWNS:

* 2000 euros was stolen
* Video camera, microphone and very expensive photo camera were stolen
* Many gorgeous shows: better pay, more people... way way way more better ones than last tour: Zagreb, Berlin, Austria, the Wilwarin Festival.
* We were on a label for six days before they folded
* Had a driver/documentary filmmaker for three months (Ineke), then got big muscles in the 3 months of touring since then.
* Saw more art this time. Saw the Egon Schiele exhibition in Vienna, the Kafka museum in Prague
* Had a number of good show reviews/ interviews from Macedonia to Berlin.
* Made back the 2000 plus a few hundred more... and hopefully we will only move up from here... also thanks to donations from lovely people (THANK YOUUUU!!!)
* FINALLY began selling our puppet CDs and T shirts online with paypal. YAAY!!!
* Wrote a handful of new songs
* Realized we need a BREAK!!! from touring. We NEED to record. We need control over our recordings. The albums I have personally recorded and produced in the past I am pretty happy with (The New Album, The Old Album, You Sweaty Thing and even the very lo-fi early stuff from "Zipperhead" - my previous project), and the fact is, I need more control over the recording and mixing process... and Xania tells me she has recording experience and knowledge as well, so we'll see how it works with the two of us hammerin' away at the tunes. We chose about twenty but I think we'll choose ten more, record them all and see which ones will fit well on our first PROPER RELEASE. SInce this is our first "professional" recording, we want to redo a number of previously recorded songs (Do The Trikey, Bring The Shit Back) and others that have never been recorded... send the files off to others to remix, and do a real, sexy, souped-up album.

We just did our sound check and my new keyboard started giving me grief. "This is HOGWASH!" I screamed, using the same phrase as my dad used to say, whenever the car wouldn't start or Peter and I would stay up late, lying in the hallway watching TV movies playing in the living room, unbeknownst to my parents. However, after sound check-ing "Love is a Temperature Thing" to a sea of happy faces, without too much hassle from the new keyboard, we realize we sound fine. I return to the task of writing this blog and making CDs that simply don't want to burn.

(postscript) After this blog, we played our show. It was fun. Not the best show we've had, but fun... A pleasant end to a long long looooong tour....

more to come.

For now, feast your eyes on this:

Trike Tour is over.

I'm lying in the grass in Christiania, surrounded by people wearing sunglasses, smoking joints and listening to beats.

We've been on buses, trains, planes and cars, weaving our way through 14 countries, playing hundreds of shows, seeing thousands of Europeans.

We were robbed three times, were fined a bunch of times, got into a car accident (not with Ineke, with a Mitfahr driver), and have had countless sleepless nights, but all the stress somehow added to the experience. At least it was never boring.

I feel so lucky.

Playing music has dissolved the doors to meeting new people. I really notice that now that I'm sitting here alone, nobody is talking to me, I've made no new friends. But, a few months ago, in this same spot, we were surrounded with people giving us drinks, joints and love, because we played for them.

Our friend Oliver is letting us stay in his apartment for two months. His crazy humour and utter sexiness will keep us entertained the whole time.
Our friend Claus gave us get a Yamaha sponsorship, and is letting us record with the N12, a super pro mixing board for the next three months. (Stephen and I both held back tears when he described it's features.) He has so much faith in us, that we have no choice but to make a killer album.
And Björn and his family have always been amazing to us. We've met so many fuckin' good peeps because of music.

So the tour is over, and we're here in Copenhagen for three months to focus on making the best album possible.. I think it's time to stop touring anynow. Our equipment is getting worn out. One of the speakers on Stephen's black keyboard blew, (thanks to a dramatic moment on the streets of Gent when Stephen knocked his keyboard over on the concrete during our performance. It didn't work at all until a small, sweet German took time to repair it). The other keyboard's volume function is completely fucked, my "new" dancing shoes are in pieces, my glockenspiel was stolen after a gig (but I got a new one, so I guess it doesn't really count..)

We made a set list for our last show, full of songs we knew really well. (It was a new audience and we didn't have to change things up for them). We noticed only one new song compared to a set list from our show in Vancouver almost one year ago. I mean, we've written many new songs since that show, but we've only incorporated a few into our sets. We need this time to re-work our show, perfect new songs, practice and think of new elements to add to our performances.

We also need time to think about what we're going to do after the album is finished. Will we go back to Canada? Probably, but I'm not sure when.


Here's my Canada vs. Europe list:

CANADA

Pros:
-You don't have to pay to use the bathroom.
-Pay phones cost $0.50, (Not $0.50 per minute.)
-Breakfast diners exist.
-We have amazing fans in Vancouver.
-I can understand the street signs.
-My family lives here


Cons:
-Big-ass country, hard to get around.
-Hard to make $ touring.
-My family lives here. (jk)

EUROPE
Pros:
-Lots of people in a concentrated space (easy to tour)
-We get paid in Euros
-Beer is really cheap (except for in Scandinavia)
-Saturated history and many different cultures
-Get paid well, fed and usually a place to sleep at gigs.
-Most venues are full when we perform, even if we did no promotion and never visited the city before.
-Being Canadian is exotic over here, and helps promote our shows (Canada has a good rep, I guess)

-Cons
-No free health care
-Customer service fuckin' sucks.


So, we have three whole months to think about our art, work on our album and ponder the future. We haven't had a break this long for two years. I'm so used to moving around every day or two, that I forgot how long a day can be when it's not taken up by thinking about how to get to the next show.
love the pyjamas off of you,
Xania

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My Little Pony (Live In Sweden)

Horrific Accident In Ghent at the Gentse Feesten!!!

We went to Ghent. It was a blast. Ten full days of music, staying up til 6am, beatboxing, playing at a strange circus for kids and families, playing on a VERY busy street, selling ten CDs in our first outing; playing in front of the SQUEEZE, jamming with friends, playing at "de oase gentoise" (the gent oasis - a bar). Partying til all hours all over the city of Ghent, Belgium. Kids/adults of all ages, drunk, sober, filling the streets. At some points you couldn't budge an inch because the massive crowds were packed up in the "Vlasmarkt". There was an incredible street market with really groovy clothes for dirt cheap...

I also demolished my keyboard during an ecstatic performance in the streets, in front of 100 people or so... it was dramatic... very. A kind dude helped me. He spoke German. I spoke English. We worked together.

All in all, we made over 120 euros a day for only 2 or three half-hour performances, sold plenty of CDs, made new fans and friends and fell in love with the city, all over again.

Watch the video about it (above). I might have also mentioned you in the credits, if you were there.

I also recorded a few songs in Ghent with my guitar. Here is one called "Feet Aren't Sexy".

Take a look.



As for us, we are off to Sweden tomorrow. Hamburg first, to talk to lovely Claus from Yamaha about some shiznit, then off to Sweden for a show. Then we dip back down into Copenhagen to play and record for two months, with a few small breaks to do shows. I'm excited to have some time to ourselves.

Love
Stephen

FLOODED!!!

WE'RE ON ITUNES!!!1!1!!!!!1

TRIKE IS ON ITUNES
CHECK IT OUT MUTHAFUCKAAAAAAHZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(ik cow von jou)

We played at the EXIT festival last week, which was quite wonderful. They loved us, got crazy, demanded an encore, which we weren't permitted to play (time restrictions)... it was wonderful. We also did our new Michael Jackson cover: Smooth Criminal.

Then we left and went to Zagreb for a day, slept in a park and met Marta, Peter and their lovely dog.

We made a video about all of our adventures. I hope you like it:



ps. if you want to buy any of our albums, please write me an email. we mail off CDs using paypal; handmade CDs that are also puppets. stephenpaultaylor(at)trikeaband(dot)com. we also have a new, live one from Denmark.

Back To School

Enschede. A small(ish) city in The Netherlands where I spent two years of my life: making movies and music at AKI, the local art school. Time and time we get invited back, and this time we returned to play at the Graduation Ceremonies.

We went to Amsterdam for a few days to busk. The first day was stellar. We made 57 euros in selling CDs and playing for 30/40 minutes. We did two more sessions that day which were not as good, but enjoyable. One of our seshes (short for "session" as in "busking session") ended with a screaming match with a racist dutchman, and having to ditch an insane Norwegian. Amazing how busking can easily lead to meeting some of the weirdest people in existence.

Our last sesh ended with the cops showing up, three songs into our "set" and shutting us down. So we had to close up shop. They were quite serious too, and a bit intimidating. Speaking English without betraying my knowledge of Dutch I was able to come across as ignorant of the rules, which are basically that one cannot play music in the street (ANYWHERE) in Amsterdam except in the park (more on that later)

The next day we played and it was just... weird. We started off at our usual place: near the red door of the church at the Nieuw Markt. Halfway into the first song we spotted a slew of cops walking past. Xania recognized the cop from the day before. "Shit... shut down again" I said as we packed up and left to find another place to play. It was already quite late when we started because we were busy making CDs all morning (the bane of not having CDs pre-made is that we have to constantly make CDs ourselves... but that's not a bad thing, because we always end up making unique cases {truth is, Xania makes them} ... right now we have PUPPET CD cases. They sell the best, I think.

So we were told that the park is the only place where buskers are permitted to play without a permit. So, we went there. The problem with the park is that NOBODY HAS MONEY... therefore nobody gives. We met two sisters who looked like the Ashley twins and sang songs with an acoustic guitar and harmonies.

Anyway, in that day (busking in Amsterdam day #2) I think we made all-in-all maybe 30 or 40 euros. Not terrible, but considering the amount of time we spent either busking or getting to busking spots, it was a bit of a disappointment. We sold one CD, however, which is always nice.

The NEXT DAY we headed to Enschede. We had two friends in tow: Biagi from Denmark and Emily from Montreal (previously from Vancouver, which is where she saw us play many times. Now she's seen us in Vancouver, Montreal, Amsterdam and Enschede... beat that, muthafucka!)

We played at AKI, my old school. We arrived at 4, had a few mini-beers (dutch-style) and played. The audience was sprinkled all over the place and people weren't concentrated in front of us. I think we played well, but the acoustics were bad (it's the space) and the beats from my new keyboard (for some reason) sounded SOOO much better that when we played the last tune; Zombie Tragedy, finally people were dancing. I love the old keyboard, but let's face it, the new keyboard's beats are sexy and dancy as hell.

We were supposed to play that night, but they informed us that we were to play at four am. That was too too late, and we were already well on the way to intoxication. I was disappointed that they didn't arrange for us to play earlier, and there were people there who were hoping to see us, but so it goes, I guess. I think/ hope the response would be more lively than it was at the school.

We're both getting a little tired of touring. Playing is fun, but we need to seriously focus on recording new material with a crisper, more listenable sound and working on the stage show; revamping it. Going around and playing shows the way we do it is great, but the fact is, we want the show to have more theatrics, more concepts, more sketches, more animation... we've been doing the same thing for two years and although musically I feel like we're aeons better, we have many more ideas and songs to really help the show/presentation grow. We need time OFF of the road to work on it.

Ah, the joys and tribulations of being D.I.Y...

Love
Stephen

Thoughts On Michael Jackson

It's been 9 days or so since I first heard that MJ died. The reality of it still hasn't kicked in. He was such a constant presence in the media, and he had been performing since before I was born and to imagine a world without Michael Jackson seemed unheard of. Every day I think about him and every day it still seems inconceivable.

And let's face it, the man's life is truly epic. He's a legend. And the strange thing is, when he passed away, all of the eccentricities and child molestation allegations seemed to fall by the wayside. All of a sudden, it seemed that everyone was remembering the songs, the dance moves, the moonwalk, his unique vocal style ... all was forgiven. There was such an outpouring of grief and love for him that I heard people say, more than once "if only he could be here to see all of this". Ah, the irony of death.

He was a fascinating individual and I'm sure many books could be written about him. A man-child who refused to grow up; making "Neverland" and inviting busloads of underprivileged kids over to play. A man who gave to 39 different charities. A man who was fragile and vulnerable and filled with incredible self-loathing; so much so that he surgically altered his features again and again until the MJ of "Off The Wall" had virtually vanished.

He hadn't had a hit album in twenty years. "Bad" was the last album with plenty of solid hits, "Dangerous" fared worse (moreso due to grunge taking over the airwaves) and "Invincible" came and went with very little attention, but he was ALWAYS in the media because of his eccentricities, the molestation allegations (which I don't believe to be true), his strange antics (dangling his baby off the balcony, accepting the award for "performer of the millenium" and thinking it was a real award, his nose caving in from so many surgeries). When I realized he had only had two real albums in the last two decades, it really surprised me; I hadn't realized how little output he had in the last two decades. And after reading plenty about him on the internet, it seems there are many, many songs he began/ projects he began but never finished.

And something else I read really struck a chord for me too. One person compared his life to "The Truman Show", and it's true! Since he was eight he's been in the public eye. He never knew what it was like NOT to have the world watching his every move. He never had the chance to be normal. I can't imagine that. He bemoans a lost childhood, explaining that that's why he had kids over so much and why he built Neverland. I saw a few interviews where he explained that he would be heading to the recording studio at 9 years old and he would see kids playing soccer/ baseball/ football across the street and he would be so jealous. He wanted that. He wanted a normal childhood... and, as with many people who miss out on a childhood, he tried to find it in his adult life. He was a 10 year old trapped in a middle-aged man's body.

Perhaps that also explains why he wasn't so productive in the last twenty years or so. Maybe he was pushing away the performer side of himself because he was too busy trying to recreate a childhood he never had. Not to mention dealing with the trials, the surgeries and many other issues which undoubtedly got in the way of artistic creation.

I find myself wondering if his life was a tragedy or not. Let's face it, the last ten/ fifteen years of his life were plagued with troubles. The accusations of molestation, the trials (during which he wouldn't eat and would become virtually skeletal), the constant surgeries and the plastic/ putty nose that replaced his real nose, which had caved in (and the strange thing being that he denies having more than two surgeries), the vitiligo, the constant mockery of the media and tabloids ... the man had many real-life troubles. After the cancer kid accused him of molestation, and those trials began, I think he became disillusioned with humanity. Soon afterwards he abandoned Neverland, removed most of the rides and move to some Arabic country.

But it makes me content to think that the last few days before he died he was quite happy (from what I read) and exuberant about the upcoming 50 shows in London. The fact that this tour never happened is sort of tragic, but at least he died knowing he had 50 sold out shows and a show that sounds like it would have been pretty amazing and epic. I think/ hope he died in the knowledge that he was loved by many.

He was an amazing dancer. Things he could do with his limbs were incredible. He also had a very original vocal style that is truly his own. And he has many great songs. His life was far from perfect and he was a very controversial figure, but there's no denying that he made a MASSIVE impact on pop music in the last forty years. I will never forget listening to "Thriller" for the first time. I will also never forget trying to do the Moonwalk at ten years old, or when I was in first year college and "Black and White" came out and I thought it was a pretty damn cool tune.

But at the bottom of it all, I think he was pretty lonely and pretty misunderstood (He surrounded himself with mannequins and statues to make him feel less lonely). And now that he's gone (forever), I think people aren't demonizing him as much as he has been in recent years. I think there is a sort of universal forgiveness for his mistakes and indiscretions and "weirdness"... I think his death has given people the chance to realize that he deserved his title of the "King of Pop" and despite his troubles, his life affected millions. And in the end, I think there was a lot of love in that man and I think now the world feels the impact of losing such a monumental human being.

GIVING A STATUE SERIOUS CAMEL-TOE

Second Statue-Underwear Stunt:

FUCK FUSION

So we played at the Fusion festival (biggest DIY fest in Germany). Okay, not officially, like, on a stage, but in the pathway.

The first day I arrived I hated Fusion. "Fuck Fusion!" I yelled into the void for whoever to hear. No one responded. I wasn't high/ drunk/ I was tired and lost and the colours and noise and vast amounts of people just intimidated me. Too many people. Too many energies vying for attention. Too much German... I need to learn German; really.

And that night I heard somebody mutter behind me "Michael Jackson is dood". Huh? No... What the... ? I didn't know what to think.

So I fell asleep in "Casino"; the chill tent for 5 hours. Then Xania came and we relocated to our tent (this is kinda cool... we showed up at the festival with NO tent. Then we magically met Josh, who hooked us up with a nice little tent... within minutes!) where I slept more.

I awoke. Josh's friends and compadres said something (again) about Jackson being dead. They didn't know if it was true or a rumour. I then met up with Anna H., an old friend and MASSIVE Jackson fan, who also mentioned MJ. Still, we didn't know what was truth or a rumour...

But we soon decided to take my battery-powered synth and xania's shoes, board and violin to the pathway near the Casino and the Photo Booth to entertain passerbys. Within seconds of beginning we had a huge crowd. They were all smiles and grins and responded enthusiastically to every song; even our new, uneven one: Sweaty Cigarette.

We played three sets that day. The second one was the most magical because when the angels appeared to dance the Trikey, the sun (for the first and only time all festival) broke out from the clouds, like magic. It was really amazing! Two british girls really loved us and were all grins. It was lovely. After this round we sold 5 more CDs, making it ten in total.

Then we just hung out, got lost seperately... I played like I was a jedi knight with Sebastian for hours, drank water like a fiend (you can guess why) and meandered everywhere; stage to stage... and bumped into Mischa (who booked us at Aachen).

And, by yesterday evening, there was a sign up saying there would be a flashmob moonwalk at 7:00. I missed it, but I was there in spirit. By this point it was pretty clear it was a reality. The king of Pop was no more. And this tragedy really added something surreal to the whole proceedings. To find out something like this in a festival, with so much joy and craziness and circusy energy everywhere; thousands of people dancing and laughing... life and death mingled together in this circus; Jackson's music finding its way into various DJ sets throughout the few days we were there. Very surreal and unforgettable.

One band, before launchin

I will never forget this festival.

And hopefully next year we'll find a stage.

Trike Gets Jiggy In The Biggest Theater in Germany

We played at the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. It was big, sexy, ornate and deeply impressive. The most AMAAAAZING theater I've ever seen.

It was a strange show: Anselm, the booker, wanted to be innovative and stuck us in the middle of the audience; amongst all the red chairs. There were lighting people above us in the rafters, rigging up green, blue and red lights... and blinding white ones of course.

The soundcheck was the longest we've had. The sound just wasn't quite right, and I don't know why. I think it must have been because the bands would normally be below, on the stage, and that's how the sound system is generally rigged up.

Anyway, the room was fairly full when we started. I began with Count Orsino's monologue in the beginning of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night... sitting in the back of the room. I made my way to the "stage" and we played "My Little Pony". When Xania danced my keyboards shook like jelly, and I only had about two feet of space to move in. So, very little space. I was a bit trapped.

The connection with my silver keyboard was a bit whack and kept getting super loud and then super quiet. It made it tricky to play.

In the end, the set was plagued with technical problems and the audience was so far away it was hard to connect with them, but a few times, I made my way down to them and hugged them, sang to them, beat them up with boxing gloves... that kind of stuff.

They were (as Hamburgians often are) a bit stiff; a bit stuffy... but by the end we had a loony, crazy, dancing crowd. The jog was the longest we've ever done; jogging into the main train station and around the block... we were all a sweaty mess by the time we returned. They still wanted more so we did two encores: Trikey and Chachi Boys and Girls. We also played our very new song: "Sweaty Cigarette", which is becoming more and more enjoyable to play, now that I've finally memorized the lyrics.

Here is a video I made about the place. It's got some hilarious moments, like when Anselm (the booker) trips and tries to play it cool, and when Xania and I eat apples.

Enjoy:

PUTTING UNDERWEAR ON STATUES PART ONE!

Xboxx is putting underwear on statues. Take a look:

Trike's Personal Photographer

Now we have time off. Ten days, to be precise.
We should have a meeting about what to do in that time.
My friend Oskar from Iceland sent me a link about how to be organized because in one week we a) had 2000 euros stolen and b) missed the chance to change Xania's ticket back home. They said to write a list of five things that NEED to be done every day. No more, because more could easily be overwhelming and then you end up doing nothing.

But June is a scarce month, because the tour is winding down and we DESPERATELY need a break from touring. So we didn't plan to fill the gaps.

I'm thinking it might be good to go to Vienna relatively soon because then we can busk in the streets and promote our show at Rhiz on the 17th.

We were busking in Brussels, spotted by a journalist and mentioned in their paper:

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleID=BLSGE_20090603_001

(translation; thanks to babelfish: Ghent - on the grass slate is live always something, even outside that one 10 special summon somewhere in July. Opwaaiende rokjes, falling open bloesjes, music, environment, sun and your favoriete biertje. Today Wednesday was lacking there one something: music. But there rapidly change entered by the merry Canadian two-high rolling mill Trike. Yesterday still acting bus-known in bar video, today already - play on the street - the grass slate entertainend.)

We were followed around by a photographer named Claudius from Hamburg, Germany. He's taking photos of us for a German magazine. Here is a small film about him. We meant to do VLOGS all tour but sadly we have only done two. We will do more soon, but here is this one anyway. It's quite short :



AND, we were invited to be in a festival on August 1 in BRUGES today. I watched "In Bruges" with Peter, my bro and his wifeykins and it was a powerful film about guilt and conscience and I really had an itch to go to the city and check it out... and now we can!

Sorry I haven't blogged much as of late. We've been spending lots of time on trains. BUT, we had shows in Belgium and Germany that I will soon write about, including an AMAAAAZING show/ audience at the Wilwarin festival yesterday. Everyone who saw us there last year and liked us invited like 10 friends each and the place was PACKED!!! And they loved us... it was gorgeous. I filmed it. The sound is distorted, but I will post a few snippets anyway, to give you an idea. I ended up stripped down to my pink undies. Speaking of which, I played spin the bottle with a group of small town German teens who dared me to strip down to my pink undies and act like a cat... which I did. Because when I'm dared, I fuckin do it. That's the way I rolllll...

Amazing Fan Mail

We've been feeling crappy because a lot of things have gone wrong for us.

Our CD isn't what we wanted it to be and still needs loads of work. It's not BIG sounding enough. It's too messy, and needs TONS of work. We lost 2000 euros the other week. And, today, Xania found out the airline girl messed up and she lost her ticket back, which means we're stuck in Europe with 700 euros.

However, a few days ago we got a wicked email from a gentleman we met in Amsterdam that restored our faith in what we're doing:

Hi Trike!

I saw you guys on the streets of Amsterdam...and you were phenomenal!

I'm the guy from Pennsylvania...and bought your incredible CD...I don't expect you to remember...LOL

But I have to tell you...listening to your CD was an eye-opening experience. I couldn't believe all the types of music that I enjoy listening to could be heard in your music! There was actual melody, great lyrics and fun awesome beats--stuff you don't hear too much of any more!!! Plus the synth and touches of folk and hip hop is what makes your guys' stuff amazing.

The Trikey, Prescription and Bring the Shit Back are on constant repeat--again the whole CD is fantastic!!!

Thanks for the performance...and the incredible music :)

Do you guys like Book of Love? Didn't see them on your extensive list of musical influences on myspace.

I'm going to let let everyone I know...know about you guys!

Take care and Good Luck with everything!

Roseld

And I have to say, this letter filled my little heart with joy!

xo
Stephen

Get Your Kicks at the It's

Enschede is a small city close to the German border. Whenever we tell a Dutch person we're playing a show in Enschede, their reaction has become predictable and usually sounds like: "Ugh, why are you going there?"

Granted, busking in the centre has proved to yield normal looking people giving us petrified stares and little coin;
But the flavour of the city probably comes from AKI, a free-structured art school full of charismatic students. Stephen studied there, using the facilities to make albums and movies.

We've had some great shows in Enschede, playing at the AKI festival, at Attack (btw, Ween played there too!) and at the OFFMESS, an enormous squat outside the city that Stephen used to live in.

Some Dutch squats are amazing works of art and I wish Canadian laws would allow squatters to take over unused buildings.

The It's is one of these amazing squats. We stayed in it last year, and this tour we got to play at two of their parties. The inside of the squat holds galleries and studio space and is covered in creative decor made from trash and found objects. The party room has cushioned islands, a skate-park, black-lit structures and murals on the walls.

Unfortunately, Dutch laws are threatening to become more conservative, and squatters rights are being reconsidered. People living in the It's were recently informed by firemen the building is hazardous and that if there were a fire, no firemen would risk their life to save anyone in the building. They were also informed that the hospital down the street actually owns the land the It's is built on, and everyone has to leave in August. So, after squatting and re-modeling the building for five years, It's almost time to go.

Daniel (a sweet-ass dj, who spent yesterday showing us the awesomeness of Ableton Live, and is gonna remix some of our songs) decided to throw a huge party and invited us to perform.

The party was circus themed, we performed to hundreds of drunken clown-faces, and had a crazy time. Beanhead gave me an orange boa, and Maddy lent me a roaring shirt, so I got to dress up as a lion. (I ended up getting whipped by someone dressed up as a lion-tamer, but it was worth it.) We saw Hanan, and got to show her the t-shirts we designed with her drawing . Colourful balloons with laughing gas were passed around for a little while and George, a teacher from the AKI who must be in his 60's or 70's managed to stay up longer than I did.

We stayed in Enschede for a few days before going to Amsterdam to busk and hang out with Haruka and her room-mates, who share Stephen's love for bitteballens and good music.

Then we headed to Rotterdam to visit RRRRRRon and Gizmo and get some music files from him so we can re-work the music tracks while we're on the road. He drove us to Tiel and was our sound-man for the night as we played to an unimpressed crowd. One person did the Trikey, and we ended up partying with him.

The It's was throwing an outdoor, kid-friendly festival the next day, and we were invited to perform. Kids were painting, making t-shirts and playing soccer. Jaap and Jelle walked around on stilts and painted the brick wall behind us while we performed. We played three sets (Stephen doesn't quite remember the third set, cause the beers flowed like rain). Press came and gave the It's a sweet article.

Now I'm on the bus to Berlin. (All potential drivers fell through, and I'm carrying all our t-shirts in an enormous back-pack Jaap gave me. My shoulders are threatening to become body-builder-sized.) Stephen is tweaking our live recordings to make a live cd with some recording Beanhead made. We're in a traffic jam. I'm drinking coffee. Stephen is singing. The bus-driver got mad at us. He has a red face and a big belly. He almost threw us out of the bus. It was scary. But we're safe now. I hope these short sentences aren't annoying. I'll stop. Now. Bye. (Stephen is a butt-rack).

An Austrian Band Covered One Of Our SONGS! Do The Trikey!

Hamburg, Berlin, Dead Matt, Hard Candy and the Worst Traffic Jam of my Measly Life

I just finished watching "Hard Candy" on my computer (a thoroughly miserable film; not bad, necessarily, just pretty fuckin' dreary) in the back of Ineke's grandmother's car. We're stuck in the worst traffic jam I've ever been in in my life. Two hours of moving at a snail's pace, with no end in sight.

If traffic freed up right this second, we MIGHT make it to Cafe Stiels by 8:30, but the chances of that happening are next to nil. Why does Germany always have these horrific traffic jams? It's really unbelievable. Actually, why don't we have the sensibility to leave earlier? I always procrastinate and leave with only an hour of leeway, and now we're paying for our procrastination.

At least we have their number, in case we just can't make it, or if we make it only much much later. Who knows? This situation is beyond our control. The benefit of trains: no traffic jams. This is agony.

* * *

Hamburg. Lockengeloet. Thursday night. One of the BEST shows we've had in H'burg EVER. The room was packed, with people out on the sidewalk. Carsten (co-owner of Lockengeloet, along with Dennis) said it was the best show he's seen us do. The crowd was UNBELIEVABLE. They loved us. They showered us with love after every song. We sold two (new) t shirts and all our CDs: both new and old. Met a bunch of fans we haven't seen for ages, including the charming John (who we partied with at the Pudel last yaer). Started off with Jacq: a song I like to do, but Carsten hates. Too bad. Ha.

Stayed at Carsten's new flat. It is bigger than the last. I played his Aha record (I crave a record player at some point in my measly life).

We changed our Swedish and Danish bills into Euros, packed the car and left for Berlin, after one of Carsten and Dennis' scrumptious breakfasts out on the sidewalk and taking a picture of us standing in the "John Lennon Doorway" (where Lennon posed for one of his album covers in the 70's).

AND, as a side note, I have three music-making programs on my computer now; finally. Cubase, GarageBand and Logic. I'm eager to learn the ins and outs and start making music. I'm excited to make some new songs, and see if we can, at some point, salvage "The Newer Album", which is in desperate need of surgery. I think a few songs have to be reworked: Gumball for one... perhaps Chachi... and more.

* * *

Berlin. Weirdest show so far, by far. I've been buggin my friend Matt to come to the shows for ages. Halfway into the show (which was quite quiet, with most of the people sitting in a semi-circle in the front) his friend JP started shouting from the back of the room that Matt was killed. The room went dead quiet. I wasn't sure how to react. I disputed the truth of what he said. "Yeah right". "No, it's true" he said. Xania suddenly turned around and covered her face. She was sobbing. Matt was a good friend of ours. I couldn't believe JP would just announce it in such a callous way. "If this is a joke, say it now, because Xania is crying". I said. A girl left the room, spooked out and shaky.

"No. I'm sorry. It's true" JP said again. Seconds later, Matt's voice was heard "Matt is resurrected!" and he came bounding down to the stage. "You mutherfucker" I shouted, ripped off my shirt and gave him a bear hug.

He apologized later for pulling that stunt. The freaked-out girl ended up leaving and not returning, BUT Matt and gang's presence really upped the energy of the show. It was impossible to get people up and they all seemed quite shy, but with Matt's insane, drunken energy and friends, the place started pumpin' and in the end, we had another great, albeit strange Berlin show.

* * *

We hung out in Berlin for a few days. Filmed more for the music video for "Omigod!", did some interviews, I made Ineke cry by telling her she should go out instead of sitting around on the internet. She seemed unwilling to talk and eventually said "I've been to Berlin before" . I was agitated, so I left and made a vlog about it in the park down the street, then filmed myself talking about art, music, lame jobs and "following your bliss".

We also hung around with the über-fun and well-spoken Stephanie, who also took us to a creepy art space full of spooky rooms, an empty pool and strange lights, where we filmed footage for "Omigod" (the music video). We also spent a day busking at Mauerpark (huge flea market) and I lost my precious bag with my sparkly vest and everything. I also lost my DV tapes with original films of mine on it. That was distressing. I think someone ganked it. I was stupid to leave it a few metres away when we had currywurst and coffees. Damn.

Now we're back to Holland for the last leg of our wee tour. And finally out of the 2 hour-long traffic jam.

Later masturbators.

Sweden Part II: ABBA ABBA ABBA!

My first real introduction to Sweden was the goofy Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show, and then as an adult, Igmar Bergman. Always being a huge movie buff, I discovered his films "Persona", "The Silence", "The Seventh Seal" and plenty more. Between 18 to 20 I watched ten or more of his films. I read his screenplays. I read about him. His films fascinated me. The starkness, the enigmatic relationships and dialogue, the insight into human behaviour... there was also something a bit standoffish about his characters. Living so far up north, they could easily seem a bit detached. Reserved.

I had also met a sprinkling of Swedish people in my life. A blond girl in a hostel in London. I invited her out to a bar. She seemed nice (a bit detached but friendly) but declined my invitation. Another girl I worked with at Starfucks. I couldn't place her accent at all. I thought she was British. But no, she was Swedish. We got drunk on red wine and had a one-night stand. I got together with her one more time, but the conversation was stilted and she told me she didn't like the film "Happiness" which I thought was brilliant. Needless to say, we lost contact.

Well, our show at King Kong in Stockholm was in the end a minor success. It took ten songs, but by the end, I think we won them over. However, they absolutely would NOT do the Trikey. The first crowd in ages who just wouldn't even try. And it was a full room!

Anyway, yesterday we busked twice in the street and twice in the metro. It was great. We made a bit of money, entertained strangers, and had a chance to wander around Stockholm. Hung out in a square in the old city with a big fountain with lion head motifs spitting out water (not yesterday, though). Girls with clothing store bags filmed us and smiled. There was a cafe with a row of people all swathed in green blankets staring at us blankly. A British guy came up and said hello. Then we all meandered around seperately.

I went to the shopping district and bought a writing book and a pen. Then I popped into a record store which had a big ABBA shrine and a massive "ABBA" on the blue wall in giant letters. I spent half an hour reading a book about them. I heard somewhere that one of the guys suffered from a strange memory loss where he forgot everything that happened in those years but still remembered how to play/ sing the songs. That wasn't mentioned in the book.

I also walked through a Royal Court thingy with guards in blue and white and big rifles. They stood in small archways. One archway had a mannequin guard (that was rather odd). The architecture was beautiful. Not as ornate as, say, Prague.

We thought of going to see two seventies' style rock bands playing last night who gave us a flyer but we decided to rehearse our version of "Hide Your Love Away". We need to enlarge our repertoire. So we stayed in Meike's place (strange, outlandish couchsurfer we're staying with) and rehearsed, and later watched more of "L'Aventurra" by Antonioni (one of Woody Allen's favourite films).

But we're leaving Stockholm today and either going to Gothenberg or Malmo. Dunno which one. We still have two days until we're due in Hamburg. And we're leaving without any real sense of what makes Sweden tick. It was nice hanging out with my friend Nils, seeing his art space and going to his friend's birthday party, but to really understand Swedes would require more time. In truth, most people I met seem a lot like characters in Bergman films: serious, pensive, slightly withdrawn and detached. Generalizations are dangerous, I know, but sometimes apt. Billy Bob Thornton referred to Canadian audiences as "kinda like mashed potatoes without the gravy". Well, being Canadian, I've been to a LOT of shows and played a LOT of shows, and that remark isn't totally off the mark. We get crazy audiences in Vancouver, but Vancouver is a unique place and attracts some pretty crazy folk. However, in Ontario, some of the shows people were like logs. Even in Montreal we played one show and it was impossible to get people to stand up/ dance. However, as an example of the polar opposite, in Zilina (Slovakia), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Zagreb (Croatia) people were nuts from the get-go. A freedom of self-expression that I rarely see.

* * *

Another chapter in our Swedish experience:

We popped by Maria and Joakim's delightful apartment in Linköping en route to Gothenberg for a delish breakfast. Joakim played a hilarious album with groovy beats and a recording of "Mister Black" anonymously calling Swedish housewives and talking to them in English. Mister Black is actually a recording; an English-learning recording from the fifties. The results were hilarious and weird.

They then took us to M Cafe to see Maria's art work. She had lots of pieces with dogs and girls near lakes, a forest of stockinged legs etc... she had sold most of them. Joakim used serious pressure-sales techniques on us, but they didn't work, being poor travelling gypsies.

* * *

As a final note, our show in Gothenberg was AMAAAZINGly fun. It was a living room show. We were selling our new shirts (thanks Chris!) for the first time. The crowd was comprised of Hungarians, Greeks, Turkish, Kyrgyzstan people and a sprinkling of Swedes who, surprisingly, danced their faces off! It was a great night, got lots of great music from Michael and made a small new fan base in Gothenberg. Success! Also met a redhead makeup designer who is in love with Peter Jackson's early splatter films. A girl after my own heart.

Then we went to Hamburg and played a show, then to Berlin. I will write about those sooooon!!!

Sweden Part I: Swedes, Heartbeats and Rum and Cokes

Stockholm. I'm sitting in Ineke's grandmother's car with Xania in the front seat, me in the back. Ineke is out buying vegetables and bread. The car smells like old sleeping bags and the floor is covered with crumbs, oranges and candy wrappers. We're discussing where to go now with Trike.

"I think we've achieved what we can with playing these small venues and now we have to move on" Xania says.

"I agree" I say.

"But" I say, with a long pause following "how do we get bigger shows?"

"We ... contact the booker from Crunchy Frog. We volunteer at festivals... work on our recordings, work on our live act. We need to feel creative and I don't feel creative right now... I need to be creative again... otherwise I feel useless." Xania says.

This is a discussion we keep having. The need to change things. Touring has been wonderful, but neither of us feel like we're progressing. We've hit a ceiling on what we can do at this level and we need to move forward. We DID, however, feel like we were progressing in Copenhagen, playing in the streets, popping into Crunchy Frog to play them a song, playing at Stengade 30, doing some solid internet work for the band, moving towards getting our t-shirts available online, being in one place with five free days; making dinner with Oliver, playing for him in the park, jamming on a few songs we rarely play ...

But we just played the King Kong bar in Sweden last night, and although there was, in the end, a positive response, it was a very difficult, tricky crowd (Swedes are notoriously reserved and refuse to move) and a bit exhausting for us. They absolutely REFUSED to dance the Trikey (our signature dance). REFUSED. Complete with arms crossed and everything. Surprisingly, they did put their hands in the air when the angels appeared, doing the Trikey. On top of it, the DJ in the next room kept starting his set during our show. I (exaggeratedly) flipped out on stage, tossing the mic stand, keyboard and keyboard stand everywhere. A Swede in the audience yelled "Hang the DJ!", as a nod to Morissey. He later confessed that he wanted me to incite the crowd to shout "Hang the DJ" in unison. Damn, I wished I'd picked up on that.

Later that night, two cute blonds recognized us in the metro, which was nice.

We're generally not sleeping well, and almost every night, 3 hours before the gig, I feel like crashing like a heap of bricks. But I don't. I have a coke (or a rum and coke) and pull through. And we mostly have pretty good if not great shows. But small venues... always small venues. We need... NEED to make the big step; to play bigger venues. BIGGER!!!

* * *

I have so many ideas on how we can expand on what we're doing: buying a loop pedal so Xania could do some final fantasy-style elaborate violin layering. Using a sequencing program and ableton live so I can start using samples to beef up parts of the songs... constructing beats with sequencing programs because we are running out of pre-programmed beats, PLUS, I like making beats. 'Not only that, but ideas involving more costumes, colours, confetti, balloons,

I was listening to The Knife's song "Heartbeats" and it was so gorgeous and thick and beautiful and sexy and I suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to create something that really emotionally resonates. Something that people NEED to hear many times and NEED to have. I'm influenced by Ladytron, Lush, Stereolab... a lot of "shoegazing", 80's influenced bands. And I think we can. We just need time. Time to be NOT on the road, but in one place, with a space where we can write, record, edit, sequence, generate ideas for the live show...

That's the thing too. We really need to work on our live show. In Vancouver, before we left for Europe, I feel like we were improving with leaps and bounds with each show. And although the last ten months of touring (with a brief 2 months off to record). We were constantly introducing new ideas into our shows; new props, costumes, dance moves... whereas touring constantly has led us to this point; where we feel like we've hit the ceiling of what we can do, for now, without taking time to look inside, reinvent things, toy with new concepts etc...

* * *

Somebody found a painting I did in Saint John New Brunswick and wrote me to say he really liked it. That reminded me how much I love painting, and how it excercises a different muscle than performing. It's introspective for me. Two years ago is the only time I tried to sell art, and it worked! I sold a piece for two hundred in Stanstead, Quebec, at a cafe called Millie's Diner. But I want to do more of that, and I think I'm almost in a place where I can.

I need time to flesh out other ideas, to make other things, to do other shit. That can only happen if we STOP booking constantly and STAY in one place for awhile (ahem... Copenhagen... ahem).

Thing is, we have a toss up: to stay in Copenhagen for at least a month, or to go from festival to festival, volunteering and playing (even if it's just on a pathway to a stage or near the entrance). Fact is, the Festival idea really appeals to me, too, because I think we could meet a LOOOOOOOT of people that way. Perhaps the idea could be: play/ volunteer at Festivals all summer, then stay in Copenhagen in the fall and make serious headway... hmm. Hmm. HMMMMM....

Tomorrow I will see more of Stockholm (and busk in the funky student part of Stockholm). I will share what I experience with you beautiful people ASAP.

Crunchy Frog Blogged About Trike!

We popped into Danish Label, Crunchy Frog's head offices in Copenhagen and gave them a taste of what we do. They wrote about us in their blog soon afterwards!

Crunchy Frog's Blog About TRIKE!

First pics of the latest event at Tegnersstrasse... (thanks for comming)!

The reason Copenhagen is magical

I wanted to go to Copenhagen ever since the last time we toured Europe, last year. I had never been there, knew virtually nothing about the city, but I was intensely curious, and I don't know why.

So, this time we began booking Denmark. We got shows in Vordingborg and Aarhus, but no Copenhagen, sadly. HOWEVER, still intent on succeeding there, and having a five day gap, we decided to head up there anyway to see what would happen.

Our two shows were wonderful. Aarhus was great, with a metalhead Joey Ramone in front with his gaggle of lovely friends, Vordingborg was also great, and we met some cool peeps who introduced us to snazzy danish bands and fed us breakfast on a big patio.

Then, Copenhagen. We arrived and stayed with Oliver. A tall chap with facial hair and very dry humour. We went to Christania, a massive squat village (kinda like Smurf village but cooler and without blue people) and began busking. We did well! We've been busking around 60 minutes to 90 minutes every day and raking in about 100 to 120 a day, for very little work. We sold a T shirt and Trike ball cap to a kid when we busked downtown. We sold CDs pretty much every day. In fact, we're out of merch now... and it feels good.

Three bookers approached us and got our info, AND contacted us regarding playing shows. We got a last-minute show at Stengade 30, and a show in the Soup Kitchen yesterday.

Yesterday, we popped by Crunchy Frog (label). We heard they like taking chances on original material, so we gave it a shot. We played Prescription for them and they stood up, clapping frantically. They also came to our (shitty: sound-wise at least) show last night in Stengade and bought a Trike tank top. We gave the Crunchy Frog booker our card, for future gigs.

And today, our last day, we are busking in the park. EVERYBODY is going to this massive park, so we will go there and busk for 20 minute intervals, throughout the park; making new friends and fans, hopefully. Before that we will get some new business cards made.

All in all, Copenhagen WAS magical, just as I thought/ hoped. The reaction in the soup kitchen yesterday was so wonderful... the whole week has been wonderful. Financially successful, fun and massively joyful.

Tonight we begin our long drive to Stockholm, Sweden. Ah, Igmar Bergman...

xo
Stephen

ps. We have started filming our busking, but the sound was shitty, so we can't post it yet. We want to start a vlog a day project: mostly focusing on busking experiences... once I figure out this editing program, we'll (in the immortal words of Gabe and Matt Weaver) git 'er done!

Tusind Tak, Danes, off to Sweden in 5 days...

Denmark.

First show was in Vordingborg; a small (14,000) town with charming inhabitants and a pleasant feel. Everybody in town was at the high school for a film festival, but we had a decent audience of about 20, 25 people... (including the peeps who worked there and the other band, the fantastic, almost-signed Vinnie Woo... check em out).

We got paid very well, but the audience was small. No matter. people were into us. We delivered, I thought. Sold one CD. Drank a few beers and chatted with an intense bald guy named Geer about Danish filmmakers and Danish politics. Learned a few Danish phrases, which I have since forgot, of course.

They treated us like gold. A filling dinner, nuts, pop, drinks of all sorts. Chatted with Vinnie Woo about Copenhagen and Pusher Street, and the gangs... interesting stuff. Christania, which is a squat I have heard about a million times... and how it has changed over the years.

Next stop was Aarhus. We played at Fairbar. The crowd was relatively sedate until 10 young peeps walked in boldly and started dancing and smiling almost instantly. They MADE the show for us. One of them looked like the Nordish version of Joey Ramone. He talked at length about us afterwards and my head swelled to gargantuan proportions, BUT at the same time, said he would never listen to us at home (he is a metal head, to boot). `You're a live band' he stated. We went to a party that night until 5 am then crashed at yet another couchsurfer's place.

Anyway, now we are in Copenhagen. Today we will go to Christania to busk and see if we can play a show there. Who knows?

I still don't have a strong feel as to what the Danes are all about. I know they once had Norway and Sweden and there is still some bitterness towards both countries since they lost their control. Those vikings, I tell ya! Perhaps in the next few days we will find out more about what makes them tick.

And in five days we head to Sweden. I'm still waiting to hear back from a couple of friends about visiting them on the way to Stockholm, or the way back. Would be nice.

Tak
Ciao
Stephen

CDs that don't work, obnoxious friends in Hamburg and "The Big Hit"

Hamburg.

We were on a radio show in Weimar; Florence's radio show.

Sending songs to Florence, because her CD didn't work. This is the third time that a CD hasn't worked for a fan who bought it in the last week. Time has come to get them properly pressed... Gots to do it... however, as usual, we need money first.

I think we will busk today. The two items on the agenda: to BUSK and to have a MEETING. Our record label, Capsule, folded, so now we are back left to our own devices. We have to... HAVE to get our stuff on itunes, along with many many other things.

Watched "The Big Hit" last night. It was pretty bad but I couldn't stop myself from watching it til the end, even though my eyelids were dropping constantly.

We played in Hamburg and our dear friend, Alexander was trying to sell CDs afterwards and two girls said "they have their tunes on myspace. That's fine with me. I don't need their album" and right away, I was thinking, okay, let's make them 30 second samples on myspace aside from perhaps ONE full song available. That kinda pissed me off. I mean, I GUESS I understand it, but still... depressing.

That night was a pretty fun show, aside from the sound being wayyyyyyyy too quiet (neighbours). A lot of the usual suspects were there, and it was fun having them. Made enough cash to keep things going for a few days.

We were invited by a longtime friend to go to Cubik; a club. We finally got everything together to go, and left... I had a nice chat with metal K about her feature film idea en route, but my other friend was super drunk and started making fun of me about my age. She was being really drunk and obnoxious. I was put off. So, two blocks away from the club, at 3:20am, wandering down a cold cold street, X and I decided to return. But it was good because we had a nice long chat about the state of Trike, goals for the band etc. It was really nice because with Ineke, I find we get unfocused... different energies. We NEED focus right now. We have a few shows soon but lots of time off, so we have to sort out a LOT of gritty shit; including goals, promotion etc... not to mention planning for getting to shows etc in the next while.

We wanted to busk today but other things seem to be taking over: Planning, getting bus tickets because driving in Scandanavia is a bitch etc.

Truth is, I've been getting a bit exhausted from touring. My back was SUCH a bitch since my fall in Prague. It has been getting better, however, and now feels much better than even a week ago. But asides from that, both of us are really feeling the need to be more creative and productive. We're really happy with the new album and have to get it out, but we need a strategy to do so. We also have to sort out things re: website and getting label interest/ manager interest. Lots of things to sort out. Not to mention the basic necessities of feeding ourselves and ensuring we have cash coming in, which is where busking comes in.

Last year we were used to busking almost every day to survive... we've fallen off the wagon, gotten used to doing shows and getting paid, however measly, at times.

Ineke just said she might leave the tour early to return to Holland. Great. Dunno why exactly. Maybe she's tired of us and our antics. Guess we'll have to figure out transportation earlier now. Hope we can afford it.

Man, this tour has some high points, but much of it has been kinda disastrous. Some great shows... but now we're just feeling like sitting ducks. We have an album we're happy with and want to get it out, get exposure etc. At least...

Thoughts en route to Frankfurt...

Listening to "Zombie Tragedy". It is fuckin' dancy as hell.

Last night, in Hamburg, Xania received an email from the dude from Capsule; two weeks after officially signing with them and being the "featured artist".

He said that the label has to fold. No more Capsule. Thereby, our brief flirtation with a record label (albeit, a digital label) is over. Back to square one.

And we are BAD when it comes to digital stuff. Yeah, we have a website, myspace, facebook group, but our tunes STILL aren't on itunes, rhapsody, or any of these places. It's silly. We have to get our stuff up online... and soon! But when it comes to that side of what we're doing, We're both really bad at it. We're struggling to get by on the road, making peanuts from gig to gig, with really no idea how we will continue to survive, and we haven't taken care of the basics: having music for sale etc.

We stayed with a chap named Robert in Hamburg who was giving us basic (and good) advice about sites we could tackle to get our tunes out there etc. And at this point, we REALLY need to. Our new album is pretty dancey and has the potential of getting good exposure, on dance floors and off... but we have to look at all our different avenues to get exposure/ play and sales.

It's hard to get ourselves in that mindset, but it has to happen.

Anyway, it is a sunny day. We're on the autoban en route to Offenbach am Main for our show at Hafen 2. I'm struggling with inner demons and Xania is making CDs in the backseat. All is well.

More soon...

xo
Stevie

ps. watch our music video, babes:

Hamburg Show Last night... and New Video for "Do The Trikey"

Hamburg last night.
It was a blast. Really full! We did a few new songs: Ice Cream On The Side Of The Road. Carsten said he finally could see the sadness in our songs; the lyrics... sandwiched in a happy sound...

Not much else to say, aside from that it was a really fun second show in Hamburg for our 2009 tour.

Next Hamburg show: Saturday at Hasenschaukel.

PS: We have our new music video "Do The Trikey". Take a look:

Trike Euro Log: Strife In Greece

Bulgaria: played in Sofia in a bar called FANS. It was a hard rock/ metal bar, but they liked us anyway. At least, some of them did. One very tall fellow said many nice things to us afterwards. I cut the set a song short due to the pain I felt with every breath.

Now we're in Thessaloniki, Greece, staying with Marta, who had arranged a show for us in a place called Sknipa, but the gig wasn't solidified. I thought it was. Anyway, she fed us screwdrivers and we watched Youtube until 5am. Marta is originally from Toronto, but has lived here for ten years.

My fucking back isn't getting any better. Performing is not enjoyable feeling like this. Went to a clinic in Sofia, Bulgaria yesterday. They took an X-Ray of my back. My ribs are okay. Not broken. But there was a white dot on the x-ray. The woman's prognosis was bronchitis. I just find it strange that it would be in the same place as my pain, yet unrelated to the fall. The woman said it's probably a sprain. I don't know. I just know it fuckin' hurts. They gave me two different types of pills and lotion.

Bulgaria seemed like a nice place. Sorta wish we coulda spent more time there. In fact, I would have liked to, if I had known the next phase of the tour would be HELL. Costly, stressful and painful.

Thessaloniki, Greece. Travelled five hours to get here, but when we got here, we realized that without GPS or a VERY exact map, it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE to find your way anywhere. We got impossibly lost. None of the gas stations sold city street maps ("you get them in bookstores" I was told. Great). We drove around for hours and hours, doing U-Turns, getting into fights, crying... At one point, exhausted, I exclaimed "This tour is no longer fun. I can't handle this anymore". Perhaps travelling by train IS easier. I dunno.

There are also some personality conflicts and tension that is adding to the lack of enjoyment on the tour. I don't want to get into details on a public blog, but it's tense.

Tomorrow is Athens, but if my back feels the same, performing will be painful and NOT enjoyable. Well, enjoyable to a degree, but pain shooting through my back and torso every time I breathe. Two days ago I was hell-bent on cancelling the next phase of the tour. I still might, depending on how painful the next few shows are on my body.

Crossing into Croatia with a Russian and a Big Fat Joint

We just started our drive to Bulgaria on a scary note. Ineke turned right onto train tracks, because a car had driven down there. She assumed it was a proper street. Next thing we know, we were sandwiched between a train and a silver car. Both the train and the car were honking at us. Finally, she turned right onto the street.

That's the fourth very scary moment during the tour. Once, she turned into three lanes of oncoming traffic in Haarlem, The Netherlands (she claimed it was because she was tired) and there were two other incidents involving driving into oncoming traffic.

Nevertheless, we're still here. Still alive. Despite some terrifying moments, her driving is getting better and more confident. Hell, I couldn't drive my way out of a paper bag.

We had an amaaazing show in Ljubljana. Even more people came this time. The guy with the toilet seat was there again, but without the toilet seat ("I tried to pull it off" he said. "It wouldn't come off!"). There was a guy there with a moustache who everyone called Daisy. He kept giving me the middle finger and calling me "American". "Go back to South Park!" he would yell. He was drunk. He spiced up the evening. At one point I poured beer on his head and he threw beer at me, splashing the keyboards. I quickly dried them off. He kept asking me to fight, but I said no. Firstoff, my back hurts like hell and secondly, I'm a pacifist.

We did almost 3 hours that night, and I had my busted back, too. It was a blast. Sold one of our new CD/slippers. Sanja filmed us, jumping onstage to get some up close and personal shots... The crowd was wacky and fun. We did a cover of Opus' "Live is Life" (which Leibach also covered, with their lead singer's über-baritone voice), which I remember from grade 7.

The next day we learned more about Leibach thanks to Tine and Sanja, who also took us into town so Xboxx could get her thyroid pills and I could pick up more CDs. Leibach is the Slovenian art movement that uses all sorts of nazi-type imagery and motifs. They push buttons and have been banned in various countries, but it's all very tongue-in-cheek, and in fact, it's a left-wing ideology. They showed us the keyboard player's partially burned books about Leibach: photos of his art pieces, collages, photos of Leibach album covers, their flag; pieces they did with armies of various countries... fascinating stuff. The keyboard player stayed at Rog and burned down half the building a couple of years ago. He also started dabbling in drugs and started to fall apart. Apparently now, he's back on track; whatever "back on track" means.

Then, off to Croatia. We had Dimitri and Sasha with us. We met them at the show. Sasha is from Thunder Bay but has a thick Russian accent he picked up living with Russians. However, he's only been here for 9 months, so we were suspicious. He's an anarchist obsessed with linguistics. He believes in the abolishment of the State and borders. He also believes in sardines.

We arrived at the Slovenian border without a toll-sticker we were supposed to have on the windshield and had to pay 150 euros. This sucks because we were told about it by Sanja earlier, but neglected to purchase one.

To make matters worse, we got to the Croatian border and they gave us the runaround. Dimitri was Russian and not allowed in Croatia, so we were also suspects. We were there for two hours. Ineke's car was searched head to toe, as were we. Xania had a fat joint in her camera bag which neither Ineke or I knew about, so she was sweating bullets as the two of us thought everything was peachy keen. She got the joint from a fan the night before. They put it in our donation jar. LUCKILY, even though it was a VERY thorough search, they didn't find it. Phew! She tossed it out of the window onto the rainy highway as we drove into Serbia

We drove to Belgrade, a good three hours late for our gig. We arrived at 10:30 but got extremely lost and started fighting. After asking about 15 people how to get there, a kind little sporty dude with a little flag got in the car and directed us there.

The show wasn't great. People at first seemed to like us and then lost focus. I don't know why. I feel we played well. I think the DJ didn't know how to set the levels properly. It sounded really high-EQ'ed and sharp. The nuances were all lost. I could barely hear my voice. It was one of our three worst gigs on this tour.

Whatever. A shitty show. So it goes. A couple of dudes approached me afterwards and said they liked us and invited us to an afterparty which lasted for two days. We hung out in Michael's place (also a musician), listening to music, doing lots of drugs and drinking, and occasional sleeping. It was fun. My back started to heal. We took the little dog for a walk. I had intense conversations about Serbia and Croatia, the US and NATO's unfair involvement in the turmoil (bombing Serbia for ten years, treating them like rats in a cage).

We return in about a week to play Belgrade and then Novi Sad. I am VERY intrigued by the politics of this region and want to learn more.

Now we go to Sofia, Bulgaria. Yippee! Apparently very cheap city/ country. Hope so. We've been losing money, especially after the border fiasco. Our CD is for sale through www.capsulerecords.com, but let's face it: people don't buy shit. At least they don't buy Trike shit. Not unless it's in person; at a show (or busking. We make money selling CDs while busking) ... or so it seems. Fuck 'em. Maybe they'll buy T shirts once we really get them going. Being an artist is an uphill battle.

Trike Euro-Log: Berlin, Prague, Zilina, Graz and Zurich

Okay, I just realized I haven't written about the last four shows. Before I do, I want to mention that we introduced our new song "Ice Cream On The Side Of The Road" in most of these shows, which was well-received... more and more so, the more we played it.

Berlin:
Played at Lokal with Robotron. We had a dramatic show-down with Ineke in the car, on the way to the venue. Xania and I were giving her opposing directions (the GPS wasn't that clear) when she had to make a turn. She didn't make the turn that I said she should make. I heatedly asked why and she said I told her to turn when she was already driving (not true. she was stopped) and then she was saying I was telling her to go straight - she confused what I told her with what Xania told her. I was angry because I felt she was accusing me of saying something I didn't say. Then she kinda blew up, stopped the car and said we could take the metro. We sorted everything out and went to the venue, but we were all trembling after the tension. Pity those moments are never captured on video. All ruffled feathers were smoothed over soon afterwards.

Lokal had a new, silver backdrop and disco ball. Robotron opened. Robotron is a crunchy, hardcore electro-punk duo from Berlin with a few little keyboards, 80's artsy-mullets and hyper energy. Then we played. It was a great, great show. Many people came. A group of hot dancing girls in the front. One of them was celebrating her birthday. The surprising thing was her friend's ability to dance like there was no tomorrow for the whole show while wearing a backpack.

We didn't sell any CDs, but the audience was great, and the energy was high. I felt like I reached a new plateau in terms of performance, crawling along the floor during Johnny B Goode and such ... Afterwards, I went dancing with Kitty, Kathrin and the gang til 5am (had a dance-off with a young chap dressed like Elvis. It was like Grease, dancing with a circle of people cheering me on) til I collapsed in an exhausted heap. Went back to Herrmann's but we had no pillows or blankets, so we took a taxi to my friend Kathrin's house. It took 20 minutes for her to hear the bell and let us in, but we finally slept for five hours or so. Kathrin, Jamie (her Irish boyfriend), Xania and I went to August for a buffet breakfast (only three euros!)

Prague:
Xania wrote a blog about Prague. We played at Chapeau Rouge with Undersound Earlines, who were great. They had more members, including a bassist and a tall, blond girl with an expression-less face (very Czech) singing back-up vocals. Our show was fun. A Monday night. A lot of the regulars weren't there (probably because it was a Monday night); Steve P, John Dodge, Lilly, Clabbe... but the people who did show were super high-energy and crazy, and aside from fucking up about 500 times (without anyone noticing; at least, I hope) we had a great night. The audience was crazier than usual. The next night we played at Antonio's place for his housewarming party. It was fun. Franco did an interview with us that was HILARIOUS. Our best interview by far. Antonio was interviewed too, and he threw in comments about meeting us in a sex shop and such. I got wayyy too drunk, way too flirtatious and fell into a table, later on, breaking a rib (I'm serious)... or at least fracturing it... the last few days have been hell; waking up in pain fifteen times a night and taking ten minutes just to stand up with all the pain.

The next day we went to the Franz Kafka museum which was utterly fascinating. With my intense rib/back pain, I identified with his tortured soul. TONS of students wandered through the museum. I bought two postcards for friends.

And, the day we had to leave, we discovered Ineke's car was broken into. Our video camera (unused thus far during this tour), two big bags of clothes and Ineke's mp3 player were gone baby, gone. We had a miserable time trying to get the cops involved. They took forever to arrive at the scene of the crime, and when they did, they claimed they didn't speak English well enough, and said "In ten minutes a cop will be here who speaks English" "ten minutes?" I asked, knowing that we were already two hours late for Zilina. "Yes. Ten minutes". A very frustrating hour later, they arrived. The cop who spoke English was very helpful though, and after saying that we could return to deal with the theft on the thirteenth, we took off for Zilina. I will always have a love/hate relationship with Prague. I totally empathize with Kafka.

Zilina:
In case you're curious, Zilina is in Slovakia. Therefore, of course, everyone speaks Czech; only their czech is slightly different from Czech Republik's czech. We arrived a few hours late due to the theft, and half the audience had left, but the ones that stayed were by far the best audience all tour. Of course, every show has people who really get us and get into us and let themselves go, but this was the first show all tour where the entire audience let themselves go. It was like that scene in Peanuts' Xmas movie, where everyone is dancing their own kooky dance. The people (artists and their friends) were amazing. Dancing from the moment we started, imitating our moves... it was great, aside from the guy who kept trying to steal my paisley tie. I often let people take my clothes if they really want them, but that tie has sentimental value. I found it on the streets of berlin and it goes perfectly with my light blue, semi-transparent shirt with the yellow wife-beater underneath. After the show I talked at great length with a french guy in a black shag coat who said I had great style and my energy onstage was captivating and, although he doesn't really get into synth pop, he was sucked into our show. He said he wanted to move to BC to become a famous scratch dj and perhaps even be my roommate... that is, if I ever move back.

The people were so kind. They were young entrepeneurial artist types, and Stalinica was an artist-run place with an art-room down below for kids, a playground with a funky, double teeter-totter and loads of graffiti. They talked about plans to build a theater next to the venue, out of straw.

Graz:
Ah, Graz. We arrived at 8:30. It was a show put on by Picture Eyes, whom we met last year at Lokal in Berlin. (They're really great). On the way, we bought a batch of slippers to make CDs out of. We drew robots all over them. I had decided not to drink, due to my broken/ fractured rib. Our show was well-received and the place was PACKED to the brim. The only unfortunate thing is that we didn't get to collect many emails or sell many CDs because we had to leave, so we could sleep enough before we left for our eight hour drive to Zurich. A small show-down with Ineke, who wanted to go, but our host wanted to watch Picture Eyes first. I asked if we could leave now, and Balmi spoke with Andreas, who agreed to leave then. Ineke had gone to her car, not knowing we had arranged to leave. She was upset. I spoke to her and everything was eventually smoothed out. We went back to Andreas and Suzie's house and slept for 7 hours. Then we awoke, ate a filling Austrian breakfast, thanks to Andreas, and left for Zurich.

Zurich:
Eight hours in the car for a show with 25 people. I'm not complaining. We met some groovy people, and it was our first time in Zurich, but it was costly (the highway tolls are nuts) and we made back half of what we spent to go there and back. Still, in the end, I'm glad we did it. We sold three CDs, met Rolle (the booker of Mars Bar, who dresses like the Ramones, looks like a Ramone, and plays in a Ramones cover band as lead singer... although they haven't rehearsed or played for a year) and ate delicious soup. It's funny because before we played there, Rolle said he couldn't provide us with accomodation or food, but in the end, he let us sleep in his house and they had food at the venue for us. And, he fed us the next morning. When we left he said "I hope you get famous".

The night before he said that we don't really fit into his bar, which is more about Indie Rock. He said every time he tries something different, not too many people show up. It's true. Not many people showed up, and a few times people poked in, heard a minute and left. Fuck 'em. He said if we played at Helsinki (Zurich club more fitting for zany synth-pop like Trike), we could get 100 people out, easily...

The show was fun. People weren't nearly as expressive as in Zilina, but some of them jogged into the other bar, Olé Olé with us, and they asked for three encores. We gave two, because I was exhausted and ill, with my rib condition.

The next day we drove to Innsbruck. I sat in the backseat and watched movies; "The Hunter" - Steve McQueen's last movie, half of "The Wrestler" (dubbed in German, reading the english screenplay that I downloaded) and some of "Music Man" and "The Fountain". We stayed with two Italian girls who made us pasta, played Joy Division and let us harass them by showing them our music videos. This morning, I slept in, since my night was such a fucking mess; waking up lots, tossing and turning... Ineke was annoyed that I didn't wake up earlier so we could get to Ljubljana earlier to explore a bit, but I really needed sleep. My back is killing me, and I have to take sleep when I can get it, because it doesn't come often, with this chronic pain.

Now we are en route to Ljubljana, where we made our "Mag Ik Met Jou" music video (see our youtube channel: www.youtube.com/user/stephenpaultaylor) last year and played two shows. We're thinking of doing a cover of the song "Life is Life" tonight, if we have time to rehearse it. We shall see. I hope I feel up to putting on a good show. This is the beginning of our trek eastwards, which will take us to Sofia, Athens, Belgrade and more.

Trike Meet Hamburg... again

Fun fun fun on the autobahn...
When we were in Leipzig, Tobi showed us a fascinating video of Kraftwerk from 1970, in black and white. They were playing some really noise-oriented stuff, but with a drum kit... very hypnotic and wayyy ahead of its time. Everyone seemed into it. Couldn't help but wonder what the older generation thought of them at the time.

En route to Berlin. Been listening to a German language mp3 and reading the accompanying book. I think/hope it's slowly making its way into my brain, like a persistant worm. A persistant, German worm.

Something I forgot to mention: Ron (who is mixing our album) sent us three tracks: Fat Dancer, Dutch Girls and Omigod. They sounded so good! We were worried, but we began rerecording tracks with pre-amped vocals, and they sound so warm... and the sax solos... damn. We danced all over Tobi's kitchen and a tear came to my eye at the end of Omigod. So much work, and finally, we had a product that was almost finished and we could stand confidently and proudly behind it.

Anyway, this blog is about Hamburg, so I should really get to it.

We arrived 45 minutes late. It happens. Ineke is a young and cautious driver. We have to learn to leave an hour earlier than googlemaps says we should, just so we have enough time. Anyway, eventually we pulled up to Astra Stube and the moustached, shaggy-haired Nils popped out of the front door to greet us.

Inside there was a platter of small sandwiches, goodies, chocolates and small yogurts set up for us on the bar-counter.

Firstoff, my second keyboard had stopped working in Leipzig after it toppled to the floor of the stage during our Leipzig show. Claus from Yamaha, who initially said Yamaha would sponser us and gave us the keyboard, showed up with a brand new, sparkling keyboard for me!!! We used it last night. He ALSO took us out for pizza, paid for by Yamaha!

I was nervous that not too many people would show up. I don't know why. Perhaps because a few people had written, saying they couldn't make it, and the few who said they would weren't that reliable. We met Suzanne, Tobi's friend (whom he had called and told to go see us), who said she would be our merch girl. Her and her delightful friend sold three CDs after the show. Nice... A lot of the usual suspects (Björn, Hinni, Anna, Christina, Elise) didn't show up, but other usual suspects did. "People just have to get used to you being back in Hamburg. You have three more shows. People will come." So, it was a modest-sized audience, but it still felt relatively full (the joys of playing small venues... they always feel full), and we had a great show in the end.

The show was enjoyable. We busted out "Julie Booth". It was a bit of a fiasco, because Xania had two small red pillows. One was for her to pillow-attack me with as I play, and one was for our friend (who came all the way from Berlin to see us) Herrmann to use on audience members, but Xania gestured for him to smack me around with it. So, here I was, trying to play this complicated song on the keys, and I had Xboxx and Herrmann both battering me from the front and back. I was shocked. I stopped the song. Everyone laughed. I was discombobulated. I began the tune again, but It was shaky... so much for doing a perfect version of our new tune. Aw, that Xania, I tell ya. What a rascal.

In Hamburg it's funny, because people don't really dance or move around (the only ones who do usually aren't from Hamburg; like the Italian girl from last night) and say precious little between songs. I mean, we have a great little fan base in Hamburg and I love those cats, but it's true what they say about people from Northern Germany. They're not terribly expressive. Claus and I had a big talk about it...

HOWEVER, that being said; during "Let's Jog", almost the entire venue emptied out, and everyone followed me as we jogged into the nearest gas station. We circled around, jogging hooting and hollering, while the workers looked at us, aghast. We jogged back; everyone was grinning from ear to ear.

There's talk of getting hold of the security tape so Ineke can use it in her documentary.

Max, our tall Hamburgian friend who has seen many concerts and was responsible for getting us to play outside of a squat's communal kitchen last year (it was a blast) was there, sporting a new moustache. He invited us to Rota Flora to dance to crunchy techno and drum n' bass, but I was sick still (still am, but I'm getting over it) so I said no. Aargh.

Nils took us to our apartment. It was a charming little place with bunkbeds. He put little chocolates on our pillows and bid us a "guten nacht". I began watching "The Swimmer" (with Burt Lancaster from 1968. I've seen it before. It's a powerful and poignant film) with Xania but soon fell asleep like a ton of bricks.

This morning we went to 31, the restaurant that Nils from Astra Stube always arranges free breakfast for the bands, and had a yummy German breakfast (various types of cheese, nutella, meats, thick German bread). I drank two cappuccinos and a coffee and booked shows. I ALMOST have one arranged (a Living-Room show) in Sweden, and there is another venue I'm flirting with from Malmo, Sweden. It's a "non-paying" gig, but I'm trying to work it so we can at the very LEAST pass the hat. I think that's reasonable. Venues can't expect bands to play for free. We have to get from A to B, feed ourselves etc... A few venues I've spoken to don't offer any pay at all, and it's always a bit mind-blowing.

OH, and as a post-script, we discovered the venue in Athens forgot they booked us (months and months ago). They denied ever confirming the show in April and said it is unlikely. Xania found their email on myspace and sent it to them. They offered us a show the following day, a Sunday (April 5), but that would mean travelling 9 hours to get to Kosovo the next day. It's shit. I hate how this has happened THREE TIMES so far this tour. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, PEOPLE!