Beatnik Termites, Kobanes, Neutron Bombs, Fizzy Pops at Reggie's in Chicago (6.12.09)

My band, the Kobanes are playing Reggie's in Chicago this Friday with the Beatnik Termites, The Neutron Bombs and The Fizzy Pops!
The show is 17+ and starts at 8 p.m. The Beatnik Termites are a great pop punk/surf band that's been around for (I think) over 20 years now. The Kobanes are a bunch of suburban retards. The Neutron Bombs have Pete from The Methadones in them and they're pretty cool. Old school punk with British-sounding vocals. The Fizzy Pops are three rad dudes (and a dudette) from Chicago. They're a power pop/pop punk band, pretty good. I saw them and the Neutron Bombs before, both good bands. Never saw the Beatnik Termites before, so I'm really excited for that. Anyways, check it out! Friday night. 8 p.m. 17+. I think $10? Give or take a couple bucks.

myspace.com/beatniktermites
myspace.com/thecobains27
myspace.com/theneutronbombs
myspace.com/thefizzypops

"Japan Invasion" this September...

I don't know how many people actually read this, but a couple of you know I play bass in a band called The Kobanes. The other day, Mark, Eddie and myself went to a travel agent and bought some plane tickets to Tokyo for September 18. Nonstop flight from O'Hare and everything. We were given the option to stop in Texas for $62 less but having to get your stuff, go through customs and then re-do all that in two hours all while risking the safety of our guitars seemed a little much. Anyways, a nice sum of money's worth later, we're going to Japan to play six shows in about a week and a half.

We're going to arrive September 19 in the afternoon sometime and stay the night in Tokyo. On the 20th, we're playing some festival in Tokyo with over 30 bands, which is gonna be rad. Here's the itinerary the dude from the label sent me:

9/19(Sat.) Arriving Tokyo Airport

9/20(Sun.) Tokyo-Akihabara (Club Goodman)
Punk Rock Fest with over 30 bands!!

9/21(Mon.) Nagoya (Memory Pops)
w/Sense Of Identity, The Because, Navigations, Navel

9/22(Tue.) Okayama (Pepperland)
w/What's What, The Urchin, The Because, Origin Of M

9/23(Wed.) Hiroshima (Border)
w/So-Cho Pistons, The Urchin, Residents, Dug Out, Wrong Way, Jailbird

9/24(Thur.) Off - Sightseeing Hiroshima/Moving Tokyo

9/25(Fri.) Tokyo-Shinjuku (Nine Spices)
w/So-Cho Pistons, See Her Tonite, Disgusteens, Zero Fast

9/26(Sat) Tokyo-Musashisakai (Statto)
w/So-Cho Pistons, Headbangers, Idaho Rainys, The Cumings, Havanas

9/27(Sun.) ????

9/28(Mon.) Leaving Tokyo Airport

I have a Japanese neighbor who keeps asking me for a CD and an itinerary and stuff and I keep hesitating to give it to her because a lot of the lyrics are pretty offensive but she seems rad enough. She said she used to go to Anthrax shows so that's cool. Anyways, that's the Japan tour part. Now I'm going to talk about the new album actually called "Japan Invasion."

It's gonna be 11 or 12 songs. Five of them are up on the MySpace player now. This is the artwork: It's in the works but that's it more or less.



Kobanes Theme
Please Don't
You Are The One
Ice Scream (Instru-mental)
Population: One
I'm Not Right
Nobody (Chixdiggit! cover)
I Can't
Fan Mail (The Dickies cover)
Me Vs. Myself
A new fast Queers-style song

A lot of those aren't even named yet and I might be missing a song in there but yeah that's pretty much what the album is going to look like (and not in that order). Fixing A Hole Records and Dumb! Records I think are going to do the same thing they did with the first album and co-release it. Both labels are out of Japan and fucking rock. Hopefully this album goes over well. I'd like to send out a bunch for review to Maximum Rock n' Roll and other mediums of the sort. I'll share my review here and talk about the recording process and all that fun stuff when the time comes but for now, I have to learn that new fast Queers-style song and it would be nice to write another one. Also, Knowhere Records expressed interest in putting out a Kobanes 7'' so we might do two or three songs there. One of which will be a Sheckies cover of "Then She Got Married." Mark wants to do that one really bad. Also I'm going to learn "She's The One" by The Ramones...we'll probably play that in Japan and at shows. They used to play it before I joined the band but that is actually one of my favorite Ramones songs so yeah, that's about it for now. Expect a new CD in about a month or so and if we get lucky maybe a nice label will put it out on vinyl! Oooohhhhhhh.

Kobanes Japan Tour (Journal) 2009: Sept. 22, 2009

Hiroshima - Kei's parents' home:

The festival that day went great. I don't think we ever fell back asleep after my last entry. I think we went back out to get food. I had a burger, coffee and a hash brown that tasted just like at McDonald's. Anyway, we pull up to Club Goodman and unload our stuff. We moved it down the street to the other venue, where they had three floors, each floor, a very tiny room where the bands played. Very hot. Does It Float? was the first band I saw play and they were awesome. Seventeen Again was great too. The rowdiest band - fuckin' crazy. Jumped into the crowd. I got kicked in the face. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt at all. I got a bunch of free CDs. Stoked to listen to Weezie And The Moelies. I guess they sound like the Kung-Fu Monkeys. So yeah, I had a beer and some convenience store food - sandwich slices with no crust and a pastry. Eddie doesn't have any yen, cause his ATM card doesn't work in these ATMs. So he can only use it at places that accept Visa like convenience stores and stuff.
I was walking back t the club and saw a group of people outside playing Nintendo. Old school Mario Nintendo, so I watched and the girl asked if I wanted to partake, so I did! I finished the level and handed it off. They all went in some building nearby, so I played another level and went back to the club. Kei sold about 20-25 of the new Kobanes CDs ("Japan Invasion") and some T-shirts with the album artwork on them. There was an after-party Sunday night, but we were all too tired and still jet lagged to do anything of the sort. I think I lost a pound in sweat playing in that room. We quickly crashed.

We woke up early around 6 or 7 a.m. Kei was back, I guess he only stayed out after dropping us off from 10:30 to midnight. He doesn't drink or anything, which is good in some ways, especially for us. He's the only driver we have. He's a "tax man." His mother's a protestant Christian and his dad is a Buddhist. Interesting mix. Kei said he has not yet found a religion but someday hopes to. I guess I can empathize with that, having also been raised with no religion. We left Hotel Kamatsu for a little bit and got McDonald's. I ate the cheapest thing, a sausage breakfast sandwich. Only 190 yen! Like $2.20? Afterward, I got some lemon-flavored 8% ABV drink and in Japan, it's legal to drink in the car as long as you're not the one driving. So that was cool. The drive from Tokyo to Narita was a long one. About 8 or 9 hours because there was so much traffic, plus getting gas here off the highway takes like an hour because there are so many cars in line for it.
So we stopped. I had a burger, fries and a soda, which I think was diet...I got Kei two burgers and a Coke. Came to 970 yen. I guess we passed up Mt. Fuji, but it was hazy, so we couldn't see it. He said on the way back, we'll check it out. I hope we get to see a lot of cool stuff.
Anyway, we got to Memory Pops in Nagoya. The first band, Navigations came about 4 hours father than we did to play first of five bands. Crazy. hey were good though. It was fun to hear a Queers cover of "I Only Drink Bud" and a Sloppy Seconds cover in Japanese. I think they were amused by us singing along in English too. I guess music really is the universal language. Sense of Identity played too, they were pretty cool. The Because was also pretty good. Nice too.
About 30 people were rocking out to us. A bunch singing along too, which is strange to see. I think Kei is our biggest fan though. They love pop punk out here. Some girl was wearing a patch on her hat that said "I Read Zines" so I went out to Kei's car and grabbed some Squid Pro Quos to give to her, even though I know she didn't read English. But hey, what the hell, she might know someone who can and at least she can listen to the CD.
After the show, I was asked to autograph three CDs, something I've never done before. Two were in silver autograph pen ink even! I guess now it's official - we're rock stars. Haha. I grabbed five pot stickers for 100 yen and 5 dumplings for 100 yen and a chocolate cookie thing too. It was sustaining. Nice of the convenient store to microwave them for me. From Nagoya, we drove straight to Hiroshima. Actually, we stopped once for gas. And Kei's girl cigarettes that he says smell like raspberries. Pretty funny. The car was really uncomfortable. My legs were tired and my neck and back hurt. We stopped near Kei's parents' home and I bought rice crackers, a corn dog and some traditional Japanese sake. Have yet to try the sake though. Anyways at last night's show, Kei was surprised we did "Surfin' Bird" and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain." Did them last, in opposite order. I went to a small grocery store before the show and bought two cans of 6% ABV oolong tea. At first, it was disgusting drinking fermented tea. Some guy traded me his tall boy of beer for it, so that was nice. Then I had one more, and it wasn't so bad after that first one. The guitars really weren't too distorted at this show, which made us sound weird. But it was fun. The venue was full of American '50s nostalgia. Memory Pops. Pretty cool. So anyway, we got to Kei's parents' home. His mom laid out bed mat things and stuff for us, which was really nice. I gotta remember to give his folks some chocolates. I wanted to get Jenny something at the convenient store - it's like a card, really beautiful though, meaning "Happiness and Pleasure" but I held off because I want to get her something nicer than a card. Perhaps kimono PJs? I want some too. So yeah, I'll figure out something. My suitcase is only so big. It's a carry on. Later today, we're playing at Okayama, Japan! I can't wait to see yet another city in this awesome country. Then tomorrow, we play Hiroshima! Then sightseeing. I want to see temples, go in hot springs, get some souvenir-shopping done...I want to see more and not just sleep. But now, I must sleep. It's almost 8 a.m. Not running on much. Plus I took two sleep aids Eric gave me. Mark's fuckin' snoring is countering their effects though. Eddie's typing either (This is all taken from paper, if you didn't figure that out already, that's why it's being typed out now!). Anyways, more to come soon!

Kobanes Japan Tour (Journal) 2009: Sept. 19, 2009

We arrived! Went to hotel. Two small rooms. ate beef with rice and miso soup. All too tired to do anything else. Got a can of beer at "Family Mart," drank it. Passed out.

Kobanes Japan Tour (Journal) 2009: Sept. 20, 2009

Tokyo - Hotel Kamatsu

We're staying in a hotel barely big enough to fit 5 bodies. And it's two rooms adjoining. We arrived yesterday afternoon around 2:35 p.m. after a 13-hour nonstop flight from O'Hare. We landed, went through customs and went outside, walked back and forth for a while...no Kei (tour manager/label owner). Then we got some Yen. I exchanged $250 USD for a little over 22,000 Yen. So I got charged basically a $30 service fee for using the goddamn airport's currency exchange instead of a Post Office. Their money is cool though. I like the coins. Some have holes in the middle (50 yen, 5 yen coins). I'm wearing a Japanese pair of pajamas...some kind of robe thing with a cloth belt that wraps around you. I'd like to bring a pair or two home with me.
We ate at a place on the corner - beef and rice. It was 320 yen...about $4? Pretty cheap. Came with miso soup. That tasted just like it does back home. The bathrooms here are strange. You have to squat and hover over basically a hole in the floor to take a dump which I have yet to try. There's a regular toilet too, but what's the fun in that? Plus I've never tried the bede (sp?) before. Not that I want to. The toilets are just different.
We were all awake and restless around 3-4 a.m., so we got dressed and walked around for about and hour and a half to two hours. Luckily, we didn't get lost. The stray cats out here are really skinny and have clipped tails. The birds here look like ravens and are humongous. There are convenient stores every block. On one street, there are two right next to each other. After walking around a lot, we stopped at a place and got some food. Mark and I had burgers with egg and bacon and onions. It tasted exactly like McDonald's. We had coffee and a has brown too. There was some stuff called "gum syrup" - it tasted like if you mixed powdered sugar with just a little bit of water. We saw some wasted guy and girl walking (if you want to call it that) down the street too. He ended up giving her a piggy back ride. Outside our room, a cat screamed like I've never heard before and then it sounded like wings flapping. I suspected a bird attack over food? But it could have been anything. It screamed for about a minute though.
Shower time is downstairs in the basement from 7 to 10 a.m. It's all a community shower room. There's a big bath tub filled with hot water too. I tried this out after rinsing off and after there weren't other naked dudes around. I never really did get too into that locker room mentality of showing off your package to other people. Eddie's going to shower now, then I'll go. Kei says it's OK for everyone to shower together, but everyone told him, "In America, we don't look at each other's dicks."
I bought a can of Kirin beer and Autumn Limited Brew. It was 6%. Tasted OK. For 10 yen, I got a pack of Felix The Cat gum too. It's getting to be light out. I think I may be allergic to something in this room. Mold or dust, I suspect. I'm not quite sure yet how I'm going to dry off. We have little face towels in the room. That will have to do. Man, I love these pajamas.
We play a show at 4 p.m. A 44-band festival. We're the only American band playing. Two venues and a total of 4 stages. Should be a good time! We get about 40 minutes to play, Kei said. Oh - Eric said he might have diarrhea.

Alkaline Trio, Saves the Day, Death in the Park at the Metro (4.20/21.09):

First off, what the hell is wrong with this weather? The e-mail I got for the Alkaline Trio meet and greet said to be there at three, and I didn't go inside till about five. Anyways, I'm not complaining because it was all totally worth it. I go in, and I hear them playing something, so being the fanboy that I am, I run up the stairs and they were just ending a song that I didn't hear enough of to recognize. Then they dicked around a lot with pickslides and effects and then played "Into the Night" off their latest album, "Agony & Irony."


^"Into the Night" at the Meet and Greet^

After the song, they came down and hung out with us lucky 15 members. It was kind of like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Only way cooler and none of us got kicked out for being douches.


^Matt Skiba and I. Look behind us, there's Chris Connelly from Saves the Day!^

Anyway, I'm not gonna lie, I brought a lot of LPs. I brought two posters I have had for a long time that will finally go in a frame and on my wall. I have the Halloween at the Metro poster that Paul Frank did and one from their Metro shows withg Against Me! a couple years ago. I think those ones were the ones where they played Goddamnit from start to finish. Maybe? No, I think those were three other shows. I'm not sure. I've seen them too many times to remember. Jeez, I'm only 22, I hope I remember all this cool stuff when I get old.
Anyway, it was cool. They signed my Maybe I'll Catch Fire LP too (Original pressing - orange wax/1000!) So I'm gonna put that one in an LP frame next to my signed Goddamnit LP. Man, my room is gonna look cool once it's together.
Anyway, here's Alkaline Trio's setlist for Monday's 18+ show:

1. My Friend Peter
2. If We Never Go Inside
3. Burn
4. Fatally Yours
5. Continental
6. Love Love, Kiss Kiss
7. I Found Away
8. Queen of Pain
9. Cooking Wine
10. The Poison
11. Calling All Skeletons
12. Sadie
13. 100 Stories
14. The KKK Took My Baby Away (Ramones Cover)
15. San Francisco
16. This Could Be Love
17. Time To Waste
18. Every Thug Needs a Lady
19. All on Black

I couldn't find a setlist posted for last night's yet, but they did a new song which was fast, kind of aggressive and had Dan singing. It was awesome. They also played Cringe, Radio, Cooking Wine, Tuck Me In, Calling All Skeletons, My Friend Peter, If We Never Go Inside, Burn, Fatally Yours, I Found Away, Into The Night, The Poison, Sadie, 100 Stories, This Could Be Love, Every Thug Needs a Lady, I'm Dying Tomorrow, Donner Party (All Night)...I think that's it.
Anyway, it was an all-around great night. Met up with some friends afterwards next door for a beer and then hit the road and basically sat in Cubs traffic for a while, which sucked.
Oh, Ed (Kobanes drummer) and I handed out a bunch of fliers for our Gasthaus and Underground Lounge shows coming up. I'm stoked about both of those. Especially the Elgin one because that place is just fun. At least from what I remember of going there a year and a half ago. Last night was a great time. Oh, Death in the Park - not worth checking out. Bunch of hipsters playing bad music. The lead singer was one of those guys that would be emo, but then extra emo by putting his hand out like a "stop" signal. It was weird and a bit too lame for me. Even the all-agers didn't seem to care too much for them. They were selling their CDs for $5 while everyone was walking out, but then a half hour later, I'm standing outside of the Gingerman and they are walking up and down the sidewalk trying to sell their CDs to people. It was a bit weird and the guitar player's freaky mustache probably didn't help their album sales. Alkaline Trio kicked ass. Saves the Day was OK because they played some old stuff I used to listen to. The first band sucked.
Anyone know where I can get semi-cheap poster frames by the way? Preferably a store and not the Internet?


^Saves the Day 4/21/09^


^Alkaline Trio 4/21/09^


^Alkaline Trio 4/20/09^


^Saves the Day 4/20/09^


^Me and Dan before the show on 4/20/09 at the Gingerman. We were watching the Bulls lose to the Sonics. Well, he was. I was too busy drinking and trying to get the balls to ask him to take a photo with me^

Wax Nostalgic #3: Nirvana - 'Saturday Night Live' bootleg 7''

By Jason Duarte

Artist: Nirvana

Title: Saturday Night Live

Inches: 7

Label: Unknown

Pressing: Unknown (Possibly/500)

Color: Swirly grey

Release date: Unknown

I don't own much bootleg vinyl (if any besides this one), but I couldn't pass this up when I saw it.
It was September 2009 and I was on tour with my old band, The Kobanes, in Japan. We were trekking around Hiroshima for the day and visited Dumb! Records - one of the labels (also a record store) that co-released our album (the other label being Fixing a Hole Records).
I'd already had the way common "Sliver" b/w "Dive" 7'' by Nirvana and thought this bootleg would be a nice addition to my budding Nirvana collection. It was 500 yen, which translates to about $6 USD. I picked this up with some other records (The Riverdales' S/T album, The Damned's Music For Pleasure, etc.) and neatly put them in my rolling suitcase.

I remember it was awesome hanging with Nass (owner of Dumb! Records/drummer for So-Cho Pistons) and his girlfriend in the store. It was a small store with beer on tap and bottles of soda for sale. They had a pretty decent selection of vinyl, and a lot of CDs. They also had a Johnny Ramone signature guitar hanging on the wall, a signed Teenage Bottlerocket/Ergs! 7'', and other fun punk memorabilia. It also humbled me to see our CD, Japan Invasion, on display above the CD section.

This 7'' features live versions of "Rape Me" and "Heart-Shaped Box." As you can see, the vinyl has blank labels, and was pressed on black, and a swirly grey (shown) color of vinyl. I did a little research and found the date of the Saturday Night Live episode where the tracks were recorded for this 7'' was September 25, 1993.

Fun fact #1 - in 1993, Kurt Cobain called Pat Smear of The Germs, and asked if he'd be Nirvana's second guitarist. Pat thought it was a joke his friend Carlos Nunez was playing on him, but it wasn't. He accepted, and September 25, 1993 - this same SNL performance, was the first time Pat performed with Nirvana on second guitar (see links from the show above). He played with Nirvana till Cobain's death in 1994. That, to me, makes this 7'' go from pretty cool to incredible, and I'm fairly certain that's the reason it was bootlegged in the first place. As far as the pressing goes, one eBay lister claims there were 500 pressed on grey.

Fun fact #2 - Eric Cobain, Kurt's cousin, did the artwork for our album, Japan Invasion (see below). Holy Nirvana twists and turns, Batman!

Kobanes Japan Tour (Journal) 2009: Sept. 18, 2009

On the plane now. Will be in Japan in a few hours. Got no sleep. Gonna try now.