Astra Heights Redux

Walking

Tim here saying that walking is the way of the future...not. But, I feel like I'm one of the only people who enjoys walking the streets of Hollywood. Granted I have limited access to a vehicular device, but dangit I have legs that are bold legged and ready to tackle any gravel foe. We were in an interview this morning and the subject of my tattered boots arose, which sparked a whole conversation on me walking everywhere, my spaghetti legs and dance moves. I just don't get why people don't walk more often. I mean Hollywood isn't that spread out and God knows we don't need anymore smog, so why not hide your car keys and walk to your next adventure. I don't know where I'm going with this, but I know that I'll walk there. lol.
cheers my dears,
Timmy the Shimmy

In Briefs: a survey

Leilani in an email to Astra Heights: “You have ten minutes from the moment you open this email.  Look at the clock.  Now answer the following questions.  When time's up, please send it to me.  I’ll compile for the blog.”

1.  A song that changed your life.

• Mark – “'Babe, I'm gonna leave you' by Led Zeppelin . . . I was 19 going on 20 living by myself in Austin, discovering music without any one suggesting it and I happened upon Led Zeppelin....When I heard that song...it blew my mind...so then i went out and bought all their albums except 'physical graffiti'
• James - "’There Goes the Fear’ - Doves  . . . .I think it was 2002 the year leading up to our move from Houston.  I was sitting at my office cubicle for my computer job and I saw the video online and the imagery and music just struck me, like what the hell am I doing here?  I need to go pursue music wherever it takes me.”
• Tim – “Because - The Beatles”
• Joshua – “On Eagle's Wings"
• Bernard – “So many to think of. Perhaps something random like Raindrops Keep Falling On My head”

2.  A warm memory of your mother from before you were 12. 

• Mark – “Caring for me after my hospital visit in Pennsylvania . . . I was in there for a severe Asthma attack.
• James – “Taking me to class on the first day of school for first grade.  I was crying my eyes I out, I was such a girly momma's boy.”
• Tim – “Sweet Theresa rubbed Vix on my chest after having an asthma attack.”
• Joshua – “Her getting ready and always wanting to look pretty for my dad when he'd come home from work.”
• Bernard – “Getting me from the middle of the deep end when I jumped in not knowing how to swim.”

3.  Something your father said more than once that you never forgot. 

• Mark – “All a man has is his word and his work ethic.”
• James – “I'm proud of you”
• Tim – “There's a time to be a child, and a time to be a man.”
• Joshua – “To respect women. Mainly to regard women as God's creations and to keep a pure heart and mind.”
• Bernard - "Daddy Fix (whenever something was broken)"

4.  Your most embarrassing moment as a teenager. 

• Mark – “mmmm, swinging from a rope on a tree, rope breaks, I fall into deep mud puddle, I go to shower, I slip and tumble out of the shower onto the floor.  it was a bad day.”
• James – “Not having a license and driving my senior prom date around in my parents' van.  Which now that I think about it, is kind of cool.......well, maybe not.”
• Tim – “my six grade teacher called me out in front of the class for not wearing deodorant....bitch.lol. Thus, setting the mood for bad hygiene up until now”
• Joshua – “Getting in trouble with my parents after looking up nasties on the internet. What man?! I was young once...”
• Bernard – “Lots of those. Maybe being caught ... uh do you really want to know? I don;t think it would reflect well on the band. Let's just say that I "had" a dark side.”

5.  The first movie you saw in a theatre. 

• Mark – “don't remember, but I remember Return of the Jedi.  Thanks Princess Leia for the memories ;)”
• James – “Die Hard is the first theatre experience I remember”
• Tim – “the first one I remember was Jurassic Park”
• Joshua – “I think it was ‘Predator’”
• Bernard – “The Yellow Submarine I think.”

6.  The last movie you saw in a theatre (as of Feb 15). 

• Mark – “Does a seedy XXX theatre count?  I kid, I kid...The Water Horse
• James – “Cloverfield”
• Tim – “don't remember”
• Joshua – “Juno”
• Bernard – “I don't remember but I am aiming to see Juno. Anyone want to take me (even if you;ve seen it before)?”

7.  Boxers or tighty-whiteys?

• Mark – “Briefs”
• James – “Not a big fan of boxers, I have colored briefs.”
• Tim – “Briefs”
• Joshua – “It varies (back off man!)”
• Bernard – “Boxers”

8.  Do you have a tattoo?  If so, of what?  If not, what would you get? 

• Mark – “Maybe a tattoo of my son, maybe a tattoo of Astra Heights”
• James - “No, I'm not sure what I would get that's why I don't have one.”
• Tim – “I have my last name on my right shoulder, and the band's initials on the back of either arm”
• Joshua – “Two religious symbols”
• Bernard – “Yes, an original Leo Zuluetta Malaysian/Borneo influenced Pisces symbol”

9.  What was your high school GPA?

• Mark – “I made B's all the way thru....so maybe like a 2.9, 3.0?”
• James – “Oh jeez, I don't remember but I was an A & B student for the most part."
• Tim – “don’t know”
• Joshua – “A 3.0 or something like that”
• Bernard – “3.75”

10.  Did you ever cheat on a test?  Were you ever caught?

• Mark – “Nope, see question number 3”
• James – “I was never caught, but yes I have cheated on tests.”
• Tim – “I cheated once when i broke my hand, I hid the answers in my cast...never got caught”
• Joshua – “Cheat, yes. Caught, no.”
• Bernard – “A few times but rarely. Never caught.”

About our friends ...

Fans is definitely the wrong choice of words.

Anyway, one thing I always marvel at is how Astra Heights' name can get saddled between other artists. It's almost always flattering. Here's one I found tonight that rocks:

hard rock/heavy metal, anything 80's, new wave, The Cars, Leopard Caprii, Icarus Witch, Astra Heights, Fatal Smile, Poison, Warrant, Dio, Armored Saint, Betty Blowtorch, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, the Darkness, Black N Blue, Cinderella, early Duran Duran, B-52's, The Smiths, etc..you get the drift, but also stuff like Fireball Ministry, Coal Chamber, Godsmack, Marilyn Manson, etc. As long as it rocks, I like it. Particular shoutouts to my Louisiana homeboys from NOLA: Supagroup, Dash Rip Rock & Cowboy Mouth!

Please take note how we are on the same line as Dio!

B.

What is Robotdog?

Not really sure what this is or the purpose for it.  I found the video on filmdrunk.com, one of several sites I frequent daily and it's so interesting just watching this 3 minute of robotdog walking, hopping, slipping, and climbing over different terrain.  Or maybe I'm just really bored today and this sadly was the best part of my day.  Enjoy!!

Ah MAN!!!

Pixar is my favorite movie-making machine:

Josh

astra idol

MARK HERE

So last night I watched American Idol for the second time in my life.  I'm OK, don't worry, I didn't throw up or go into convulsions like I thought I would.  Apparently the contestants were asked to sing a song that came out the year they were born.  Most of the interpretations were decent, some good.  So I got to thinking....wouldn't it be kinda fun if Astra Heights had a cover song night where we covered a song from each year that the members were born?  So after the show I went online and looked up what songs went down in 1977...and here are my top picks:

1) Dancing Queen, Abba (I mean c'mon...Bernard in skates...discoball above us tripping the light fantastic, this would be a classic moment in the history of rock n roll)

2) Somebody to Love, Queen (somewhat predictable but very much AH with it's bombastic choruses)

3) Jet Airliner, Steve Miller Band (seriously!  I love this song...it's so bouncy and positive...like we're going places baby get onboard!!)

4) Sir Duke, Stevie Wonder (I listened to this song one day riding the bus to work in the morning and I literally almost broke out in dance, if I was in any other mindset other than tired and heading to work I would have done it.  I swear)

honorable mentions:Telephone Line-ELO, Southern Nights-Glen Campbell (a Joshua Morales handpicked favorite), Rich Girl-Hall & Oates, Barracuda-Heart

Some badass songs, huh?  There's a lot more that didn't make the cut as well....google 'top songs of 19--' to find the songs for your year...it's kinda fun.

-m

CALIFORNICATION

MARK HERE

So I started my accounting job back at 'Californication' yesterday...yes, yes, that Showtime series thats trying its hardest to be make David Duchovny seem edgy, apathetically cool, and irresistible to single women in LA.  As you can tell, I'm on the fence, I can't decide whether it's completely too far fetched or whether I just want an AH song used in it.  They can buy my love.    

watch the video and see what I mean. later.

Kiss Me!

BERNARD HERE

As I often do after some music related travel, I unwind by going into the mountains. Southern California has some interesting wilderness and I spent a fun day searching for trout in a local stream/ At the end of the day my buddy and I hiked out and in the dark, illuminated by the car's headlights, we found this cute guy!

bands we love & endorse

MARK HERE

back from the mini-tour and luckily got a couple of days to take it easy.  Touring is not only fun because it's a crazy way of life, but also because you get to mingle and hang with other musicians from all over.  Here are some bands we've hung with or played with or saw recently that we love:

Scissors for Lefty

Von Iva

The Parlor Mob

Oliver Future

More videos, pics, and tour stories to come!!

m

The Last Day at SXSW

LEILANI HERE

There’s a lot you can learn when people assume you are sleeping.

For example, Sean Askandari snores, talks in his sleep, and hogs the bed.  At the same time, he is a teddy bear who automatically throws his leg across a pillow or, should the bedmate steal the pillow, over the bedmate.  The bedmate being me.

Don’t get any ideas.  As you know from past blogs, comfortable sleeping quarters at SXSW were hard to come by, and here was an opportunity to actually use a mattress: the sofa bed in Sarah’s hotel room at the Marriott.  Sean had first dibs but I didn't give a darn.  I was going to sleep in a bed, gosh darn it.  Even if it meant I wrestled all night with Sean's unconscious teddy bear moves.  Sarah, we thank you.  Sean woke up refreshed for the last day of SXSW.

It was a day that began with Astra Heights playing the Red 7.

Their show was followed by what, for me, was one of the highlights of SXSW: a performance by Von Iva. Another great highlight of SXSW was the pleasure of the company of Von Iva's singer, Jillian, who is one heckuva hang. 

Red 7 was followed by an epic meal with the Morales family:

Then we retired to Marcus's apartment and napped (thank you Marcus) before our last night out on the town, which began at Oilcan Harry's.  Then Marisa, Liz, and I hotwired this car and drove to Lambert's (our feet hurt):

Joyous pandemonium broke out at Lambert's because Project Jenny Project Jan was playing, and they were bringing down the house.  I think every single person in the audience was inebriated to one degree or another -- (yours truly excluded, of course, as you can see from this picture with the singer) --

which one must admit makes for a pretty good party.  Here are some shots:

You ever have such a good time you feel like the top of your head is going to bust open with all the fun inside?  That's what this last night at SXSW was like.  Thank you, Astra Heights, for memories to last a lifetime.

Back on the Left Coast

BERNARD HERE

My dear "brothers" are probably crossing the AZ/CA border as I submit this update. I flew ahead to save my back and also maintain proper step with a client of mine (can you say "day job"?). The day and evening before we left, we did a fun video shoot in a creepy old shut down club on the middle floor of a high rise apartment in downtown Houston. It looked great as we watched the footage. As it neared nightfall, the wind picked up and it added to the drama. We couldn't help but make jokes about the cliché of the "rooftop rock video". All said and done, it was fun and spirited. Richard Santos tagged along to observe. It was great to have him around. Great guy.

As we rolled gear in, this shot was taken (I think by Josh). The photo doesn't really give you the sense that you are actually 9 floors up. It was overcast and weird outside too.

Day after the Showcase

Leilani here.

So in keeping with tradition, let's begin this blog with Timothy's lady friend Kristen again, who so kindly let so many of us stinky touring people sleep on her floor so many nights:

She is hot, isn't she?  But don't get any ideas.  She has a boyfriend.  Even Rock-star Timmy knew he couldn't charm her away from her one true love. . . . Thanks Kristen for everything!  I said it before and I'll say it again: You are one bad-ass woman.

So the day after the showcase began with a mellow show at the Scoot:

Everyone was feeling good from the triumph of the night before.  There were also many felines roaming the premises:

Cool Cat #1:

Cool Cat #2:

Cool Cat #3:

Because the gig was at midday after a late night for basically every person in Austin, things got off to a slow start.  So there was some waiting to be done.  Some of us used the time keep abreast of our correspondence.  Here are some text-crazy maniacs:

Once the show got started, the band was nice and loose:

Being at the same level as the audience was a nice change, and Mark and Timothy responded by breaking down the fourth wall and coming out into the room to dance, play, and sing.  Mark wore himself out and ended up spawled on the floor, a dance move which, infortunately, was not photographed.

The next stop was the Cedar Door.  This was an outdoor venue under a tent.  Once again, the place filled up just before Astra Heights began to play and the show was rip-roaring fun.  It was also a great photo-op.

Loyal friends Sarah, Gionne, and Bree.

Girls on FIRE!

Second oldest brother and original Astra Heights member, Philip, with his wife Alyssa and the baby girl they'll meet soon.  As I understand it, this is the guy who wrote the guitar riff in "The Whole World Changes" which Bernard later customized for the new line-up.

The ever hospitable Andrew and Lorraine.  Thanks again, you two.

The band onstage for their penultimate SXSW show, the one all of these fine people are spectating.

Phil, band manager.

These are two of my favorite buddies.  There's Marcus, who I hope to marry someday, and James's best friend ever since high school, Bobby.  Does Bobby look a little crazy?  That's because he is.  But a handsome kind of crazy, dontcha think?

The whole gang: Tyler (LA), Kristen (Austin), Timmy (AH), Bree (San Antonio), Mark (AH), Sarah (LA), Bobby (Houston), and Dave (LA).  Marcus (Austin) peers over the top.

I can't tell you how much I love this picture: Liz, Marisa, Rebecca, Rachel and, in the background, my future husband Marcus.

We saw two bands after these pictures were taken that I thought were great: Nico Vega and Scissors for Lefty.  Another great day for the boys at SXSW.

Houston we have a problem

Houston we have a problem. The AH left Houston today around noontime. This is Liz, their exquisite, younger sister. Haha, so LA ppl they'll be back around Friday. Good Friday that is. *Tears of joy stream down my face* They came in March 5 (Melanie's birthday!) and are now leaving today March 18.

Just to give you an idea of how much they rocked everyone's world, I received an email from a friend who works at a State Prison in Huntsville, TX.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Mikee

Date: Mar 6, 2008 10:44 AM


Hey Liz
What has been going on with you?? I have been working all week but today was a fun day well so far (Im on break right now) anyways I was changing the tv for the inmates and all of a sudden they stood up and started paying attention to a band. Guess who it was your bros lol. They were almost gona start dancing lol.they were definitly liking them tho. well I just thought that was funny.. I hope you are doing good. take care..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had inmates rocking out.

That's how much they rocked out.

I wanna write so much more, but 1) I told Mark I'd wouldn't 2) I'll do it later, so here's my time for shout outs. Leilani, Melanie, Gionne, Chris, Bernard, and my bros, what an amazing two weeks we had. I love you!!!! I'm gonna miss you so much, and thank you so much for everything you did. Everything is in my heart, and I'll ponder it until the day I die. Can you believe we did SXSW 2008?!

And now I finally get to share the quote I read Wednesday of SXSW that made SXSW even cooler.

"Why can't we see God the way we see one another?" He answered, "For the same reason that a baby cannot see the mother in the womb. The mother is too present. The mother is omnipresent. The child has to be born first in order to see the mother. So, too with God. He is too present. In God we live and move and have our being."

~Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, in the book "Search of the Beyond" by Carlo Corretto

Cool, isn't it?

Day of the Showcase

LEILANI HERE

So Wednesday after all the partying, right before we got to Kristen’s to sleep, Melanie is driving the van with James in front and Kristen, Timothy, and me in the back.  We’re getting a bit lost because it’s late and Melanie’s tired and there seems to be some strange skepticism about whether or not Kristen can get us to her own home.  Why do I say this?  Well, she offers some directions and James, with the enthusiasm only a few to three dozen beers can provide, blurts out,

“Kristen, you’re so fucking lucky you’re hot, otherwise I wouldn’t listen to you.”

Hmmmmm. . . . there's a lot that could be said about this particular statement.  I'll leave it to you. In any case, we laughed at James uproariously, Timothy came to Kristen's rescue, Kristen rescued herself, and I promised to blog it and, hopefully, embarrass James a bit.  So there.

As I said, we slept at Kristen’s.  The next morning, Thursday, was blissful.  I woke up among friends, they dropped me off at a coffee shop so I could write that first blog (3/13), little birds were singing, the sky was bleu bleu bleu, a whole day of adventure was just opening up.  I wandered the city alone for a while, soaking it all in and reveling at all the strange mishaps and coincidences that brought me, Dr. Leilani Riehle, ex-married mother of two and professor of Victorian literature, to this juncture in time, roaming a pretty, music-soaked city under a blue morning sky with soft fresh wind tossing everything on the streets all higgledy-piggledy.  God truly does work in mysterious ways.  Thank goodness.

Anyhow, Astra Heights were scheduled to play at the Orchid in the late afternoon.  Here they are sound-checking:

And here they are warming up their voices and soundchecking:

They really do start to function like one mind and body after enough time on the road.  I'm saving the dirtiest examples of this phenomenon for my book, however.  You'll have to wait.

The Astra Heights audience continued to grow.  By the 4.45 pm show, a good pack of listeners had arrived.   Look:

Aside from starting right on time, at 4.45, only to be shut down unceremoniously because the band in the other room was running late, and then starting over minutes later, the show went smoothly.  The guys seemed satisfied:

And then, the next thing you know, it's time to load-out and take off for Lambert's where load-in is just minutes away.

Ah, Lambert's for THE SHOWCASE.  The boys were tired, the day had been pretty exhausting already, and the venue seemed to be quite some distance from the heart of SXSW.  Hmmmmmm. . . . .on top of that, this is the band who showcased before Astra Heights.  Look at the crowd they drew!

They were very tight, they reminded me of the Ramones, and for some reason I imagined that all four of them were life long buddies who now taught at the same high school.  I had an English teacher whose single act of ongoing baby-boomer rebellion was to refuse to ever wear a button-up shirt and tie.  Instead, he would wear an ironed t-shirt neatly tucked into his pants, which were belted with thin black leather and a little brass buckle.  What a wild-and-crazy- anti-establishment guy, right?  Ditto for these guys.

There were two people in the audience during these guys' show and four people after.  It was a little nerve-wracking, waiting for the venue to fill up, but fill up it did indeed.

Notice Josh is carrying around his stool.  He does that before a show, kind of like a baseball player will wear his underwear backwards or tape the same photo to his midsection to ensure the continuance of the winning streak.  Josh carries his stool around so that it looks like a platter for his head.  It's just one of those Joshua things.

And the Morales/Ramirez beauties arrived!  Check out these stunners:

That's cousin Rachel in the hat, then cousin Rebecca, then Liz (a sister), and cousin Marisa who, by the way, is about three inches away from being a licensed medical doctor.  Brains, beauty, and bad-ass attitudes . . . these girls got it all.

The Morales family showed up en masse and joy filled the house.  Spirits were high as Astra Heights took the stage.

They launched right into it.  Literally.  Bernard jumped--I'm not kidding--about 3 and 1/2 feet into the air for his first guitar blast.  It was a spectacular show.  I don't think they could have wished for better.  Even the evening's big mistake was a gem: for the last song, Choices, Mark steps up to the mic and softly sings, "We are filling up the hours. . . " but can't figure out why the band isn't in sync with him.  "Hold on, start over," he says, the band members look at each other, Mark turns to the mic and this time sings . . . . "We are filling up the hours . . . "  Wait, his face says.  Something's not right!  I'm singing the wrong song!  So he returns to the mic with a big sheepish grin, opens his mouth, and . . . can't remember the first words.

"Maybe I should leave," Bernard reminds him.
"How appropriate," Mark laughs  "Maybe I should leave."

The photos of the performance and afterwards are compiled in a photo album in the sidebar.  But, really, if you want to get an idea of how good it felt to watch Astra Heights that night, just take a look at these two:

Mr. and Mrs. Morales, proud parents.

An action shot.

And a mother and her boys afterwards, triumphant:

With the showcase behind them, now Astra Heights' real fun begins. Watch out Austin!

The Food!

The band has one more agenda back in Houston. En route, I was treated to a proper tex-mex restaurant. The tortilla soup was more of a chicken broth with a lot of the additions like cheese, avocado and rice on the side. It was amazing. Not the tomato heavy stuff one often encounters in So. Cal. I added to the mix a death defying shrimp "coctele". Not as citric/spicy as what one gets in northern Baja but rich and yummy. I couldn't finish it all it was so big. Remember, after the music, it's about the FOOD!

Astra Heights Landing in Austin

Leilani here.

Here’s where the chronology of this blog gets a little weird.  I am on the airplane back to LA, after a night in Houston with the Morales family, after four nights of madness in Austin for South by Southwest.  I am not exaggerating when I say that I do not think that I am the same person I was one week ago. I feel elated and excited, but also my internal organs feel pounded and swollen.  Especially my heart.  It was an intense expereince, seeing my dear friends endure and conquer SXSW.  However let’s talk about that later and get down to the nitty gritty of the Astra Heights universe.

In my last blog, our heroes were left resting in front of the boob tube.  We had all just arrived in Austin from Tulsa, after the Incredible Sean Askandari drove all night.  He did a superb job.  Once or twice I was jolted awake by a big swerve just in time to see that we were swishing back and forth over the double yellow lines or popping a donut, but, heck, it’s a big van and not easy to drive.  All’s well that ends well.  He’s my hero and, I suppose after everything he’s done for the band on this trip, he’s their hero too.

We had ended up in Austin at the crack of dawn.  The guys had a live performance and interview on Austin’s Fox TV morning show, scheduled to take place in a coffee shop called Progress.  While we waited for the Progress to open, for reasons that I can’t remember—I was too tired—I got out of the crowded van and went to lay down on a bench like a homeless person, that’s how tired I was.  Bernard came out and spread a blanket over me.  Thank you Bernard.  Finally the shop opened and we were all let in from the cold crack of dawn to enjoy the warm cozy aroma of brewing coffee.

The TV piece entailed the guys playing some live songs there in the middle of Progress—who were hosting a different performer every morning all week—answering some questions, and looking really really cute and wholesome.  Here you go:

Our next stop was another coffee shop (Rio Rita?), this time to do an interview for an online web magazine called LUSHLIFE AUSTIN (LUSHLIFE HERE ).  The woman who interviewed our heroes was a blonde looker with a deep husky voice and a short, short skirt, but needless to say our boys were immediately distracted from these attributes by the razor sharpness of her wit and the depth of her intellect.  And she was both hot and smart.  For me the highlight of the interview came when she said a random word to each member of AH, in response to which they had to reveal the first word that came to mind.  “Avocado,” she says to Joshua.  “Van!” Joshua bursts out.  James cracks up.  Well, we had been in the van a long time. 

After the interview:

Then we packed up and headed over to the convention center, upon which tour managers and their musicians were converging by the van load.  There the guys registered to pick up their wristbands and badges. Having been on tour for two weeks already, James automatically makes music to his registration card rather than writes upon it:

As you know from the last blog, the next stop was at cousin Andrew and Lorraine’s, who live in a suburb of Austin and who were gracious enough to welcome us for showers and rest.  After recharging our batteries, we went back downtown and dove into SXSW with a vengeance.

Oh what a night.

Tim tries to get in touch with Kristen, a family friend who turned out to be one of the bad-assest mamas in the South. Kristen, we can never thank you enough for your graciousness, your hospitality, and your golden Southern heart.  Anyway, while we check out 6th street, James is toting around a plastic bag of Mark's underwear because Mark got separated from the lucky speedos he wears for every performance and feels naked without them.  Our first stop is Volume, to see Oliver Future.  As it turns out, there is NO PROBLEM with the cover charge situation (Phew!).  I pay my $5 and walk right in alongside my wristband-wearing, badge-toting superiors.  We settle in with some Lone Stars, say hello to the singer, and the show begins. 

James clearly enjoyed himself.

The show is great, Mark appears for his underwear, and we set out for the next band.  James and Melanie check out Delta Spirit while Mark kindly offers to see a more non-wristband-wearer aeccessible show with me, Goldspot at Buffalo Billiards.

Fun show, but the highlight was:

AMBER AND ERIC!!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, it's a small small world.  Here you have old friends, two of which hail from Texas, all of which relocated to LA and who are so busy they get their quality time in by meeting in Austin. 

Next stop, the Dirty Dog, where we see the Happy Hollows who hail, as I understand it, from Silverlake.  When  the lead singer stepped out--and you can't tell here, but she was wearing black knee high socks and sneakers--you could hear "Hot hot hot hot hot hot" murmured with varying emphases throughout the crowd.  Or maybe it was just who I was hanging with.
. 

For me, the highlight of this show (sorry, Happy Hollows, as hot as your lead singer is and all) was spotting the singer and drummer from Foriegn Born.  Lucky for me I was inebriated enough to introduce myself and enjoyed the pleasure of their conversation.  Go out and buy their album ON THE WING NOW, now.  Before things can get too cozy, though, James appears and informs us it is time to go see the Parlor Mob (TPM's Myspace page).  After the show, we meet guitarist Paul, who further reinforces the idea that there is a genetic link between height and heavy guitar wizadry (cf. Daniel Davies in Year Long Disaster):

You can't tell from the picture, but James is actually standing on a chair.

At this point it is about 2am in the morning.  You'll be happy to know that I did, indeed, find a place to lay my head--the dear Kristen's place in Austin--along with James, Melanie, Timmy, Bobby, and Sean.  She fed us macaroni and cheese and popcorn, we put on a movie, and out like little lights we went. 

Night-night Austin until Wednesday morning.  To be continued . ., . . .

Austin Rocks

Bernard aka Gilligan here ...

A day in the life ...

All under the watchful eye of the patron saint Sam Houston!

I have been to Austin a good dozen times over the past decade, always for music, and had yet to decide how I really felt despite the good food and warm locals. Some of my friends here are refugees and expats from other parts of the US. Christine who runs Goodie Two Shoes (a very hip boutique) being one of 'em. Having a funky back STILL and wanting to distance myself fromt he madness of SXSW I finally caved and found an amazing solution via Craigslist. Perhaps this answers to Leilani's post to a degree. I'll get back to that later. Let's just say that my room rental came with a built-in masseuse.

Now on a serious note: Was it worth it? Was it cool? etc etc. I stumbled upon many who felt like it had become too much of a circus. Showcases sponsored by beverage companies etc. Stuff like that can really distract one. I will summarize by saying that the band, once on stage, delivered and I am proud and happy to be part of this group of castaways. Even when we had technical problems, the show went on. Friend, family and NEW friends and fans were always present to never let a show be a dud. Even one real early show at the Scoot Inn (which is sort of on the periphery of everything) wound up being quite fun. It truly is "what you make of it". I feel that we did well.

So this blog entry begins with us leaving for Tulsa from Houston. Here's a haunted house behind a gas station.

Our gig in Tulsa was fast and furious then we left.

We arrived in Austin after an all night drive. I even pulled a driving shift and enjoyed chatting with Sean (one of the Morales cousins who chose to help the band). We discussed all sorts of things that shall remain top secret.

Am I reading this correctly?

Our destination was a coffee shop in Austin where they hold early AM TV news spots and feature sxsw bands. Here is the wall against which we played BEFORE the tables were moved aside etc. I hope that Leilani of Melanie can post a shot of us here with all the gear set up. It's a fun before and after.

Here's a link to the broadcast: Astra on Austin TV

After the show at the Progress Café which was fun and well done (it's fun to rock at 7AM!!!) we plotted breakfast. We found ourselves at a mom and pop Mexican place (Cisco's I believe it was called) that had walls festooned with fun memorabilia etc. The food was excellent and I was stuffed with one breakfast taco and OJ; popped some painkillers and vitamins and I was ready to rock some more!

Although this photo was taken later in the SXSW weekend, we had a lot of fun running into people as well as meeting new folks. We were also invited to meet with our Radio promotions peoiple who gave us a small mountain of drink tickets. Here Richard and Melanie enjoy a blurry moment under the watchful eye of the Buddah.

Here Mark and Mel discuss the subtle difference between an Am and Am7 chord and ask if it's worth bothering about with Nadine (correct?).

Ian Moore popped by on his bike loaded with a silly synth pad toy so we all did some freestyling. You know, we are DOWN with all music...

One of our "brother bands" Spanglish rockers Monte Negro got to the club just in time on day one and rocked. The room was almost empty but they didn't care. It takes a lt of courage to do that. Not because it's hard but it does get old. Hats off to Monte Negro. *Note that they have an Asian guitarist - do I sense a trend?*

I hung out with the Hotel Café coffee-house low vol' set including my old buddy Jimmy (who once drummed for Alanis and now works with Stevie Nicks). He was out here with Jenni Alpert who turned in a great set at the One 2 One bar. I also caught Libbie Shrader and Shane Alexander on the same bill. Everyone was tight and inspired. It was perhaps the most smooth event I saw during the festival. Easy on the ears and delivered honestly and beautifully.

After one of the late night gigs I took a walk with a special someone on a nearby bridge. The lighting was perfect.

For anyone who has ever toured with Mr. Yin y'all know it's standard operating procedure to have me disappear for some WiFi time in a local café or to explore a city on my own. The show experience is enough of a dose of energy exchange with humans. It's spiritually taxing imho to not get away and recharge.

So until the next entry, let's just say: It's all a blur!

Arriving in Austin

YESTERDAY

Leilani here.

As you know from the earlier blogs, we've been driving for about 24 hours, minus 3 hours in Tulsa. I haven’t slept properly in two nights and the exhaustion makes me emotional, weepy, stressed out. The things that usually give life shape and direction—my daughters’ schedules, family meals, work, parking and marketing, co-existing with others in different predictable contexts through the day—are absent on the road.  This is not only disorienting.  It is also the perfect hothouse environment for my over-analytical little active mind, and I’m starting to get lost in here.  It feels like the world has boiled down to just these eight people in the van.  The outside world for hours on end exists only as a destination to be reached by a nasty deadline.   

A little like Gilligan’s Island.  Which gets me thinking.  There’s an urban myth that Gilligan’s Island is an allegory about hell (that’s why they can’t get off the island), Gilligan (owner of the island and always wearing red) is Satan, and each of the castaways is there for one of the seven deadly sins:
Mr. Thurston – avarice
Ginger – Lust
Mary Ann - Envy
The Captain – Wrath and Gluttony
The Professor – Pride
Gilligan – Sloth
Mrs. Thurston – Sloth

A game gets started in my mind . . . it’s significant that there are seven of us plus one . . . which of us is Satan?  And which of the deadly sins goes best with each of the other seven of us?  My mind wanders . . . on the bright side, we could in fact be the Seven heavenly Virtues and one of the angels, on our way to heaven . . . wait, what are the seven heavenly virtues . . . ?

You see something of how it goes with me on the van.

We got to Austin, and I learned two things.  One, unlike the members of the band, I would not have general access to bands.  Only cover-charge access, and only if the shows were not at capacity with those lucky bastards wearing wristbands and badges.  “Oh, well, how much is a wristband?” I ask Mel while the guys register.  Maybe it’d be worth it to splurge and just buy one for myself.

“$650.”

So cover charges it is.  Um.  This is fine except for visions of myself at night wandering the dark cold sidewalks of Austin alone, unable to get in anywhere, shivering for warmth in the light and noise spilling from the storefront windows of clubs and restaurants filled with jolly wrist-band wearers holding yummy beers and toasty from dancing. 

BUT I REFUSE TO BE ANYONE’S ALBATROSS.  I swear this to myself.  I will urge the others to go on without me.  I will bring my spiral notebook and my ipod and, if need be, buy myself dinner at a fancy restaurant and eat very, very slowly until it’s time to go to sleep. . .

WAIT A MINUTE.  WHERE ARE WE SLEEPING?
There are many possibilities, but no one has decided anything for certain.  I get images of me at midnight kicked out of the restaurant and roaming the darkened streets until I can reunite with the boys and Melanie, who I will be madly texting but who will hopefully by then be drunk and, as seems only fair, dancing too hard to the music of Parlor Mob to hear the message tones chime on their cellphones. 

Of course they would not let that happen, but I have a nasty habit.  This habit is comprised of never quite  believing that people will take care of me, so I best be able to take care of myself.  Once or twice in the last decade I've acted in contradiction to this habit, and got my hand smacked, hard.  So depending on others in personal situations makes me nervous. When I have no choice and must depend on others, this habit results in my annoying tendency to ask these others the same questions over and over again in search of reassurance which, through no fault of their own, is futile. 

“So, James, where are you crashing tonight?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Oh, well, can I crash where you crash?”
“Ok.”

Two hours later.
“Mel, where are you crashing tonight?”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
“Well, once you decide, can you let me know? Can I crash where you crash?”

One hour later.
“James?”
“Yes?”
“Have you decided where you’re crashing?”
“Well, there’s X, with a place downtown, Y with a place nearby, Z has a hotel room . . . “
“Um, do you think it’d be okay if I crashed where you crash?”
He shrugs his shoulders.  “Don’t see why not.” Oh to be mellow.  I can see several reasons why not—they don’t know me, they might not have space, James will go home without me and fall asleep before texting me—but I do manage to keep my mouth shut, at least until enough time has passed that I can try asking again.

I can act like that.  Ask Mark.  In fact, these are questions I would have asked Mark, his being my bff and all, except that Mark mysteriously vanished at midday and I don’t know where he is and have no reason to think he’s ever coming back. 

Anyway. As we stop in at the Orchid to visit with Phil, I sit down and poeple watch.  There is energy and movement everywhere in this city right now, even in empty clubs waiting for their first showcase to happen.  All kinds of people with choppy haircuts and heavy glasses are wandering about the sidewalks and in and out of prepping venues, and I’ve noticed that mostly they’re smiling.  Eveyone is happy because good new music is close by and plentiful.  It’s amazing to be where people are hip and friendly.  And happy.  If, when I was 15, someone had told me that in my future life I would be among all these interesting people in a great city watching and listening to the musical culture around me, I would have jumped up and down for joy.

Presently we are at cousins Andrew and Lorraine's lovely home.  Thank you Lorraine and Andrew for your hospitality.  We are in immobile recovery mode around their television, and while A & L kindly make dinner for us we are watching the season finale for “Weeds.”  Great show.  Great life.  Talk to you later.

B'B'B'B' Bad to the Bone

Backtracking a hair, I just got to downloading some of the shots from our Dallas House of Bluse gig with the charming Nicole Atkins. She put on a great show and her band was creative and tight.

George Thoroughgood was performing in the venue's larger room. I snuck a glimpse of him for a few minutes and he was playing pretty damn nicely.

Mark warms up backstage in the hall...

While Timmy sleeps

Although this photo is from the previous gig at Richard Santos', it's a typical post-gig loading of the van

And to add to the reverse chronology here, this is James preparing the set for our ever fun gig at Santos'

Chiming in with Leilani, yes, we are cramped. In a rare moment of "space" Mark flashes a smile while en route to the next gig.

This entry being made as we spend our first night in Austin. I and Josh are laying low while the rest of the band paints the town red. We have 5 shows in the next 3 days, I am saving the energy!

B

From Tulsa to Austin

I just had one of the strangest evenings of my life, not because of Tulsa but because of getting to Austin from Tulsa.  The van was darn cozy, they weren't kidding.  We were all folded up in there like chairs, flattened and fitted together just so.  And as I watched the Oklahoma starsky give way to Austin, I found myself doing some real heavy serious thinking.  I guess for me tour would be like Space Oddity; you're disconnected from anything that roots you to a place, you're a stranger in every stop, all you have is your band.   Except that I'm not in a band. 

Last night at the Soundpony the crowd was just as nice as I'd have expected from S.E. Hinton country.  Golly did I love Ponyboy when I was a young girl.  Anyhow, the guys played a combo acoustic set, and did a great job, but I could tell they were tired.  Things brightened up nicely with this development:

That's Emmy, honorary Astra Heights member for one song.  Just walked over, picked up the tambourine, and started in.  She lived in Tulsa for 30 years, taught elementary school, then moved to Austin to go to Concordia College.  She was home from Austin and she was celebrating being home, and--as they say--don't just eat the sandwich, eat the heck out of the sandwich:

I didn't get these guys' names.  Or I did, but Astra Heights was still playing so I kinda just nodded without really hearing what they said.  Sorry guys.  Nice meeting you, though.

Later that evening I met some more Tulsans.  Darn nice!  This is Josh.  I asked him if it was short for Joshua,  he said yes.  I said do you prefer Josh, then, he said, no one but my family calls me Joshua.  So you prefer Josh, I ask him and he says, Nah, it doesn't matter.  So different from LA, where I once got scolded by a chick for calling her Andrea, as in Sand-rea.  No, no, she said, it's Andrea, as in Laund-rea.   

Time for load-out.  That's right, they drove into Tulsa from Houston, unloaded, played for 40 minutes, loaded out, and got ready to hit the road for Austin.  Load-out was special, because while loading out they got some Tulsa love:

This is Ronda.  She came tonight for Astra Heights because she'd seen them open for She Wants Revenge two years ago.  She brought her friends, who also were sweet as sugar:

This is Ronda with her friend Mallory.  See how much fun they're having?  See how happy Astra Heights makes them?

This is Mark getting some love from Mallory:

And this is Timmy with Sweet Havala.

Tulsa was nice.  Wish I'd seen it during the day,

Right now I'm at the Progress Coffee House as the exhausted members of AH get ready to soundcheck for a live slot on Good Day Austin, to be broadcast on Fox 7.  SXSW, here we come!

Hello Tulsa

LEILANI HERE

Ok, so the van was cosy.  Very cosy. 

After driving for eight hours, we have arrived at the Soundpony in Tulsa.  We drove through Chocktaw nation.  I've never driven through an Indian nation before.  Oklahoma seems to me quite beautiful, especially (sorry Texans) after Texas.  The guys saw some buffalo (I was asleep). 

I keep trying to spy on their conversations about girls, but try as I might they thwart me at every turn.  I think they've even strategized the bait n'switch method, whereby one of them distracts me so that the others can talk.  Or maybe I'm being paranoid.  But just because you're being paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you, as either Kurt Cobain or Timothy Leary or Philip K. Dick (can't quite remember which) once said. 

Yesterday I told the boys that I'm really a man.  I'm hoping that transexuality will give me greater access to the inner circle.  Timothy has now taken to calling me Lola.

We all slept in fits and starts on the road.  We took Tylenol PMs and napped.  Most improved from nap: Melanie and James.  Least improved from nap: Leilani.  Hardest napper: Timothy.  Most talkative in spite of napping: Bernard.

There was drama last night, did I tell you that?  Mark took the van key from Melanie and led Sean, Timothy, Bernard, and me out to the van so we could retrieve our evening clothes from our suitcases before showering at Sean's.  Mark had a hard time finding his performance clothes (I don't think he ever did), so we gave up, walked back to the Mink, then walked to Sean's car and went to Sean's place.  At Sean's, Mark's phone rings.  Here's the side I could hear:

"I don't know."
"It wasn't me."
"Uh, I think I gave the key to . . . . "
"That fast?  In five minutes?"
He turns to us standing in the living room: "Melanie found the key to the van in the parking lot, the van was unlocked and the tour money was stolen."

We all poop our pants.  Every possible name gets bandied about as the culprit: Timothy, Bernard, Mark . . . lucky for me and Sean, we never even laid eyes on the key much less fingers.  Because Melanie is totally accepting about everything but one thing: the key is sacred and the van must always be locked.  How did we let this happen?  I want to crawl under Sean's couch.

Then suddenly: "You meanie!" shouts Mark into the phone.  Except he used different words.  Turns out, the key was indeed found in the parking lot but the van had not been broken into.  That was to teach Mark a lesson. 

Whew.

Sharing Tabulation:
at 6.40 pm, 0 mints, 0 cigarettes
1 drama courtesy of Mark
The pleasure of Joshua's ad hoc spitoon (an empty water bottle he gradually fills with spit mile by mile on the road.  We all love getting a gander at that.)

1 bag of salt n' vinegar potato chips.
A bottle of water.
Free Beers (Old Style) from the Soundpony.

I'll tell you about the show tomorrow.  We're leaving for Austin tonight.

The Morning After

LEILANI HERE

Well ladies and gentlemen, it's first thing in the morning in Houston and I'm writing this while surrounded by sleeping rock stars.  They're on the couch, on the floor, in every bed, in the van and, I think, there's even one in the bathtub.  Melanie, MEredith (the lead singer for Pash, who opened last night at the Mink), and yours truly provide the only MUCH-NEEDED estrogen around here. 

Friends the things these eyes have seen and these ears have heard in the last twelve hours.  But you'll have to wait for the book for that stuff.  This is a blog, and I'm keeping it clean.

Seriously, it was a great show at the Mink and I got to meet the boys' sister, Liz and cousins Rebecca and Rachel, whom I'd felt like I knew through months tracking MySpace.  (I think I must have said that to them three times last night: "I feel like I know you from MySpace!"  They'd smile and nod like they could even hear a word I was saying.  The bands were LOUD.)  After the show we remained at the Mink for what felt like hours, with one guy who worked there (not DUNNICK, but the other guy, in the hat, I didn't catch his name), every hour or so standing on a stool and pleading with us to please leave.  We booed the first time he told us to leave, and he shouted, "Fucking your fucking boos, close your tabs and the get the hell out of here."  Or something like that.  He wore a smile on his face so after an alarmed pause we knew it was okay to laugh. Cool guy.

From the Mink we went to cousin Sean's house, where (it felt like) there were three girls for every guy.  Poor guys, it must get overwhelming.  At one point Melanie, Mark and I watched through a plate glass window as Timmy worked the living room to "Oh Darling!" by the Beatles.  He started at the stereo, swung Ashley around; went to the couch and gave Patty a kiss; serenaded Lily with his finger on her chin; went over to his brother Josh and did his signature gyration move.  At this point I Iooked away and, when I looked back, Ashley and one other girl were on their hands and knees singing, throwing their heads back and rising up in a dance shake to shout out "I"LL NEVER DO YOU NO WRONG!".  Amazing.

The fun never stops.

In a matter of minutes (well, maybe one hour) we hit the road for Tulsa.  What I keep hearing about this roadtrip to Tulsa is, "Darn, it's going to be crowded on that bus."  There are eight seats and eight of us: Melanie, Astra Heights, Sean, and me. Hmmmmmmm.  I like to think of it as cozy.

Sharing tabulation:
17 mints
9 cigarettes
Bobby bought me a drink at the Mink
Someone handed me a beer at Sean's.  I got yelled at for it later by the girls, it turns out, who purchased them.
A dozen warm Shipley's donuts (Mark drove me in the van.)

Astra Birthdays - Melanie !!!

They come in flurries it seems. Based out of the Morales house we had a little party for our muchacha #1.

The whole clan was there ... or so it seemed.

Mel' demonstrates the long distance candle blow with smile effect.

Some of the Morales kids play with Chris' Mac Photobooth.

Some Tour Stuff

The chronology of this blog might get funky but I just worked for a half hour on this blog to have my browser crash. Ugh! So let's see where was I ... ok ... here's Melanie driving us out of LA. The snow-capped peaks of the San Bernardinos flanking us.

Cozy in the back?

That's right, I am sitting shotgun. My back has been killing me so until it heals, I am being a tad greedy for comfort. I'd much rather be cuddling with the band.

We had a so so gig at Congress 'cause it was early and on a weekday BUT they were WONDERFUL people. An old highschool friend came to see the show. The stage has a great vibe and if you look carefully, you'll see Club Congress on the grill behind my amp here

The club has a wonderful old west vibe. The hotel itself is the same building.
An 80s night followed our set and they played a Romeo Void song which is a curious coincidence since David Kahne who did much of the Good Problems CD also did the Romeo Void records. WHen in Tucson, go to the Hotel/Club Congress or be forever un-hip!

We scratched our way to Houston next (time lapse about 24 hrs) to do an advance taping of Whitney Casey's farewell tv show. It was a riot. She loves us and is very tall. Visit Whitney Casey

Ok... enough for this entry. More soon.
B

exhaustion

MARK HERE

if you didn't read Leilani's last post, please do.

Tour is exhausting, it can tax the heartiness of men.  And women.  We just drove straight from Tucson, AZ to Houston, TX a 17 hour drive!!!  STRAIGHT.

We went straight to a morning show performance on KHOU, a CBS affiliate in Houston.  It was pretty fun.

Afterwards, we gorged ourselves on Mexican food and went home to nap.  We have to recharge to party, right?!

we got a ton of fun pics and stuff to post so stay tuned!!

later

m

How I Heard the Audience Hearing Astra Heights This Weekend

Leilani here, about to sleep in an actual bed for the first time this weekend.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you that tour doesn’t feel like the most hygienic place in the world.  By the end of the weekend, I felt like I hadn’t brushed my teeth in a week.  And I had, believe me, brushed my teeth regularly . . . it’s just that you spend so much time in a car that you get car-mouth, you know what I mean?  I also slept in my turtleneck, again . . . I hate having to do that.  And then there’s Timmy’s boots, which have holes in the soles that trap moisture . . . . but he ordered me not ever to complain about that.

Hygiene aside, however, it was a blast.  What began a little darkly, as mentioned in my last blog, soon became a pretty positive trip.  Oakland and San Jose seem really to like Astra Heights; the audiences were good-sized and rather merry.  And the Uptown gave us an unbelievable number of drink tickets, which never happens here in LA.  I think here in LA, the boys are lucky to each get two.

These last two weekends, I’ve noticed a pattern in their set list.  They start off with "Never a Reason," and the audience warms to that, they’re like, “Ok, I'm listening . . .  “  I can’t remember the exact order of the set list either night—at some point I’ll write that down, when I’m not dancing—but I know Burning usually pops up soon after that.  Audience gets warmer.  “Well Farewell” always does well. . . . But “Motorway” stuns them and then “Under His Bed” takes them down for the fight.  “Motorway” is so freaking upbeat and catchy that people sigh when it ends, like you sigh when that tasty treat you’ve been happily munching on and to which you have gotten kinda addicted has suddenly run out.  But it’s really with “Under His Bed” that, lately, the crowd did its collective “Wowee!” thing that crowds do when they’re being won over. It just seemed to impress the heck out of everybody.  Mark often introduces it as “an homage to Queen,” which I always think is kinda cool. Because Queen is one of those bands that was huge in its time, then got kind of a dorky reputation (think Grunge time in the nineties, or when post-modern irony was really high and hot), but then returned to consciousness wearing some of the luster of its brother glam and the theatricality of its sister opera, but without any ironic distancing from its big earnest emotions.  When these guys play “Under His Bed,:” the audience gets the vibe. . .they pick up on the song’s sad-happy, passionate, playful embrace of epic feeling.  We’ve yet to publish the lyrics on this blog (and we’re working on it), so I don’t know all the words, but its got a sense of self-liberation that’s amazing.  And that sense goes really well with the feeling of homage. . . you know, how we feel when what was once a guilty pleasure has been totally redeemed and can now be played and listened to boastfully.  To say it another way, watching an “homage to Queen” move an audience is kind of like when the really cool quiet eccentric kid in school finally gets the recognition from the popular crowd that he’s deserved all along, and doesn’t care two wits for it, still sticks around his homely best girls and lets the popular chicks eat their hearts out. 

When, in Orange County over a week ago, “Under His Bed” was soon followed by T. Rex, PURE COOLNESS reigned--the guys pulled it off with an effortless elegance that made the audience  go mad, I tell you, mad.  Remind me to take pictures of the audience next time either of these songs is played.

“The March” always does well, too, but I have a hard time guaging that song’s reception anymore because it was a favorite of my daughters for so l