Through the Desert in a 15 passenger
August 5, 2010
Driving through the desert has always had a profound impression on my psyche. Like the egg in those anti-drug commercials… cooked to a bubbly mess. Something about all that open space sends me into an existential spiral staircase made by an MC Escher-esque architect. Each step feels like a cruel joke, taking you to a cliff, a dead end or just endlessly spinning you in circles. The hundreds of miles of sand beg the inevitable questions of “why are we here?” and “what am I doing with my life?” These questions crawl out of storage closet you’ve kept them in since the last time you dwelled. The gas in our proverbial motors flows loudly here. The underlying motivation between our hustle is spelled out clearly. Its that usual quiet whisper in the ear that reminds you that one day this will all come to an end for everyone of us. Some of us might need that reminder at times, and then others may be overly conscious of that truth already. I need no reminders. I am one of the overly conscious ones.
Moving on, I sit in a hotel room overlooking downtown LA. We’ve been here for a few days after ending a short run with The Dear Hunter and O Brother. It’s a ghostly city, a place where both dreams and celebrities come to die. I feel like an alien here on most days but each time we come back I feel less and less strange. I’m not really sure what the implications of that are but I’ll take comfort in whatever way it comes to me as long as it’s not in the form of disco music. Ok actually I like the Bee Gees. Fuck, who am I? There go those questions again.
I want to personally thank The Dear Hunter, O Brother and all of the crazy attendees of the past 2 weeks for being totally awesome. The shows were full of the psychotic sweaty magic I remember all-ages shows being as a kid coming up in punk rock and hardcore. (Unfortunately a couple of these were 18 or 21+… can’t win em all I guess) Either way, I wanted to express that you all made crossing the desert worth it for me and I intend to do it a few hundred more times before it all comes to an end.
infinite love
colin
ps. our fall tour is on sale now. better come party with us or else.