Shows in September! Bonny Doon! Songwriting!
We're playing a couple shows in September with one of my favourite bands on the planet. Also: some thoughts about writing songs.
Hello! Hope you’ve been well. I wanted to write an opening line like ‘Summer is in full swing’, but as I look outside it’s raining so I will refrain from romanticizing too much. Summer’s been a nice kind of slow so far, but it’s made me eager to start playing songs with friends again! And on that note I am happy to announce a couple of shows we’re playing in September, supporting the wonderful Bonny Doon. The gods of technology have allowed us to attach the ticket links to the dates below.
06/09: Vera, Groningen
07/09: Kromme Haring, Utrecht
09/09: Merleyn, Nijmegen
I think it was in 2019 when I first listened to Bonny Doon. My friend and our old drummer Jim sent me the song ‘A Lotta Things’. I loved it right away, but as with most music or art, or even emotions, it often takes me a while to let them settle in. And boy have they settled in! Most of their songs simply contain a couple chords and a whole lot of heart. Their power lies in the little deaths and the small victories, and the universal truths in songs like Long Wave:
Don't spend your whole life
Waiting on the turning of the season of your mind
You are who your supposed to be
They also taught me that you can repeat a single phrase for half a song and its meaning only becomes stronger through You Can’t Hide, Pt. 2 - surely not the first artist to do that, but I think it’s a testament to their strengths nonetheless. I’m excited to share the stage with them and chant the words to their songs every night.
You look so fucking good!
But how, how do you feel?
Oh, you and all your summertime friends
I’ve been thinking about songwriting lately - or who am I kidding, I’m always thinking about songwriting. In the months leading up to the recording of our next album, I was listening to a lot of The Mountain Goats and The Weakerthans. Both bands are led by songwriters who excell in storytelling, taking specific details from the world around them to paint their pictures.
I’ll say I definitely don’t write like Josh Darnielle or John K Samson, but they have inspired me to incorporate these little details into my songs. Or to sometimes bend the truth a little more to get a song where it needs to go. Authors and screenwriters create characters and whole worlds out of thin air, yet sometimes I still hesitate to put something in my song that might not contain the truth? I think there’s something to say for any approach to songwriting, but this has been a new way to challenge myself and adds an element of fun that can’t be understated. I hope to share new music created with that mindset sooner rather than later. Big things coming!
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wanneer spelen jullie weer in 't Haagse?