Trike Euro Log: Chillin' in Rotterdam with Ron

Actually, we're not IN Rotterdam, we're just outside of it, in a small town. We're staying with Ron. I will tell you the story of Trike and Ron.

We played at a place called Cafe Stiels in Haarlem, The Netherlands (just outside of Amsterdam) last time we toured Europe (a few short months ago). We played with Mark Lotterman, a dutch musician (doppelganger for Tom Waits/ Nick Cave and Bob Dylan... somewhat morbid lyrics and a deep, sad, trembling voice). Anyway, he brought his personal soundman, Ron. Ron is a smiley, gap-toothed, tall (of course, he's dutch!) fellow with salt and pepper hair, usually unkempt.

He also did sound for us at the Jam Inn, in Tiel, The Netherlands. He seemed quiet, shy even... boy, I was wrong. Although he tries to convince me he's a quiet fellow, he has plenty to say.

We met him yet again on this tour, when we returned to Tiel to play a second time (and it was a blast! Hanneke packed the place to the rafters. Much fuller than the first time; and it was only Sunday! They loved us, wore our Trike panties on their heads, flirted with us, jogged with us into another cafe).

And again in Exit, in Rotterdam... Ron came specifically to see us! Mark was there, as well as a few other regulars that I've seen a few times now. But this time there was a problem. We were supposed to leave to go to Marseilles, but Leen, the booker/ owner of Tocado Records, had fired Dirk, our driver, who also volunteered at Exit. Dirk had come in twice drunk in the week previous, so Leen canned him as a volunteer at Exit but expected he would still be our driver. How he can can fire somebody who is volunteering is beyond me, but he did, apparently. So, we didn't have a ride. I ranted and raved a bit about how disorganized everything was, but then Mr. Magic Leen asked Ron if he would drive us down to Marseilles. Ron, having nothing else to do, and being a fan, said YES!

So we left at five a.m., went down to Marseilles, arrived slightly late (google maps was WAY off with their "estimated time", at least two hours), and played to the at-times enthusiastic crowd, but not the right crowd for us.

Anyway, in the car we chatted a LOT. We played Mark's CD, I played Trike for Ron... we hung out in Dijon on the way back and went to some shitty bars, including one Irish bar I was thrown out of for trying to sleep upstairs (the french generic pop was horrid, so I stuck earplugs in my ears and tried to catch some Zzzs). But during all of this adventure, Ron offered to mix our album, "Mushy Muschi Moshi". We had distinct ideas about some things, and wanted to be a little more hands on, and to perhaps input samples and such to help beef it up. He had ideas. So, he offered to have us stay at his place in this small town and mix.

So we've been here for a few days. Xania's brother, John Keane, who recorded our vocals, some glockenspiel and violin, is mixing down tracks and sending them to us from Montreal. My brother will possibly mix as well, in Saint John, and master it, in the end. So, we're on track... almost. Now we're hoping that tonight we can record with Ron. We were hoping to do it last night, but he took me to another little town to try to get shows for this weekend (too short notice; didn't happen), and we had a few beers in a small bar, and bought groceries... and beer. Astral beer. Yum.

The days are calm. Ineke went away to Utrecht for a couple of days and returned yesterday. She is editing her documentary of us and it's coming along. It's a bit frustrating because, having been a filmmaker, I constantly have thoughts and ideas, and sometimes I think things should be filmed that aren't, but I have to take a back seat and let her work her magic.

Ron also has a big dog he's madly in love with, and a smaller (tiny) one he's babysitting for a few days. The tiny one always trembles and loves when I throw her sticks. She goes absolutely nuts.

I love these times though: these calm periods between shows, when we can decompress, record, mix, do creative shit and prepare for our next slew of shows. March and April are pretty booked, and getting more booked. We've been spending the bulk of our day at Mark Lotterman's mom's house (she has WiFi) booking shows, filling in forms for Capsule Records (our first record contract!) and planning our course of action for the next few months. We have about eight shows in May, and we need to fill in all the gaps. April is getting pretty full, but we still have gaps. I'm eager to fill the gaps. We're getting ourselves out there and it's good.

We'll be ordering shirts from Band Merch soon; about fifty. If they sell well, and quick, we'll get more. Can't wait. Chris, the guy behind the company, is a good man with lots of faith in us. We always referred to him as our "advisor" in Vancouver... he gives us good advice. This will be our first time (well, since my days playing with Wes Knight) that we'll have a batch of shirts. We NEED them, so this is really good. Invest in the band, Stephen, it's worth it...

One more week until we're back on the road... off to Germany. Ah, Hamburg and Berlin; both have been so good to us!