Cassavettes

Can a comedian deliver at a rock show? That’s the question before us now. Actually, it’s not. I know this guy will deliver, but will he fit? See, for our Dec. 9 CD release show, we’ve got one slot that the club wants to fill with someone of their choosing. Today, they suggested a comedian. I think it’s a swell idea, since it will make it a party atmosphere. I called the guys and only got Mike, who was deep into reading the dictionary. No joke. He was concerned that Sir Frances Drake and Antartic explorers make the dictionary, but Elvis Presley and John Lennon are oddly absent. Anyhow, Mike was into the idea, too, and noted that Bob Hope and Hank Williams often made the one-two comedy/music punch way back when. He’s right! So, I’ll wait to hear what the other two guys say and what the agent says about where he wants to play on the bill and how much he wants, and maybe we can work this out. Man, what a party!

Last night, I had a nice chat with my old pal (friend since 6th grade when he was just the weird kid in my class counting down the days to the release of Nintendo64) and ex-Duffer cohort Jimmy last night. He’s now a blossoming recording engineer and TV producer, and singing lead vocals and playing guitar for the old ska group Designated Johnny. All of which got me thinking: With no disrespect to Jimmy or my old hometown, man, am I glad that Cassavettes is in Boston. Dallas just isn’t a hospitable town for certain types of music. Sure, they’ve put the Old 97s on the map, but for every Old 97s the city launched 10,000 Drowning Pools. They love their metal. Anyhow, I remember figuring that Boston was a good place to start a serious band. Why? Because it’s not easy, but there is respect if you push hard enough. If a mostly untrained lot of musicians can share the stages with the technically-impressive bands that Berklee shoots out, and can make a dent in a scene that’s not the coziest, then we’re doing something right. At least that’s my hope. This band got a crash course early on, since we did our first record WITH Berklee kids breathing down our necks. So, we had to prove ourselves from the get-go. I think we’ve done pretty well up north thus far. Just a pat on the back kind of thought.

Even though the dateline above says I’m posting this on Saturday, I’m actually posting this on Sunday. This is what I wrote last night (Saturday):

“So, I’m at work right now, with my main man Ricky, and I figured I’d try to do a quick update.”

Right as I finished that line, I was sent out to do a couple stories — one of which paid off nicely. So, I never got to continue writing the blog from work, but nevertheless, I saved the draft and the title, and now I’m prepared to update a bit — although because I saved the draft it will say I wrote this last night. It’s like time travel.

The band was able to get together on Thursday for the first time in awhile, and we sounded good. Nice and solid. Played a couple tunes, and a cover… ooh, mysterious. We’ve also been working out a new version of “Saint Anthony” which I think we’ll debut at the Nov. 6 Great Scott show.

In other news this week, Clay sent me the actual print-outs for the promo. They look good. We ended up using an old band photo in it, but other than that, I’m pleased. Erstwhile, Jaclyn has sent me PDFs of the entire innards and outtards (?) of the CD booklet, and they’re also looking good. Dan ended up printing the initial computer art on textured paper, then photographing it, so it now has a darker color and more texture. I was hoping Jax could scoop that dark blue from the new shapes to use for the text of the album. That’d be swizz.

In the bad news department, we discovered yesterday just by looking at MySpaces that a band thought they were playing a show with us, when the bill is already filled. The lines of communication were crossed, I guess. Anyhow, sending them a message telling them they aren’t on the bill was a real bummer, and I felt like an asshole doing it. But hopefully we can set something up with them real soon.

Matt is away this weekend — he’s playing drums for Ted Drozdowski’s folk act in Philadelphia. Hey, it’s a sweet gig, he’s getting put up for the weekend and everything. While Matt was away, we just got down to biz — the biz of celebrating. We had a two-pronged Scott birthday bash on Friday (at Tara’s and at the collective Matts’) and then last night I hear there were two ill bashes at Bobby’s and Melanie’s. Unfortunately, I was reporting at The Four Seasons.

Sorry, gang. It’s been an entire week with no update. Sounds like someone is lagging behind. The truth is, I’ve been quite busy these past few days with midterms and papers and the what not, but I’m starting to see a break in the clouds.

First things first, today is Scott Jones’ 21st birthday. Last night, when the hour officially struck (which by his calculation appears to be 10/25/1985 at 12:54 a.m. CST when he first came from the womb; thus making it 1:54 a.m. EST last night), Chris and I hoisted the boy to the heavens. Tonight, we’re going to get some food and go check out our friends Age Rings and Ryan Lee Crosby at TT’s.

So allow me to recap, for what I didn’t post about. I’ll do it day by day, and then general notes:

DAY BY DAY…
WEDNESDAY – Tara and I went to see our friends Fly Upright Kite play at afterHOURS, and then hopped a bus to Cambridge to see Age Rings and Christians & Lions play TT’s. It was a wild night, but I picked up both Age Rings and C&L’s new albums, and they are both really tight. Plus, Ryan was there, which always ensures a good time. He was also wearing a really nice leather jacket. Later, Tara and I discussed whether I would look good in a leather jacket. The decision was unanimously YES.

THURSDAY – Matt had to cancel practice to do some stuff with his long-time metal band Pipe. I didn’t mind because I had some reading to do and other stuff. However, I canceled practice on Sunday, as you will see, so we’re a bit behind. Earlier in the day, Matt and I talked about looking into consignment for the record. We don’t have a label, and we don’t have a distribution deal, so we better do this part ourselves. Matt’s talked with Newbury Comics about getting “It’s Gonna Change” into a number of area stores. Which reminds me, I want to make little stickers to put on the front of the album to pique the interests of passersby. Any idea how that would be accomplished?

FRIDAY – There was a party for our friend Ricky’s 21st birthdays. Why is everyone turning 21 at the same time? Either way, I’m never opposed to good time parties. I left the party shortly after it started to see an old friend, Brad Skistimas of Five Times August, play at afterHOURS. Totally bizarre that an old bandmate and producer is touring and happens to stop at my college. But Brad’s always impressed me; he works very hard and earns what he gets. Our music is nothing alike, but I think we respect each others’ work ethics. Anyhow, it was awesome to see him and see how good he’s doing. A number of girls who heard his songs on “Laguna Beach” and “One Tree Hill” were at the show, and a few of them KNEW THE WORDS. That’s a pretty big deal for a completely independent artist.

SATURDAY – I had a doctor’s appointment for a minor infection and now I’m on crazy pills that make my legs tingle. I also found out that after dropping 25 lbs. my freshman year, I gained it back slowly, then quickly added another 30 lbs. Which means I’m way overweight — bummer. But the day got so much better from there. Scott, Mike, Chris, and I tried to take a bus over to Harvard Square to see Nada Surf play Row-A-Palooza (incidentally, we were submitted to play this but not picked — not that I’m bitter). Anyhow, the bus didn’t come so we walked a long, long way. And surprisingly, we only missed a bit of their set. We strolled into a huge outdoor crowd and got an AWESOME spot near the front, passed out a few flyers for Nov. 6 and saw my main couple Tim and Katie. It was awesome. We had to leave early because Mike, Scott, and I were on a podcast at 4 p.m. (Matt had a wedding to attend), and we were trying to figure out how to get to Davis. By great luck, our buddy Matt McLaughlin happened to be driving by at that moment, and gave us a ride. We listened to some of the new Slow Century disc, and were revved up. Now, we got lost trying to find the podcast Band in Boston (or The Flophouse Sessions) which is in a quaint house in Somerville occupied by Jen, Andy, and currently three fine dogs (one small named Smokey, one medium named Stella or something — sorry, I’m bad with names, including dog names, and a large golden retriever named Duffy). Right as we were about to take a wrong turn in the Somerville hood, a man said, “You don’t want to go left.” I thought the dude was a nut, but alas, it was just our fine host, Andy. We went and did the show, and had a total blast. We did acoustic cuts of “Seasons,” “Saint Anthony,” “The Nadir,” “Debts,” “The Devil’s Arms” and “Carolyn, Don’t Leave Like This.” It should be posted before our Nov. 6 show. Let me just say here though how much we enjoyed this. Jen and Andy are the type of people you love to meet — just nice people, loving music for all the right reasons, and doing something really cool with their passion. We really enjoyed meeting them, talking with them, playing with their dogs. Man, we’d love to go back. Also, amongst folks we’ve been interviewed by, they were easily the most prepared. They knew a whole lot about us in advance, which, as artists, is very flattering! Listen to their podcasts and support! Anyhow, that night was a second party for Ricky’s birthday. It was pretty cool, but at a bro bar. Tara and I left, apparently, shortly before a bro rumble broke out and someone got thrown on a car right next to Chris. The police came with a paddy wagon. Sorry I missed THAT.

SUNDAY
I slept forever then ate a good meal at Boston Market. And I mean good. Anyhow, that night, as previously mentioned, band practice was canceled due to the fact that Tara and I went to see Paul Simon at Agganis Arena. It was pretty cool, I guess. He played a lot of that world stuff he does, which gets on my nerves after awhile. Even stuff from “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” was subject to reinterpretation and doing that weird off-key singing. All in all, it was OK. We’re seeing Dylan there in a few weeks. Anyhow, late that night, after it got out, the band assembled with Aram for a photoshoot for the inside of the album jacket. We did a couple of locations around the city — standard alleys, old cars, the bridge the Red Line runs over (my choice). However, the alley thing is so played out. And we do indeed look a bit angry, as some have said, which is not too accurate of our fun-loving personas. Check these out: in alley, in front of car, jack-knifing 1, and jack-knifing 2. Due to a general inability to agree on a photo, Aram is going to see if there’s any better ones from the 100 or so he shot that night…

MONDAY – Mike felt sick and practice was canceled. However, I was assured by the company that we’re still looking good to hit our Nov. 1 t-shirt deadline. Meanwhile, I had an excrutiating exam to study for.

TUESDAY – Took the exam. Finished my news column. Felt good. Hoisted Scott to the heavens and gave his a DVD of The Band.

TODAY – Clay is sending me some samples of the 3-song promo. He says it looks good, but I’m just hoping it doesn’t delay anything. Meanwhile, Jaclyn is almost done with the artwork, and Dan’s cover is almost finished. From what I understand, Dan is sticking with the computer art, but printing is on textured paper with raised ink, and then photographing it. This will give it the textured look we crave, hopefully.

Big plans for the rest of the day. Let’s see how Scott’s 21st shapes up. He took five days off work to party, so hopefully I can hang in there, too.

Turns out, the good folks over at Bostonist.com got hold of a couple of our new tracks and posted them, along with some info about last night’s show. Check it out. Tell us what you think!

Last night at Bill’s (photos) was a bizarre show, fun, but bizarre. We did the switch up and went first instead of last. We pulled a decent sized crowd out, nothing too big, but I didn’t expect huge numbers — it’s midterms week at both nearby schools (Northeastern and BU). However, the other bands had some trouble pulling out folks and the crowd unfortunately was small after a lot of people filtered out after us (that’s always rough, I don’t like that). Now, clubs pay themselves before they pay bands. They need the money to pay the bartenders, security, sound guy, door staff, as well as their bills for lighting the event, insurance, etc. Usually it’s a few hundred bucks. Any profits over that amount would be split at a rate determined by the club and the bands, say 80% to bands and 20% to the club. Last night’s show brought in over 50 people, but the cover was just $5, so it would take a big crowd to meet the club’s need and pay the bands richly. As a result, the club didn’t make what it needed to make. Thus, none of the bands got paid. Even if we brought enough people to warrant payment, the unfortunate situation of all this is that it doesn’t matter. IT IS NOT THE CLUB’S FAULT. THEY NEED THAT MONEY. You can’t blame anyone else — it was a rainy Tuesday night and a tough night to draw. It’s just unfortunate. I suppose we could have pulled a few more folks ourselves but the room was pretty crowded during our set and we flyered, etc. Anyhow, while it’s a bummer we didn’t get any money, since we really, really could use some right about now, it’s a good lesson I suppose. I still had a good time last night, a few good things came our way as a result of last night, and the other bands we played with are talented and kickass dudes. Besides, it’s all about community.

Now, one of the things about this blog here, is that while I keep saying there is “transparency” — an unobstructed window into the band’s workings — there are a few things I’ve been holding back that you should know about. First of all, let me just say that the concept of transparency is bizarre when applied to bands. Many musicians make careers out of building an image around looking cool and keeping their mouths shut, unless they have something nasty to say in the press. I don’t know if giving this insider look is really ruining our chances at building an “image,” but I would hope that our image would be that of nice guys who play good music who nice folks can relate to. That’s the hope, at least. As I said in this blog’s first post, I want you to feel a part of it. Anyhow, two things about nontransparency/transparency:

1) For the most part, I do not post monetary figures. This is because what we get may differ from other bands, not necessarily what we make at shows, but if we get a special rate for recording or something. I don’t want any “Well, Cassavettes says you gave them this rate…” Thus, it’s unfair to those who are trying to help us but also help their business. Now, this doesn’t happen a whole lot, but I figure it’s good to set the rule now. Plus, money is such a tender topic with the band right now, considering we’re moving a lot of it around, that I’d just prefer to keep it personal. Finally, I feel there is a security risk in telling people how much money you have or make. Even if it’s not much.
2) We will use foul language sometimes. In a lot of our online stuff, we try to keep the image and message clean, mostly just because online cursing is unnecessary most of the time and we don’t know who reads what. Well, on this blog, since I want it to be a clear look at the band, how we interact and talk, I feel like if there are direct quotes, I am not going to edit them for content. I want you to get an idea of who we are and how we talk, which includes a lot of cursing. A good example of this would be a rather crude conversation between Matt and his cousin I posted last week. That’s how the boys talk, and I found it hilarious. Plus, that had a good background story about Ratatat and used our running joke about busting balls, from the Abbey show. So, the writing on here will be relatively clean, but there may be some harsh language occasionally. That’s just a fair warning.

OK, a couple of quick clarifications on last night’s ranting post. I just spoke to Matt, and we’re all good, but I wanted to make a few things clear and pull a couple key sections of the post.

1) I’m not asking for help. I can handle the workload, especially with Chris’ assistance. See this line: “I’m not asking for anyone within the group to take a greater role, because I’m happy to do this for us and again, I have Chris to make the load lighter (thank God).” What I am asking is to not get griped at if some of the more minor decisions are made in a less democratic way. I’m not want to override any other member, nor do I want to operate in an underhanded manner. If things could be democratic, I’d love that. But so many little decisions need to be made right now, with the album coming out and all, that my role I feel enables me to make those decisions. As Jabe would say during recording, “You’re speaking for the band.” I just hope my decisions aren’t causing problems. If so, please tell me and we’ll figure something out.

2) I don’t want to make an issue of this. See this section: “As I told Scott, I would never, ever want money to be a source of friction within the group. (On the same note, nor would I want betrayal of their trust over posting about them, so if this violates any bro codes, please let me know.) I would not want to put that band in a position to lose a member or break up over such trivial matters.” I’m just writing my feelings, so that they know and so that the blog serves its purpose as a transparent window into the inner workings of the band. If this steps on any toes, I’d also like to know that.

3) I know the blog’s mission isn’t being fully fulfilled, because one member can’t read this due to lack of Internet. Unfortunately, most of the contact we do with people outside of the band is through the Internet, and I can’t call each member each night and brief them about the day’s activities for an hour, so I try to include as much in this blog as I can. See here: “(On a side note, one of the motivations of this blog is that I found that the other guys in the band were reading it and getting an idea of what we were working on, because I often forget who I discussed what with. So, I may think I told Matt something (this is a random example), but in actuality, I told Mike and forgot to tell Matt. Hopefully, he can read about it in the blog though and bring it up to me, if he wants. While I was excited that this works in theory, I forgot to take into account that one of our members is currently sans computer and thus operating under the handicap of not having the same access to information as the other two members.)” However, I’m still doing my best to verbally brief folks, I just can’t remember who knows what.

4) I know money talk is boring, and like I say, I wouldn’t want to hear it either. See here: Money “often gets little to no response beyond bored looks or guitar noodling. Because if it’s not your money, you don’t care. Sorry, but that’s true. I wouldn’t either. Thus, I noticed long ago that my briefings were falling on deaf ears and I gave up talking about it.” Even JUST NOW when we discussing last night’s post and its implications, and I was just telling Matt about how I subdivided my Excel spreadsheet to pay my parents back first from all assets, then myself back at a 10% clip to the band’s 90% (to replenish our financial resources, even if it means I don’t get paid back for years), Matt admitted he was having trouble paying attention. No love lost here. I understand that. Money’s boring and it sucks. But I’m just doing what needs to be done.

So, in summary, I’m not looking for an extra hand here. I think we’ll be fine handling things how we’ve done so thus far, I just don’t want to be upsetting folks if I have to make snap decisions. I think that’s fair. But if other members want to get involved, I’m happy to delegate some of the workload. Matt said he had free time today, so I asked to fax the IPR proof form back to Clay at A to Z. I proofed the pages this morning and they looked GOOD. So, Matt’s helping me out big time because now I don’t have to search for a fax machine.

I think that’s a good clarification…

With that out of the way, here’s a quick daily update…
For the rest of the day, I’m just doing classes and taking care of biz before the Bill’s show tonight. Chris, Tara (who has agreed to help me pick the best working girly shirt) and I are going over to the T-shirt place at 3:30. Then, we’ll be on our way. Just waiting on a possible design from MK, but not holding my breath.

By the way, the band voted for Tim Jacque’s yelling bear unanimously as the top t-shirt choice, followed by Dan’s bear on a bike and Monica’s bear in a crown. Funny, I didn’t ask anyone to design a bear shirt, and yet every submission we got, except one, was bear-oriented. It’s cool. We love bears.

Just circulated the regular Facebook, MySpace, and e-mail list reminders about tomorrow’s (or I guess, tonight’s) show at Bill’s Bar. Mostly, it was important to note that we agreed to switch from headlining the gig to opening the gig because Alpha Juliet (the scheduled opener) couldn’t make it by 9 p.m. While I think some bands would have a problem with this “demotion,” I was actually thrilled. It’s midterms week and a) I could use the extra time to study and sleep and b) I know a lot of our fans could, too.

I don’t mean to “call out” anyone here, but in the essence of this blog’s “transparency,” I feel I should write out my feelings relatively unfiltered. Thus, we get this…

Lately, I’ve been having a prevalent thought of feeling drowned in what goes on in managing this group. This is new to me, as I have always been a pretty good task-balancer. Even when something bothers me on the managerial side, I’m usually pretty good at cloaking it so as to not affect others’ work. (In the same vein, this post’s sentiments are not meant to impede progress, but simply provide a window into my thoughts lately.)

But, man, sometimes this can be really, really trying. Everything in a band is so tender. Like if an “executive” decision is made, it counteracts the definition of a “band” — a core unit. I understand that, and I try to honor that. But every successful operation has a primary facilitator, and one way or another, the job has landed squarely on me. Now, this isn’t a bad thing. I love task and people management. I think I’m pretty good at it. Plus, as far as my role in the band, it makes sense. I also have the tireless efforts of Chris to help me out — and he does, big time. So don’t go thinking that I’m trying to pawn off a single duty onto anyone else… that’s not really the issue at hand. I’ll hit that topic in a moment.

But back to the “tender” issue. I think that I often get in the mindframe that I’m going to accomplish a goal, large or small, and I take the necessary steps to ensure this. That is all well and good in my personal life, but with a band, I have to consciously tell myself repeatedly to be more democratic. This can really get tiring, though I recognize it is essential. Everyone wants to be, and should be, involved.

Now, I do not mean to diminish the role of what anyone else does for the band. Every member is so important to the success of this band, in different ways, I would never discredit them. Still, that does not mean they are involved on the business side a lot of the time, which can cause some conflict when Chris and I shuttle the process along. Plus, if I am constantly making sure I’m not just calling the shots, I want something viable in return. Also, not the case oftentimes.

I feel bad because last night I ranted at Scott for a good long time about money. I often think that I hate money, and I don’t like thinking about it, but I need to get a good grasp on it. I’ve started keeping records of every expense and it is an exhaustive process. Why am I the money manager? Last year, the band voted me as the money manager to collect our payments and save them. I established a band bank account, which I oversee and operate. But more recently, I’ve become a much more obvious facilitator, by my own hand. Since most of the band funds were depleted prior to recording by our summer tour, I have self-funded this entire record. Now, I’m going broke fast, though that’s not really my concern. But the fact is, I ran out of money more than expected and had to do something I never wished I’d do — ask my parents for money. They agreed, and while I really, really, really appreciate it, I’m not too thrilled about it. I hate being in debt.

This issue of money, coincidentally, is something I also brought upon myself. I knew the other guy’s funds were tight, and I was comfortable at the beginning of the process. So you can consider it an act of volunteerism (which I’m happy to do because I realize you need to invest to earn, or “spend money to make money”… I don’t know if I personally stand to profit from this, since that was never the plan, but I’d like to see the band account become self-sufficient). We turned down money offers earlier in the year, because a) they weren’t right for us at the time and didn’t wow us and b) we’ve been so pleased with our progress as a DIY effort thus far, we didn’t see a need to involve anyone else yet, unless they offered something we couldn’t provide. They offered money, which we appreciated, but we had that and needed more “what we’re going to do for you” ideas, so we figured we’d be OK on our own. And we will be OK, even money-wise. But, as I told Scott (who was arbitrarily picked, by the by, since Scott didn’t do anything particularly inflammatory), if everyone wants to be involved in the process, then I want people to listen when I brief them on what Chris and/or I are up to. That includes money, which often gets little to no response beyond bored looks or guitar noodling. Because if it’s not your money, you don’t care. Sorry, but that’s true. I wouldn’t either. Thus, I noticed long ago that my briefings were falling on deaf ears and I gave up talking about it.

(On a side note, one of the motivations of this blog is that I found that the other guys in the band were reading it and getting an idea of what we were working on, because I often forget who I discussed what with. So, I may think I told Matt something (this is a random example), but in actuality, I told Mike and forgot to tell Matt. Hopefully, he can read about it in the blog though and bring it up to me, if he wants. While I was excited that this works in theory, I forgot to take into account that one of our members is currently sans computer and thus operating under the handicap of not having the same access to information as the other two members.)

I am confident in my ability to manage this band, both on the personal side and monetary side. I hold nothing against my bandmates, especially financially. As I told Scott, I would never, ever want money to be a source of friction within the group. (On the same note, nor would I want betrayal of their trust over posting about them, so if this violates any bro codes, please let me know.) I would not want to put that band in a position to lose a member or break up over such trivial matters.

But some decisions need to be made with the money in mind — not necessarily what we WANT to do for our own enjoyment/progress, but what we NEED to do to make money to fund the more fun aspects of band life. And if no one is up to date on the money matters, then how can I act any way but unilaterally?

Anyway, it feels like that a lot of the time lately. As we enter the final phase of putting this record together, I’m micromanaging like none other. Every little detail must be addressed and I’m spending huge portions of the day working on the band (let’s see, this week is midterms week at school, causing me great distress, and yet today I’ve followed up with our graphic designers, circulated T-shirt ideas to the bandmates, made sure they responded with their choices, contacted our printing company about shirts, proofed our CD label and trayliner, drafted and sent out a press release for our CD release with Chris, followed up with A to Z about printing, talked to Jaclyn about the final album design and meeting with Dan, arranged a time for Fritz to help us move our equipment from the practice space tomorrow, checked in with the bandmates about meeting up tomorrow with Fritz (twice), sorted out a practice space money qualm, and tried to schedule a photoshoot for this weekend with Aram that probably won’t happen, then tried to re-schedule a photoshoot for a night this week, but waiting to hear back on that). Anyhow, if I’m putting in the time, I don’t want or need thanks. I don’t have any use for that. I just want people to understand the effort, and accommodate it to the best of their ability.

But sometimes when I’m working like this, and not getting much of a response, if the few responses I do get have even the slightest tone of negativity, I go nuts. That happened twice today. It makes me feel like a mother — I remember getting lectured for not appreciating all that my parents do for the family. And you know what? I DIDN’T properly show my appreciation when I was growing up. There’s so much behind the scenes that I didn’t even realize it. I have a newfound appreciation for all the stuff my parents did for us growing up, because managing the life and business of a g
roup of a few people is HARD. Mom, I don’t know if you read this, but THANK YOU.

Well, that’s how I feel. I’m not asking for anyone within the group to take a greater role, because I’m happy to do this for us and again, I have Chris to make the load lighter (thank God). And we work well together, Chris and I. Plus, I think I have some business acumen, and I like doing the work a lot. And I’m OK at it. All I want is some constructive feedback, or possibly just less complaining if things happen while people aren’t paying attention. Is that unfair? I don’t really think so. If it is, let me know.

Either way, this has been written after several days of mental anguish on this topic, and I’ve thought about NOT writing it on numerous occasions. But I think it’s fair to the nature of the blog to show the internal struggle, as well as the more tangible struggles that a young band encounters. If you want to chalk this up to recurring “heat of the moment” frustrations, that’s not far off base. But I’m just being honest and hopefully just writing it out brings some clarity to the situation.

The exchange between Matt and his cousin Alex on each other’s MySpace walls is really amusing me right now. Perhaps most famously, Alex’s final retort. I’ll copy and paste the exchange, and first add a bit of commentary to clarify what Alex is talking about.

CLARIFICATION: When we played a show at the Mid East Upstairs last month, Ratatat was playing the Downstairs the same night. One of the dudes from the band was chatting up some fans before the gig in front of the club. There were free magazines outside the club, and lo and behold, Ratatat was prominently featured, picture and all. So we coerced Alex (although he was pretty willing) to pretend he just happened to be reading about Ratatat and just happened to be walking by the guitarist at the same time, and then get ready excited and ask for an autograph. He did so, in excellent form, right in front of all the fans. It was a triumphant moment and probably an ego trip for the band, unless they saw us all laughing afterward.

The exchange:
ALEX: Man it sounds like some one is a little jealous of my LIMITED ONE OF A KIND SUPER FANTASTIC ratatat autograph that currently sits stuffed in between my back seat all ripped up….shit i shouldnt fuckin say that cause im totally tryin to swindle someone to actually give me money for it
MATT: nobody cares about your lame ratatat autograph…douche
ALEX: Ever try not being a piece of shit. Notice my period. Fucker.

For some reason, I always find it hilarious when these two rip on each other. It’s all love, afterall. They’re cousins. But one thing’s for sure: Alex really likes to BUST some BALLS.

If I haven’t stressed this enough, this has been a DIY effort thus far. But there is no possible way that the four guys in Cassavettes could have made the progress that we have if it wasn’t for some really special contributions. Today’s subject: flyering. It’s a two-pronged process of making the flyers and distributing the flyers, both of which we in Cassavettes have little to do with.

When the band first started, Mike would make flyers by taping together pictures he cut out of a cowboy picture book and then just write in all the details by hand. It was a noble effort, but we didn’t distribute a whole lot of these flyers and they looked like exactly what they were: handmade. Which is why we go to people with more expertise than ourselves on this one.

Perhaps one of the best things about being a college-aged band is that we have so many resources available to us — people who are eager to help and know the fields they are studying/looking to enter. Last spring, I asked a girl named MK Fabila who I worked with and who does graphic design to make us some flyers. And boy, did she ever. MK cranked out some seriously amazing work. In fact, I chronicled all (well, most, I’m missing a couple flyers) of her work and other friends’ work today by posting links to all the flyers and the shows they correspond with on our detailed history section; just scroll down to right around the time that the band recovers from the doldrums and you’ll find perhaps a paralleling storyline.

From our April 26 show at TT the Bear’s onward, we saw an incredible leap in attendance at shows. Was this due to the fact that we began properly flyering or was it just time for people to come to Cassavettes’ side? MK and I discussed this the other day and agreed it was probably a combination of both. You CAN NOT underestimate the power of advertising. Hell, there are bands I’ve never seen play a show who I think are big-time bands just because I see their stickers on the T. Putting your name in front of folks is crucial. And flyering, with both the name and specific details and even that these people can check you out, is the best way, in my opinion.

So, with MK, and then Ren, Tim Jacques, plus more recently Ish and Mike’s girlfriend Julie, and now our friend Brenna making flyers (for free) for us, we were sitting pretty. But like I said, this is a two-pronged effort. The second leg is distribution of these flyers. That’s where Chris comes in.

I have a lot of praise for our fire-headed boy manager, another student who puts in unreasonable amounts of time and effort to help out. In fact, I really could tell Chris got “into” the band late last year when he stopped referring to the group as “you guys” and started saying “we.” I like that. We are we. Anyhow, Chris flyers like it’s nobodys business. The kid goes everywhere — Cambridge, Allston, Somerville, Back Bay, wherever. Numerous people have come up to me and said, “I see your flyers everywhere.” Hell yes, that’s Chris’ work they are talking about. The guy hits the streets hard, without being asked, and it is unbelievably important. Plus, it’s sooo kind of him. Once in awhile, I’ll accompany Chris, but honestly, sometimes I don’t even known he’s gone on a flyering expedition until either a) I see one of the flyers while walking around town or b) he tells me in his faux-Southern accent, “Oh, I already done that.” Sorry, I just wanted the opportunity to make Chris’ written voice sound like a hick for my own amusement. But seriously, he gets the job done. I remember when we showed up to play the Random NEST show in June at Great Scott, we walked in to drop off some flyers, but disturbed one of Ben Sisto’s meetings. Later, Ben tells us that we were the only band who flyered for the show and, as a DIY guy himself, he appreciated the effort. Pretty cool, eh?

So, important rules about the ever-so-important role of flyering:
1) Make sure the flyers look as professional and good as possible.
2) Make sure you distribute properly, especially if you don’t have the luxury of a workhorse like Chris.
3) I didn’t talk about this yet, but mind the rules of particular clubs about flyering. For instance, some clubs don’t allow you to post on/in government property (mailboxes, etc.). Check with the club first. Also, don’t try to walk into a nearby club and put up a flyer for a show at another club. They will yell at you — it’s happened.

Anyhow, that’s about it. On a final flyer note, I received Brenna’s final copy of the flyer for Tuesday’s show at Bill’s Bar, but it won’t load to any computer properly. This is a big pain, and not her fault. I’ll try to post the flyer to MySpace before the weekend is through, but we’ll have to see. Either way, not much time left to run off copies of the flyer and distribute. We’ll make due.

OK, so it looks like we may be able to pull off the incredible feat of getting shirts made by Nov. 6. I spoke to our printers of choice today, and they say if they get them early next week, they’ll meet our deadline. The price wasn’t right on 200 shirts, so I scaled back to 100, with a split of 30 of one men’s design, 30 of another men’s/unisex, and 40 girl’s shirts. Any color choices? Just now, Dan submit his bear wearing a siren hat sketch for consideration, and MK, Holly, Ish, Tim J., and Dave are possibly trying out some designs too. I figure we’ll pick the top three, give the winners a free shirt, and that will be that. Right now, we need to figure out colors and sizes, etc. Last night we needed only a few XLs, not many larges, and a bunch of smalls and mediums. So if I were to order 30 for unisex, I’d go:
3 XL, 5 L, 13 M, 12 S — does that work? Keep in mind, we’ll be getting 100 shirts total, so on the men’s choice side that will give us a total of: 6 XL, 10 L, 26 M, and 12 S. I’m not sure what we should order for girly sizes…