5/23/25
The last full band recording day for LP1 is tomorrow. Barring any major issues, I suppose. Last weekend’s session with Maryam, Zoe, Izzy, & Tallen was beautiful, exploratory, and productive (she said in the least-capitalist-sense-possible). Getting so close and excited to share this stuff.
5/8/25
Music performances I’ve seen this past week that I loved: Poolblood (special duo set with Nick Sebastiano), The Namby Pamby (wonderful Ft. Wayne three-piece), sweet pal Taylor Pearlstein in Six the Musical on Broadway (holy shit), Captain Tallen & The Benevolent Entities EP release at Cassette (with sets by Travess and Hiding Places, fully magical night).
I can’t pinpoint the genesis of my fascination with teeth/mouth-happenings, but it was encouraged when my gums started bleeding at an incredible frequency in 2022. When I was brushing, sure, but much more alarming was the Unprompted Ooze. Walking down the street, having a conversation, etc. After working up the courage to visit the dentist, I was met with minimal evaluation and multiple “Are you SURE you’re not pregnant?”s.
And that was that! My last recline in a treatment chair, up until last month. The toll of 3 blissful dentist-free years? 9 cavities needing filling & 2 wisdom teeth needing pulled. I am fortunate to have standard dental insurance (oh what hell we live in that this is not universal), but even so, only 4 cavities are covered per year. I had my first round of fillings yesterday - the first of my life. I had a brief break in between the drilling and filling to write the following in my journal:
“Fetid, raucous, acidulous pulverization.
High school hits: Clarity, that Chainsmokers one, Stay the Night.
Sorry, it is sensitive, ‘May I have another shot of that Stuff?”
I thought the injection would bring a sharp pain, but instead it is warm, protracted, and uncomfortable.
I think a song just rhymed “come across” with “rainwash” or maybe I imagined it. Either way, that is nice.”
5/2/25
There is a behind-the-scenes account of COB’s Midwest run on the internet now.
4/25/25
This past week, COB took our first ever overnight(s) excursion for a 3-date midwest “tour”. I know calling a three-show-run a tour is generous but there are more important things to worry about. If my (primarily teenage) fascination with the Black Keys taught me anything, it’s that Touring is Cool. Though it is not the financial stalwart it once was, it is nonetheless something I have a potent hunger for. I had a conversation last night with my friend Doak about our favorite parts of music-making. There was a consensus that for us, the act of writing a song is meditation-catharsis-therapy, a cardinal practice. BUT it is the playing & witnessing of live music that feels straight up Holy. Thus, those three days last week were a huge privilege, and ya know what? I’m gonna call it a tour. Lotus made a buzzfeed quiz - Which COB Member Are You?
I have ample thoughts/stories from the trip that I am excited to share with you, my friends. BUT they are not for this blog. For online posterity, I am more interested in sharing the Financials. I think conversation about touring nuts & bolts is probably the first step to making it more accessible. I would love to get into this with anyone who has specific questions - but here’s the overview:
All members of COB were able to take off the 3 necessary days for this tour (I even already had Good Friday off?) Recognizing the luxury that is PTO & baseline ability to take days off - critical.
Before the tour started, we knew our guarantee for the shows (+$750) would mostly cover the rental van (-$780) (s/o Chrysler Pacificas). I took the financial risk that what we made from our basement show & merch sales would cover gas (-$261). Thankfully, it did (+$499) (well, only kind of - read on).
Straight up the only reason we knew we could afford to go on this tour is that we did not have to pay for lodging. I know many pals who have relied on couch-surfing/car-sleeping for their tours - but as a band of five, that’s tough. Thankfully, the midwest region is where We Got our People. We stayed with family members for all 5 nights. $0 on lodging (save for the money used to buy our hosts some Spotted Cow from Milwaukee). The remaining $238 from the basement show/merch sales went to band meals (this gets a bit muddled as most meals were shared, but some were not). I paid approximately $300 on shared meals, so anything on top of that $238 was out-of-pocket (a small expense for the time & talents of the four other members of COB) (they were not being paid otherwise).
I am leaving out one other big thing. MERCH! I had shirts made about a year ago, which put me out around $500. I spent around $450 on the totes + design (by the talented Peter Kratcoski). Since these weren’t specifically for this tour I mostly left them out of my calculations, but obviously a large portion of our “Ins” were from this merch, without counting them as “Outs”. My loose math shows a ~$150 net gain from the merch FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR! Obviously if I were to include these as outs, we’d be at a much larger loss. Honestly this is too much math for me already, but I think if I didn’t count the merch as “Ins”, we’d be looking at a Tour Sum of: -$210. Which heck, that’s a pretty penny, yet was something I felt able to spend at this point in time (I have credit card debt). OKAY signing of with immense amounts of gratitude & luck & privilege & love & fuck Capitalism.
3/28/25
For those I have not bombarded with my Mount Rushmore question - I’ll briefly explain. 4 musicians or bands that have greatly influenced/inspired/been foundational for you. You can interpret that how you will. (Note: I have no reverence for the actual stone carving of former presidents on stolen land.)
Here are COB’s answers:
Lotus - 1) The B-52’s 2) Sinead 3) St. Vincent 4) SOPHIE
Catey - 1) Claude Debussy 2) Ella Fitzgerald 3) Thom Yorke (/Radiohead) 4) Beach House
Izzy - 1) Talking Heads 2) Johnny Greenwood (to fuck with Catey) 3) Elliott Smith 4) Alex G
(but if they had to do a “full range” Rushmore - 1) Shostakovich 2) Tony Williams 3) Stereolab 4) “Myself I guess”)
Cameron - 1) Bruce Springsteen 2) King Crimson 3) Can 4) John McLaughlin
Claire - 1) Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia) 2) Kim Deal 3) Earth, Wind and Fire 4) Sonic Youth
3/27/25
Edited together a BTS video using some of the awesome b-roll footage Lucie took during our music video shoot and put it here.
I saw Charity Run play at Our Wicked Lady last night - they were awesome. There’s a cool type of gel & communication that happens between trios that is so great to watch. Captain Tallen and the Benevolent entities released a single, “Be So Nice”, that has been a nice companion on my pensive night walks. I have also been fantasizing about what karmic punishment awaits the cowards working for ICE.
2/21/25
Our first “official” music video is out (whatever that means). We got to work with some of our great pals - all of whom somehow embody a perfect mix of the “get shit done” ethos and a childlike playfulness that made the shoot day feel like an organized party. Autumn wrote about the day in her way-too-kind review on ugly hug. Immanuel, a local legend, allowed us into his home as he left for work so we could shoot the video. He came home to 50 people partying in his yard, didn’t blink twice, quickly changed his outfit and joined in.
Video Credits:
Directed & Edited by Ellie Gravitte (https://www.elliegravitte.com/)
Director of Photography: Alex Petersen (https://www.petersenfilms.com)
Camcorder Operator: Lucie Buclet (https://luciebb.com/)
Thumbnail/Font/Animations - Audrey Keelin (https://www.instagram.com/youandthebl...)
COB - Cameron Criss, Catey Esler, Claire Ozmun, Lotus Rogers, Izzy Sollohub
