Tacoma Reality in Full Effect

Leary Traveler

2011-08-11T16:37:00.001-07:00

I've been despondent to those I shouldn't, and I've been responsive to those that care not. In deaf ears you sing, but in open hearts I ring. They told me time heals all wounds, so I'm hoping she can sew me up soon.

2011-08-08T23:33:00.001-07:00

Justify your actions.

tonight in centralia

2011-07-31T18:46:00.001-07:00

We're about a mile out from the quesadilla factory in centralia. This is the only show we're playing before our short but sweet tour in september. Tonight is:

$8 7pm

This is Hell
us
To the Wind
Pride

gunna be fun. I'll check in after the show.

read freakonomics

2011-07-31T01:42:00.001-07:00

Or at least watch it.

Causality. Cause and effect. Human interaction.

Getting ready

2011-07-31T01:36:00.001-07:00

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new merch, and lyrics comin soon.

2011-01-28T09:40:00.000-08:00

theres the two designs we just got printed up by our good friends at OVERCAST DESIGN & PRINT with the boat shirt drawn and designed by STEIN HANSEN be sure to check out both when you need great artwork and/or printing needs. touring bands hit them up!

also, in the next few days, i will be posting the lyrics and explanations to the album "I AM THE CURSE" since i have FINALLY finalized all of it and made it as good as i can get it for this album.

if you read this, thank you for your support. we will be posting the merch for sale online after the show, but the crewnecks are limited so come grab one if you want it! our show this saturday is only one dollar. $1! four quarters. 10 dimes. less than the cost of a bottle of sprite! come hang out. <3

JANUARY 29TH - $1 SHOW
Wolves (cd release)
To the Wind
Open Fire!
Malice
Vessels
Wreck
KTUB - 7pm
348 Kirkland Ave.
Kirkland, WA

...no words.

2011-01-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

i despise

2011-01-21T16:21:00.001-08:00

need to finish this.

need to play i despise and curse live.

need to get better gear.
need to get better.
need to be.

2011-01-20T11:31:00.000-08:00

I recall seeing a random trailer for a movie starring ryan reynolds called buried. I didn't really remember anything about it when the movie was later brought to my attention by the massive amounts of critical praise it had amassed over the couple months between. I watched the trailer and was a lot more aware of the movie.

I noticed it wasn't playing in many places around me except in downtown seattle which is hard for me to get to and hard for me to justify paying parking ontop of the crazy movie prices.

Anyway, it was released on blu ray this week so I finally got a chance to see it and in HD. To not bullshit anymore with this review, I'll say it: the movie is fantastic. The entire movie takes place in a coffin in which paul (reynolds) wakes up in. How the fuck can you make cinematography cool with one location that's approx 6' long, 3' wide, 2'? I don't understand but they did. The fascinating ways they added lighting looked wonderful as well.

in any case, a movie starring one person, in one spot, for 100 minutes sounds like the epitome of boring, and honestly i thought i would pass out within 5 minutes of starting it. but by the 10 minute mark my eyes were wide and alert, i was sitting up on my couch and giving the movie 110% attention. i sat on the edge the entire film, up until the very last second. it was funny, frightening, dramatic, engrossing, and great. ryan reynolds performed easily one of if not the best performances of 2010. i found him more captivating than anything in the big films of 2010 - including the "shoe in" for jesse eisenburg in social network.

if he isnt given at the very least a nomination, it is a complete and total snub job by the academy. the movie is captivating and fantastic. see it. believe it.

leave the area immediately.

2011-01-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

this song is just too good.

how's everyone enjoying the snow?

2011-01-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

it snowed in 47 out of 48 of the continental United States last night. insane. i love snow but i hate it in my way at work. i had to walk about a mile into work from the bus. not the worst thing in the world but i would be happier and less tired if not.

ive been listening to a bootleg of Glassjaw at the Best Buy Theater 1/1/11 the last couple days. what a fantastically talented band with no bullshit. they are doing exceptionally creative and innovative things...and have been for the last 15 years. theres new songs on the bootleg, and the songs sound fantastic. i cant wait for the new record.

thanks again anyone and everyone who came out saturday to Studio 7. not our best performance, but we had fun and everyone else seemed to and thats whats important. we expressed ourselves and so did you, so im glad to have shared that. our next show is on January 29th, at Kirkland Teen Center, which i figured out is like 5 seconds from my work...too bad its a saturday. but you should all come out because its $1! one dollar. 100 pennies, 10 dimes. 20 nickels. IF YOU DONT HAVE A DOLLAR, COME FIND ME AND I MIGHT BE WILLING TO GIVE YOU ONE. but you gotta do things for me.....dirty, dirty things.

again, if you got twitter, follow us: @openfiretacoma or hit us up on facebook.com/openfiretacoma

thanks for reading this. you will be rewarded for doing so.

gj diy 88-93 go fuck yourself

2011-01-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

we would not be, if it weren't for this band:

http://www.rocksound.tv/features/article/glassjaw-the-biggest-diy-band-in-the-world?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=rocksound

mind tree

2011-01-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

deleted my facebook, but you can keep in touch here or on our facebook: http://www.facebook.com/openfiretacoma or email me @ lionheartpro@gmail.com

fisch, chug, matt and i started watching MINDFREAK: CRISS ANGEL on netflix this past weekend, and let me tell you IT WAS A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE. i am now proficiently fluent in MINDSPEAK. im working on my MIND TREE. soon we will be performing illusions.....oh wait, we have a song called Illusions and Dead Ends. we should probably play that sometime.

True Grit is an awesome movie, and im glad to have it downloaded. thank you free things of the internet.

ive been listening to a lot of weird shit, but its mostly rooted in melody, even the black metal. Deafheaven, Deaf Havana, Lower than Atlantis, Glassjaw, Octaves, Wreck. \m/

-steve

p.s. our records done.

p.p.s. jk

i know.

2010-12-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

its taking too long.

but its still real.

1. The Path of Most Resistance (ft. Randy Wheeler)
2. What Means the Most (ft. Rick Preacher)
3. The Moral Eclipse
4. I Have Wasted Every Word (ft. Vigil The Ghost Inside)
5. Survivor
6. Curse of the Quixotic
7. Collapse: An Overwhelming Sense of Grief and Despair Upon the Realization that We Did This All for Nothing
8. Graveyards Adrift
9. Faith-Healer / Death-Dealer
10. Sticks & Stones (ft. Jamie Those Who Lie Beneath, Derek Valor)
11. Illusions and Dead Ends

Produced by Ahren Lanfor, Randy Wheeler, and Steve Jackson
Engineered by Ahren Lanfor, Randy Wheeler, and Steve Jackson
Mixed by Randy Wheeler and Ahren Lanfor

"the moral eclipse" - new song up now

2010-10-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

new song posted. listen at:

http://www.myspace.com/openfirewa

download it at:

http://openfire.bandcamp.com

in summary of this record

2010-09-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

call us a dick tease if you must

2010-09-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sticks & Stones TEASER by openfiretacoma

but take a listen.

shit.

2010-09-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

its been a month. we took a while to start vocals, thanks to randy wheeler's ass backwards method of getting his life in order.............just kidding. we all had shit going on so yeah.

but we're about 20% done with vocals. im stoked. got a guest spot tracked. gunna get some back ups done tonight (fisch & chug) then i get back in it tomorrow.

i think for the few people who actually do read this, i will post a song on here in a couple days. just for you select few fucks. <3 all 2 of you

steve and company.

ps. also daniel quit incase you didnt know. here we go again.

wmtm

2010-08-16T15:02:00.001-07:00

every day i wake up and i ask myself...

why the fuck do i bother?

CYBERMETALLLLLLLLLLL

2010-08-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

bass is done. the album as slid into second base, leading off and ready to take off for third starting next week. the big mountain........vocals.

not going to lie, im nervous. after our 7 month break, i didnt do vocals til around march or april of this year, and because of chug missing most practices prior to the recording of this album, i would guess that i have only practiced my vocals the same amount of times we've played shows since returning. 4, 5?

i dont even have all the lyrics down, but thats nothing really new to me. i write and rewrite and rewrite until my arms fall off...and until the moment im doing the words into the mic to be recorded. its always a bit up in the air and a taaad bit freestyled, but nothing outrageous.

but while doing bass we noticed a couple misses: we forgot a couple guitar parts and upon major scrutiny (i have listened to a bounce down of the album probably 20 times in the last week), we have decided a few riffs need to be rerecorded, and like i said, add a last couple touches on guitar.

along side that, vocals should begin next week and we should be facing the home stretch (mixing and mastering) very very soon. i am blown away by the quality of this album. i wouldnt ever say open fire is a great band or original or better than so many bands, but i will proudly say this, i dont think anyone will see this coming. from start to finish we are just doing a lot of things i didnt think wed ever do, nor do i think anyone will see coming. im so fucking proud of it, its unreal.

thats not to say its a perfect album. i mean, this is open fire right? we have plenty of flaws, some reflected on this very album. i wont get into the specifics of each one until we get the final mix (trust me, ill gladly critique my own album for you), but there are moments im disappointed. but the scope of the album absolutely washes over those missteps. im happy, and i would be more than honored if you are too once you hear it. cant wait.

steve

currently listening to:
nails
the starting line
black breath
owen hart (best band in NW)
iatc (its true)
irreversible

Fuck nickles

2010-08-09T16:59:00.001-07:00

Oh...

2010-08-03T14:51:00.001-07:00

Just to clarify, we only have one track your one song left to do on guitar. So stoked!

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So close...

2010-08-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

So last night, I finished all of my guitar tracks. It was tough but I feel so accomplished and it sounds so good! Big shout out to David from The Cancer Bros, for letting me use his Orange. Chug/Steve only have a few more songs to finish and then we move to bass. John is telling us he will finish the whole record in 20 minutes. Wish him luck cuz the record is 58 minutes long. Thats right. 12 songs, 58 minutes. What's up?

I gotta poop. Get mooshed!
-fisch

2010-07-30T14:21:00.001-07:00

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ghost, just leave

2010-07-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

sorry for the severe lack of updates. i will not spend a thousand words per subject, as im known for. ill just brush briefly on each topic.

RECORDING
we are still in the process of recording guitars. everyone in the band has a full time job of sorts except john, but he is busy with circle of defeat and filling in for sixes, as well as having a part time job from home and a girlfriend who lives 2 hours away. needless to say, we are all very busy dudes, so recording during the week has been nearly impossible.

we are about 70% done with guitars. its sounding fucking phenomenal. when i dont have a bunch more to talk about, i will break down some details of it, but suffice to say, we've spent a total of about 5 10 hr days on guitar, really working on making it sound as good as possible. should wrap it up this weekend or early next week, then we move onto bass.

next, as some of you read the note from chug, he has been going through a lot of personal issues. mostly health related, but it causes a serious serious depression that i think almost all of us have faced at one point or another in our lives. its not easy to overcome and im proud of him for pulling out.

as for the future of open fire & chug, it remains to be seen. we've always been a pretty open book. if you talk to us or know us, we dont hide behind the bullshit lines or anything. frankly: none of us have a lot of faith in chug's dedication right now as it rests on shakey foundation. he is only recording a few songs on guitar as he hasnt been to many practices over the last couple months to learn the 2nd half of the record. and for those of you who saw us july 10th in centralia, you saw john our bassist filling in on guitar.

so, for now, we dont know where we're going. we are spending every second we can on this album and thats basically all that is infront of us, except...

THIS SATURDAY. LAST VIADUCT SHOW EVER.
our friend shane from MIRROR THE GHOST and MONSTER MONSTER is filling in on drums as daniel is gone on tour with his other band idols, so please come out and make shane feel welcome for this show. plus, the show is only $5 donation...as in if you dont have it or dont wanna pay, you wont be turned away. but all proceeds go into opening a new venue in the heart of tacoma. why the fuck wouldnt you support that?

Here we go

2010-07-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Yeah I fucked up. Most people that know me don't understand that I live life with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, and Panic Disorder. Basically unmedicated I have no drive or sense of feeling towards accomplishing anything. I've been struggling with this for years and when it seems like everything is under control something happens which causes me to go into a downward spiral ending with me either A) "Quitting the band" or B) Ignoring/coming up with excuses not to practice or play shows. The last couple months have been hard for me due to running out of Klonopin which is one of the medications I'm on that fights panic disorder. The cause of that effect was me going into another depression where I wouldn't/didn't do anything and stayed home ignoring how it took a toll on those around me who cared for me. This lead to me ultimately not going to practice and missing a show with no warning towards the rest of the band. Steve and I had a short but meaningful talk which in turn helped me realize how much this band means to me and how much I love being around everyone involved with it. I've been given another chance to prove myself to them and show that this is what I want to do with my life right now besides work and I'm not going to fuck it up. Going into the studio today to start tracking guitars and getting myself back into the loop. I love you guys more than I show it and this band is one of the things that keeps me going.

-Chug

guitars day 2

2010-07-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

well, yesterday went a little more smoothly. and considerably thicker.

theres the rhythem section set up. suffice to say, this record is sounding better every day, hour and minute we spend on it. we spent a couple more hours tracking, testing, sampling, fucking around with and fine tuning the amps and guitars til we locked down what we think is a pretty fucking gnarly, perfect tone.

but we are still a long, long ways from this being done. we knew when we started this that it would be a long and painful process but so utterly worth it. i cant wait to progress.

this guy is keeping us busy and on our toes (avoiding poop) meanwhile being the "God of Wisdom, Poetry, The Hunt and Victory"

and this post wouldnt be complete without a fuck you.

also: new video update coming soon ;)

2010-07-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

not a lot done last night.

did some testing for tracking guitars for a couple songs, to try out some tones. we're gunna do more of that tonight. we are aiming to have a rich, thick wall of guitars that drives this record home, and we wont settle for mediocre guitar tone. so it may be a couple more days of fucking around until we find what we really want.

hope you all can stick with us through this long process. <3

steve

GUITARS

2010-07-18T12:13:00.001-07:00

start TODAY.

like gorilla biscuits

holy shit

2010-07-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

like the 8th time watching that video, its still funny. everyone watch that video below. or get MOOSHED

K10 MIOBI from the future

2010-07-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

-fisch n john

step 2: guitars

2010-07-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

so drums are done completely. im thrilled, listening to them and practicing the guitar riffs is making my head spin in the best possible way.

on that note: we are recording guitars come monday. im pretty stoked to start this process as it really shapes the tone and vibe of the record. we are trying to get a a really thick, slamming guitar tone, and to do that we're trying out a LOT of different shit. for amps we'll be using (we'll get specific gear specs up come monday when we start tracking) a marshall jvm 410h, a peavey vtm60, a peavey 5150, a framus cobra, a soldano (avenger i think), an orange (i wanna say it was a rockverb? dont remember), and possibly one more.

as you can tell, we're gunna be getting pretty damn nutty with our guitar tones. :) i cant wait. if the guitars sound half as good as daniels drumming, we're in really good shape, people.

whos trying to see inception this weekend?

a side note

2010-07-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

our old vocalist Rick Plasencia got married a couple weeks ago. if you havent already and have the means to (phone, internet, etc), congratulate him! heres to him and pam. and josh's fucking classic looking picture.

ps josh is taking pics of us in the studio.....so lets hope we look half that good

yesterday

2010-07-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

we finished drums on the album yesterday. lot of fuckin songs. its wild.

the show last night was cool. other bands were rockin. we did okay. thanks to anyone who stuck around and watched us.

we have weird news to put out soon.

Motherfuckas show respect!

2010-07-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

So today, Daniel is finishing up the drums tracks. Fixing the little errors(there werent many!), doing samples, and finishing our secret song. He is a beast! He blew through 7 songs in one day and finished the other 4 the next day. Over an hour of music in 2 days, incredible! We start guitars next week! Wish me luck!
-fisch mioli

2010-07-09T23:10:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow in Centralia

2010-07-09T14:42:00.001-07:00

ps

2010-07-08T23:41:00.000-07:00

daniel finished 60 full minutes of drums in 2 days of tracking. one and a half, technically. what a mother fucker. applaud the man.

fuck you part 4 of 1000

2010-07-08T23:40:00.001-07:00

yeah, its back

no sleep til...tacoma.

2010-07-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

260 minutes later, i am barely what i would call "rested". im fucking exhausted but i suppose its for a good cause: we were in the studio til about 1030 last night. im struggling to keep my eyes open but i got a big smile on my face, because i keep thinking about how the drums are turning out. one thing that i have to say first and foremost: DANIEL MATSON IS A FUCKIN BEAST.

honest to god, i know dude is good and is very tight, but yesterday he tracked 7 songs. thats over half of the record...and trust me, it is a long ass album, so the fact he nailed that is inspiring. im proud to have that dude holding up our rhythm section.

songs he recorded: "The Path of Most Resistance", "What Means the Most" "The Moral Eclipse" "Curse of the Quixotic" "Graveyards Adrift" "Faith-Healer / Death-Dealer" and "Sticks and Stones". the drums sound fucking awesome and gnarly, so stoked on the toms!!!

also, fisch and i are bringing back the flip off posts of earlier days in this blog. get stoked kiddoz, this album is gunna sound pretty fucking huge

-steve

For all you psychosocials!

2010-07-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

you idiots!
-fisch mioli

well today is the day

2010-07-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

Open Fire! start recording I Am The Curse today. We have been waiting a long time to get to this point! It feels good to know we are actually going to get this recorded and put out. I am most stoked to hear the final versions on Curse Of The Quixotic and Graveyards Adrift. These are my two favorite songs on the record, but I think the whole record is gold.

We also have a show this saturday at the Quesadilla Factory in Centralia with To The Wind, Like Trumpets, Breaking Ground, Seahaven, City Of God, and Troubled Coast. $5 at 7pm! I hope some kids roll down and mosh like idiots!

-fisch mioli

you would think john b posted this

2010-07-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

but he didnt, its me stelo

studio in 24 hours

2010-07-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

weird. really fuckin weird.

on the topic of weird shit:

6 days.

2010-07-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

its kind of surreal that we're going into the studio in 6 days. we're actually tracking our fucking album. its been so long. ive written this record almost 3 times over, with many many scrapped riffs and songs and parts with additional input from many many musicians.

rick, kenny, brent, ian, nick, nicky, have all contributed big and small to this record and its important for me to acknowledge that. as much work as ive put into this thing (and about to put in way the fuck more), it wouldnt be possible without those other people. so to them, thank you. i love you guys.

i havent posted a tracklisting yet because its sort of still up in the air. we have 11 full songs, SEVERAL interludes, and a song me and daniel have worked on that may or may not be recorded, and the arrangement may or may not change over the process. but rest assured, i will tell you this.............shit is long. looking at about 60 minutes running time. ill be surprised if any of you listen to the whole thing.

-steve

ps......we are looking into the possibilities of merch. im paying off a shit ton of debt so we can play a few out of state shows, but in the meantime it leaves us short for money for merch.........but we're looking into possibilities. cross your fingers for us. <3

2010-06-29T00:41:00.001-07:00

I just went through all of Steve's recent posts, and I just have one comment to make.

The breakdown at the end of I Have Wasted Every Word is good, minus the stupid ass squeal/bend combo. If you made it into a strummed chord or a picked chord, it would be awesome.

Moving on, recording is just 8 days away, and I don't think I can be any more excited than I am. If anyone keeps tabs on the Tacoma hardcore scene, you probably know that I'm a relatively new face. The only experience I've had with playing in hardcore bands is X-Wing and xStay On Targetx, both of which haven't practiced in about a year (I'm calling you out Randy). I'm a huge fan of melodic hardcore, but playing it is completely different than any style I've ever played. I feel like I've made a pretty good transition from metal drumming to hardcore drumming. One of the major differences is the muscles that are worked out. In my other band, I do a lot more with my feet, and that's the basis of the majority of the drumming. In Open Fire, the tempos are faster and it's primarily based off of my hands. It's awesome though because I know that it's helping to round me off as a musician by playing a different style. Oh, and for some reason, Steve decided to set the tempo for Moral Eclipse at like 2,000 BPM, so that's going to be a lot of fun to record.

At the Quesadilla Factory show on the 10th, can someone please take a few pictures of me on drums? It gets really annoying having only about 10 pictures to sort through from about 5 years of local shows.

-Daniel

8 days until studio.

2010-06-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

there are the things at night i prayed i'd never feel

2010-06-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

god damn, june 22nd and the sun pops back out. i know everyones bitching about the weather, but its hot as shit on the day i try to take a nap in my car. i nearly fucking melted.

john's band CIRCLE OF DEFEAT is playing in olympia tonight. if youre in the area or wanting an awesome show, go. their demo is fucking awesome, be sure to look out for shows with us and them together soon!

in the meanwhile, the rest of us are getting together at daniels to play the album all the way through a couple times. i guess this is what "practice" is now: play your 50 minute album. stop and bullshit about video games and girls and food, then play our live set. its weird but it works. im pretty fucking happy 9/10 of the time at practice. except when chug doesnt show or someone fucks up. then i get straight murderous.

kidding...kind of.

the album is long. like really long. longer than any of us expected. but the surprising thing is none of us are bummed. we're all really stoked. yes, most good hardcore short and fast and to the point. and a lot of bad metal is really drawn out and boring. in my mind, id like to think we reside somewhere between there. does it mean we compromised? sold out? watered down our sound? no. not at all. these songs are exactly how we want them. if theyre long (3 songs hitting or breaking the 7 minute mark), then fuck it. as long as we're happy with what we play thats all that matters. if people like it, if you like it, that is fucking amazing and makes us proud as fuck. but we dont write music for you. i didnt go through the worst time of my life and persist and get one of the best line ups we've ever had just to write what the fuck someone ELSE wants to hear.

this album is very very much for us, by us. im proud to say that, and im proud to say i love every moment of this album. except that fucking stupid breakdown at the end of I Have Wasted Every Word.
-steve

ps fisch chug daniel and john may or may not start posting on this. if you want them to, bug em.

welp

2010-06-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

this is a really good EP.

gold

2010-06-19T15:03:00.001-07:00

more people should listen to this band.

http://www.myspace.com/throatsofgold

rants and reviews by STEVE MIOLI!!!

2010-06-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

my back is still killing me, but its felt better over the last couple days. id chalk that up to me stretching every morning, and every lunch break. that and a pillow.

im about to sit down and eat fisch and chips with my parents. on my mind im thinking about last night's show, and i feel like taking the opportunity to speak up.

last night we played with oblivion, idols, monsters, i declare war, dr. acula, and molotov solition. some of the behaviors of certain kids blew me away. kids having sorta tailgate parties listening to the band theyre about to go see, singing along like theyre in the crowd already. i get it, theyre stoked and excited, but it was baffling to me

another is the whole sexual plastering with death core merch. im far from pc, and i dont find it offensive, but fuck, whats with shit like "im touching every fucking titty in every fucking city" or shit like like that? should we be impressed by a clever rhyme scheme? please. i thought this was played out in the "kill my gf" phase, but apparently its still enough to catch some of your hearts.

im blown away at how every one of those bands seems to switch gears at the same time. they all change styles, lyrics and visuals at the same time.

in the recent times, uniforms have crept into the "scene", and become more and more prevelant. to what end? what purpose does it serve? professionalism? excuse me? since when did music - one of the most easily acceptible forms of ART - become a profession? i know this is a faceitous notion, but honestly - what effect does have except that of VANITY? of your visual aesthetic...how you look. are you a fucking model? are you really that prosthetic? your music should be an attatchment of yourself. an embodyment of self. whether its anger, love, fun, jokes, whatever. if you have to dress up to "get into it" your heart was never in it from the get go.

some might be quick to say well what about slipknot? their masks and suits have been a gimmick from the start. 99% of these deathcore bands that are just starting to do this have been bands for years and years prior, and are just looking for more ways to get popular and get people to remember them. well, what about kiss? kiss openly say they arent about the music theyre about the show. about a performance, like a play or a musical. well whats one thing you can discern from that? that its fucking FAKE. it isnt real life. thats one thing thats always drawn me to really aggressive music - it comes from some place real within the soul, or the personality of those who create it. no matter whats being expressed, its a true, cathartic expression. that is fucking art, to me. to have to wear eyeliner, to have to have matching black shirt and pants, to have to have choreographed stage moves to make people appreciate you, you are proving your heart was never truly in it. or at least it sure as fuck isnt now. you are proving that all you want is for people to remember you. all youre proving is you know your music is boring and sounds like every other fucking band you play with so you gotta do something visual to stick out. if your music doesnt speak for itself, and if your sole goal is to just make music so people fucking give you attention, you are pissing on everything good that has preceeded you that you claim to love. death metal bands. would cannibal corpse wear matching uniforms? would slayer plan squats and synchronized bangs at the breakdown in raining blood? no. why the fuck would you?

on that note, thank you to anyone who came and headbanged, moshed, or sang along with us, we had a blast and so did oblivion. good to see the idw guys at home again, travel safe. seattle, we'll be back soon. <3

on that note, this movie looks good:

fiat lux

2010-06-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

theres a nutri-grain wrapper in front of me. strawberry. it was delicious. maybe it wasnt, my brain and head were throbbing worse than ive had in years, so i ate something to try and feel better. i should be wearing one of daniels "BANGOVER NOT HANGOVER" t-shirts. my body hurts for some reason. ive been trying to get healthier: eating less, eating healthier, working out, staying active, etc, and now my back, muscles, bones hurt worse than ever. and not in the "oh man my muscles are breaking down and slowly reconstructing" hurt. just straight "fuck my life i cant sit, stand, lay down, or move without pain" kind.

anyway. last night we played the whole album from start to finish. it was really weird but awesome. the album is long as fuck. 11, maybe 12 tracks...we'll see. we get underway with recording in 3 weeks exactly with Ahren Lanfor (of The Astronauts Lounge, recorded the Oblivion demo, Cowardice, Cool Runnings, To the Wind, and many many more) at Randlerawk Studios in Tacoma. its right around the corner from the Viaduct, so we'll probably be stopping by there frequently for a break from the recording. that and we'll be hitting up the dollar store for super cheap pop on the reg. just saying.

TONIGHT we're playing at STUIDO 7 with daniels other band IDOLS, our other band OBLIVION, and then a big tour package with I DECLARE WAR somewhere in the middle of it. come out, mosh, have fun. itll be a decent night for sure.

some good honest reading: http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-tell-ya-until-ive-had-my-morning-coffee-i-am-jus,17618/

also:

konami code

2010-06-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

www.marvel.com

when there, using your arrow keys, type

up up down down left right left right B A

then the enter key. enjoy

survivor

2010-06-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

the things we do just to stay alive...

studio time

2010-06-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

so we finally have the time booked, off work and school and are fledging our full heart into recording our long long long coming album "I Am the Curse". We are getting together with producers Ahren Lanfor & Randy Wheeler on July 7th in Tacoma to begin tracking drums! we'll be in there for a few days until we finish drums. Most of the way through we'll be stopping to play a show in CENTRALIA with our friends to the wind, breaking ground, like trumpets, and more. hot diggity fucknuts, tacoma reality is at it again. anyone seen Q around tacoma lately? trying to eat BBQ and drink rootbeer the entire time recording. ps no shaving rule goes into effect july 7th. gunna be a hot summer! <3

JULY 7TH - RANDLERAWK STUDIOS
JULY 8TH - RANDLERAWK STUDIOS
JULY 9TH - RANDLERAWK STUDIOS
JULY 10TH - show @ Quesadilla Factory in Centralia!
JULY 11TH - RANDLERAWK STUDIOS
BREAK
JULY 17TH - BACK TO THE STUDIO...

the path of most resistance

2010-06-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

may 15th, we destroyed the 7 months behind us and finally played a show at the viaduct. it was with our friends: awaiting ruin, wolves, swinglow, lenore, and to the wind. it was a pleasure to share the stage with those dudes, and we had a blast playing some old songs and some new songs. we know some of our friends want to hear old shit like trend terminal, illusions, etc. but we have spent this whole time off working on the new album, and we feel we need to share it. if we weren't playing these new songs, we wouldnt be playing at all.

we also played last night with it prevails, close your eyes, something about airplanes, to the wind (again?!), and vacate. vacate played some new songs showing growth, and a sweet offspring cover. ttw played heavy jams and i had fun singing "reaching solid ground" with them. SAA played and im pretty sure they ended with their little hatebreed jam. CYE played and a lot of kids were stoked. we played and played WAY fuckin better than we did on may 15th. im glad a lot of poeple were into it. we had a blast. then IP played and played a killer set. stoked on their new 10".

we have a few more shows coming up. hopefully some at the viaduct. go there, buy a shirt, buy some food, donate a couple bucks. ENJOY THE VIADUCT WHILE WE STILL HAVE IT. ONLY A MATTER OF DAYS, NOW...

boom shaka la

2010-04-13T01:57:00.000-07:00

MAY 15TH
VIADUCT (5412 S. TACOMA WAY, 98409)
7PM $5

open fire!
to the wind (music video shoot)
lenore

more tba

~

JUNE 4TH
BLACK LAKE GRANGE (6011 BLACK LAKE BLVD, OLYMPIA, WA)
7PM $8

it prevails
open fire!
close your eyes
something about airplanes
to the wind
vacate

~

more tba.

chug on the mic check chug on the mic

2009-10-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

you fuckin bitch

9/14 Sheridan, WY VIDEO

2009-10-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

9/23 Columbus, OH

2009-10-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

9/23 - Columbus, OH

more arguing and fighting filling the nights and days, pulled over again, etc etc. got some white castle. that was supposedly bomb, but my chicken was mediocre at best. wont brave their cheeseburgers, as the frozen ones have onions in the meat and im not havin that!

we roll east and get into ghettoville Columbus, OH. or at least that’s what Rick Plasencia (old OF! singer, former Ohio native) told us. what we saw wasn't all that bad. we had fun there actually.

ian and nick decided to do laundry while harry chug and i attempted to figure out our trailer light and blinker light situations. a Wal-Mart was visited, and things were purchased. -$40 from band account.

us 3 roll to U-Haul to see if they can give advice on the trailer light issue. they try the wiring and converter (We had the wrong converter for starters, but that didn’t change much.) the manager rewired the trailer plug in, plugged it into a new converter he gave us and we were still having issues. the worker there was in a metal band called x-factor one. not my cup of tea but check them out, they’re a Jaeger sponsored band and they’re doin big things out in OHIO. he helped us out a lot, lettin us use his electric drill to switch the blinker lights out (i managed to lose a reverse light)

then the manager gave us 10 new fuses as chug, the man who knows nothing about cars, figured out it was our fuses that fucked up our trailer lights. the manager didn’t say anything, and i asked the X-Factor 1 dude what we owed them, and he said don’t even worry about it. "gotta help out a fellow brother". we gave him a shirt and cd and went and scooped up nick/ian and rolled to the venue.

heres the set:

&

&

we had a bit more fun/had somewhat of a reaction at this show. not many kids but we talked with a lot of dudes and they were all rad. the first band, locals (cant remember their name :[), sounded like foundation which was sweet. then we played which was rad. then, IRON RAIN. same Chicago HC band from last night. awesome band, awesome dudes. we hung out with them during the show and shot the shit with them all night. moshed and had fun.

a local deathcore band played, and i can’t recall their name. heavy and tight, but not the best. then legend played. Legend has Chad from for the fallen dreams on vocals and is a straight bury your dead/too pure to die-esque "heavy hardcore" band. nice dudes and chad is always cool with us. was rad to catch up with him.

however, during their last song, some sketchy shit happened. i wont repeat it, but it sketched out everyone here. the show got shut down, and that was that. we didn’t get paid but we did okay on merch, that was fuckin rad. all the kids we met and hung out with and that helped us out, thank you so much for your help.

afterwards, we went to our friend Jake from Every Bridge Burned/Sea Turns Red. He lived just about an hour south of the venue, on the way to the next show in Lexington, KY. we got to his sweet apartments and ian, nick and i rolled up to chill. they were playing Halo ODST which was cool to watch. they also had a cat that liked to try and commit suicide from their porch so we had to keep her inside. they also had a huge snake. what the fuck is with snakes in the Midwest?

jake was a homie and a half for letting us crash there. by this point my ear started plugging and hurting a bit. i couldn’t hear a fucking thing out of it. it sucked.

in the morning, harry came to us and told us that he was sketched out by the previous nights actions and he had his family to protect (wife at home) so he decided to fly home. this was a huge blow to me as he is one of my best friends, my confidant, and one of the only reasons i continued to put up with the bickering, losing money, and losing hope in all of this. with harry leaving, we were down to four people. morale went down to basically zero.

more fighting and such ensued as we drove harry to the airport in Lexington, KY. we dropped him off around 4 and then headed on to the next venue.

9/22 - Indianapolis, IN

2009-10-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

after some communication issues, we got our shit together and rolled into Indianapolis. we only saw a little bit of the bigger city. it seemed a tad bit ghetto, but tight. wasn’t diggin the humidity one bit though. we were suckin down cold drinks and air from driving fast cuz we weren’t ready for the heat! west coasters don’t understand humidity. lets hope our ecosystem doesn’t change and hit us with the humidity like they get in the Midwest!

our buddy joe cxc hooked up up with the show and we figured out where it was through him. we pull up to the house show, and meet up with people running the show and living in the house. they were rad dudes, and were having a preshow party. free nachos and beer and faygo for all bands and partiers who were there early! a lot of bands were on the show and we played first, which is rough for a touring band but almost everyone was a touring band so it happens.

heres the set:

&

&

needless to say it was a somewhat awkward set. a lot of the bands were heavier, grind influenced bands but we had fun playing and had way more fun watching the other bands. another band that played (right after us) was called Iron Rain. they have a very Turmoil meets Buried Alive vibe to them, and i fucking loved it. i think they’d kill on the west coast. they’re out of Chicago, HC. so many good Chicago hc bands coming out. also check out: War Hounds, Thieves, Harm's Way, and of course them, Iron Rain.

we didn’t sell a single thing in merch, and joe cxc paid us out of pocket to help us out, so huge huge thanks to him. literally every dollar counts and goes a long way for bands like us, so if you see a small/struggling touring band you love, please do what you can in your means to help them out.

9/21 Southgate, MI

2009-10-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

after an odd night in Lansing, mi, we saw our friends in AMERICAN ME were on their tour with CHELSEA GRIN, DR. ACULA, & ATILLA, and it was hitting Southgate, MI which was only an hour plus away from Lansing. We rolled to the venue, The Modern Exchange, as we decided to talk to the promoter and Tony from AM said he’d help with the promoter to try and get us on the bill.

we met the awesome sound guys and hung out til the promoter showed up, and then we talked to him. explained our situation, and voila, we're on the show opening up.

here is the set:

Open Fire! - 9/21/09 Southgate, MI - The Mod X

it went well. we had a lot of fun with a lot kids, as well as meeting up with some friends from Chelsea Grin (who helped us book our Utah show from the No Gods, No Care tour), their merch guy matt who has the first ever open fire tattoo! we made friends with the opening band Accidents from MI. awesome band, check them out! very early misery signals-esque. we also got tight with a couple of the dudes from the death metal band "And Hell Followed With"

the other bands smashed, and we had fun. we even made a little money off merch and the door! we didn’t have anywhere else to go though so we camped out at a Meijer’s.

in the morning we did laundry and chilled, then headed south to Indianapolis.

heres matt's tattoo. thanks brother!

whats better? im taking a vote.

2009-09-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

THE GREATEST QUESTION
Which is better?

Simply Raspberry Lemonade
Minute Maid Limeade Original

view results

9/20 Lansing, MI

2009-09-28T22:48:00.002-07:00

The one thing we noticed as we ventured north, was the weather fucking sucked. the humidity created the nastiest mugginess. we were sticky within just an hour of being in michigan. we pulled into downtown lansing pretty late, around 8pm. we heard the venue, basement 414, is in the basement of a dance club. we found the address, then figured we should head to the back, see if there was another entrance.

we went down this hill and pull up back. there was a lot of cars, and maybe 30 kids there. all of these kids were wearing the same band t-shirt, bondage pants, fucked up make up and a bunch of other shit. did we wind ourselves up at a nu metal show?

first band went on, and i dont remember their name. they were old dudes playing nu metal rock. it was bad. next band played, and it was a system of a down esque metal. it was awkward. the singer had ceribral paulsy, and he was realy nice to us, but i wasnt into the band. we played to like 4 kids and rolled out. it was a weird night. we ended up getting a hotel this night. we watched bill maher and children of men. and cooked food. shitty show, decent night. lot of arguing and fighting that night.

9/19 Champaign, IL

2009-09-28T22:48:00.001-07:00

chicago was incredible, so leaving their on such a high note made for a very peaceful, nice drive south to Champaign. our buddy in Version had set up this show for us, but their drummer quit so they were unable to play the show. it was a house show at a venue called Terror (also sometimes known as Error) House.

Illinois is a beautiful state. the weather was gorgeous and perfect. we made it there in about 3 hours with stopping for some gas and a little break from the van. i took some little scenery pictures. ill put em up on the next picture post. we got to the show around 6.

the kids there were pretty quiet, but nice. the show was downstairs and the place smelled like mold. oh well, a bit endearing i spose. the first band was the house's/local band, the diamond stetch. sex magician dropped from the show. nouns was a solo project, with just a dude with his guitar and his laptop. it was okay, not my thing. guitar was way too loud to get the full feel.

we played, and played pretty tight. setlist was the same. kids didnt really dig it or get into it, but we had fun. after packing up, we hung out upstairs. one of the singers of the first band was broke so he paid us in a couple bags of chips and a bag of cheerios which a week later im still munching on! thanks dudes! we rolled on and out back north, where we had a place to stay with dan from cadence and some of his friends.

we got pulled over on the way there, trailer lights. yeah yeah we know, thank you officer. we finally got to yorkville, and pulled up to the house. once inside however, our mind was blown. this place as a fucking palace. huuuuuuge ceilings. gorgeous interior. we met the owner of the house, yumi, dans friend. very sweet girl who had some friends over. she also had a brand new puppy chihuahua, and 2 baby kittens! seriously the cutest animals ever. she made us pizza, and cooked my bag of hotwings for me. what the fuck?! best host EVER. dan showed me the preview of new shit him juan and mike have been working on for their new band.

after using the wifi, we all crashed around 4 am. i keep falling asleep midconversation with my girlfriend, because we dont get very good sleep on tour, and the time difference is a total killer for me. i havent adjusted at alllll. its fuckin weird. ps this girl has a downstairs with a huge couch, 2 bathrooms, pool table, huge flatscreen tv, this huge wrestling mat, and a lot more. just an incredible house.

in the morning, yumi made us all pancakes and eggs. amazing. we had a fucking total blast. after got some showers in, we rolled out and headed north to michigan. huge thanks to dan, yumi, and everyone tht hung out at the house.

9/18 Chicago, IL

2009-09-28T22:47:00.001-07:00

we took off from St. Paul pretty early, and headed south/east out towards illinois. about half way, we got fucked up by tolls. illinois, fuck your tolls. i hate the one in the narrows bridge, and i hate every toll weve hit so far. nick likes to fuck with the workers, saying weird and/or funny shit. we finally made it into town, and started circling the block, as we werent sure what the venue was. i heard rumors of it being a park/water park, but i didnt really know for sure. we saw a sign with the address and the name "Rainbow Falls". hahaha...a huge park, part of which was being used by like a 12 year old football team. it was awesome, totally reminded me of 7th grade.

we loaded in, and met up with our long running myspace friends and now irl friends CADENCE. tonight was their last show, so it was tight to meet up with them before they called it a day. we hung out a bit with kids out front, some of which in the bands internal devine, in arms, erebus, etc.

erjony played first, and theyre a tech-metalish style similar to old btbam or into the moat. pretty solid. we were up second, and we took a long time to set up cuz during erjony there was only a handful of kids there. also, cadence and in arms said we should have played later, so we took our time. menawhile, kids were filling it up and getting ready. when we finally started, kids went the fuck off. setlist has stayed the same. kids were moshing their fucking brains out. side to side, circle pits, moshing, two stepping. kids felt us hard. we were so stoked. only a couple kids knew the words to songs but thats always a nice feeling. we had a fucking blast playing and kids were super responsive.

we got off stage. internal devine played their last show, and they were pretty fuckin heavy, all rad dudes. nice ass gear too. haha! after them was erebus, who played a heavy recon-esque hardcore. cool dudes, glad to play/hang out with em. then came in arms, who blew us the fuck away. rudy, the vocalist, is an extremely intense, smart and well spoken dude, and is awesome to watch. the riffs/songs were amazing. they have a new record coming out called "Sojourn". check it when it drops. i know i cant fucking wait for it.

then cadence played. oh my fucking god, cadence. honestly, after listening to their first demo, their blueprints ep, and their newer demos, i thought they were a solid band. and meeting them, i realized theyre rad dudes. but i was not prepared for them live. them live is a whole other fucking experience. so fucking beautiful. the guitarists play clean with the slightest bit of gain distortion. no crunch, no shrilly piercing gain. just enough to thicken up the sound, and it punctuates every note and melodic tone created by their chords and leads. the riffs are seriously some of the most beautiful and inventive riffs i heard a band play in a long long time. mikes passion shines through, and honestly it was just an honor to play and see them. thank you mike dan juan brody and marty for sharing that with us.

so many kids in chicago helped us out with picking up merch, buying cds, and donating money. we did great and had a fucking blast. every kid there ruled. we went to steak n shake after with in arms, cadence, jenny, miranda, ted, branden, jessica, and a couple others. to everyone there, thank you for a great time, it was the best night of tour to date. thank you for that.

afterwards, we went to rudys apartment in downtown chi-town. it was a gorgeous apartment in a sketchy part of town. chug and harry slept in the van and me nick and ian went in to kick it. after a couple hours of comversation later (and a glorious fan being lent to me by rudy...thank you!) we crashed out. in the morning, after a handful of showers, we packed the van, then went for a walk. we walked the wicker park district of chicago, passing some amazing architecture, tags, venues, and buildings. also: the hottest women in the world are all i chicago. kanye wasn't lying about that.

our destination: lou malnati's pizza. say that fast. lou-malnati. loo-mal-nah-tee. luminati. illuminati? hmm...anyways, we ordered some deep dish pizza. and holy buttfuck, it was seriously one of the best pizzas ive ever had. i broke edge cuz of the red wine in the sauce ;) the crust and the cheese and the pepperoni.....just the best. definitely either the best pizza ive ever had, or the 2nd. i dont know. it was unreaaaaal. we sat in a gorgeous park and ate it and conversed with rudy and peter and juan. amazing people. after that we packed up rolled back to the apartment, then got in the van. a thousand thank yous and goodbyes later, we drove south, headed for champaign, IL.

9/17 Buffalo, MN

2009-09-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

After a night of apples to apples (i won), we drove north to buffalo, mn to hit up the vault. we saw a lot of gorgeous lakes. hit up a walmart (we have been to more of these than i care to think about). finally we pulled up to the tiny tiny town of buffalo. it reminds me of buckley or old-town auburn. its small and quiet and quaint. we found the venue, and parked behind. there was a sweet petstore behind it, with a bird that said "fucking bitch"

we loaded in and waited for the show to get going. the first band started, and i cant remember what theyre called. the second band played, and i cant recall what they were called either. they had a keyboardist, and did the whitechapel bow thing. and they were pretty tight and together. we went on, and played fucking terrible. we fucked up on nearly every song, it was atrocious.

setlist was the same as its always been, we just played it like utter dogshit. the kids in the other bands were moshing for us, the gf's stood on the side, and i guess there was 1 person paid at the door. after us, our buddies in dead end roads played. they were heavy as fuck and had their shit spot on. after the show and a long band talk, we packed up and went back to st paul to crash once more with the dead end roads dudes. we sold a few shirts but had the worst night of tour here.

some sights to be seen, from the road

2009-09-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

we have road companions.

this is frank:

some of you know franks story. if you do, i either love you, loved you, or youre lucky.

this is carlos:

if you have seen the hangover, and you think he looks like a tyler, youre a dick.

this is what the great american nothing looks like:

and its as incredible as it seems. the road infront of you is your enemy, and the weight it carries is unreal.

this is some sights from the mall of america. the biggest mall in the world (or so we guess). we had a fuckin blast in here, thanks to andrew, taylor and kyle.

following this, i proceeded to slaughter everyone with apples to apples. bombs are more american than bald eagles, just saying.

this guy thought he could make it right through the car. poor guy! chug tried to eat him after.

vote for chug in 2012, bring it back america!

one thing thats for sure is, we werent prepared for the weather. shit is rough. haha, oh poor us, right?

more updates coming soon: buffalo/chicago/champaign/lansing/detroit/indianapolis. we're at the columbus, ohio show right now, updating from the venue/bar/cafe wifi. its weird.

9/11 olympia, wa VIDEO

2009-09-20T03:37:00.000-07:00

Open Fire! 9/11/09 from steve jackson on Vimeo.

so hard to face the reali...tay

2009-09-20T01:59:00.000-07:00

saying days off are bullshit is a bit of an understatement. booking tours or shows is a very difficult process, and if you dont know anything about it, you probably shouldnt make comments about the process or the results. especially when you expect things but put in no effort to heed such results.

we essentially booked this midwest tour around the 9/18 chicago, IL show with Cadence and In Arms. we wanted to get a good show with those bands, and while working on the tour, they told us cadence was breaking up and last show was 9/18. so we had to make sure we left late enough to get things booked but early enough to make it to chicago by 9/18.

so we did our best filling the dates. its about a 30 hour drive from tacoma to chicago. break that 7 ways, it should be about 5 hours apart each show. but unfortunately we couldnt lock things up that way. major cities from idaho-minnesota are hard to come by and even harder to book. so we did our best. they werent very well spread out but they were shows, and they should have gotten some kind of money into the gas tank.

so when they get cancelled, its harsh as fuck. all potential money is gone, and that leaves us with $0 in the gas tank. not everyone in the band can afford to put in $ towards gas (which has been a source of animosity between everyone. not the only source, but its one) so the burden falls on those who do have $. but spending personal $ is a big stress for some of us.

would our shows that were dropped have brought in enough $? no. but it would have made dents which would have helped. should we expect having everything "promised" to us and taken care of like some bands? no. not at all. we are in no position to be demanding guarantees of $150 or anything of the sorts. when booking this show, we always asked for gas money. if they couldnt guarantee us $50-75, we told them we would play for donations, because wed do whatever it takes to keep tour going.

it sucks that tour can boil down to money. but we all have lives at home that we are sacrificing from daily to fund this. and it is our choice and our burden to do so. we put this in front of mom/dad/brother/sister. girlfriends and wives. jobs. rent. car payments. insurance. everything. we fuck up our lives for this and it is our burden to bear. but that doesnt change the fact that coming home to nothing is a scary thought. coming home with no where to live sucks. who knows if this van will even last this whole tour? we dont even know if we can make it home.

dark times surround tour, and while most days sunshine breaks through and the best moments and the reasons we go on tour and make this sacrifice happen. days like the show at 4th block. olympia. chicago. hanging out in chi-town with rudy/juan/peter. great mall with the dead end roads kids. but some days, some nights, it gets real fucking dark. tension so thick you need a fucking jackhammer. bickering, bitter words said and even more bitter thoughts left unsaid. people holding their tongues, people letting their words fly at the worst of times.

tour shows the best and worst of all of us, i learned this from both sides of it, going on tour and seeing bands come through in all different kinds of conditions. bands doing well, bands doing terrible. huge bands, small bands. my own band. my friends. this has been one hell of a fucking week, i will say that much. to be honest, we still dont know if the rest of this tour will happen . but we want it to. we want to push on. and we will try. we already had one of my best friends and one of the most essential and important members of open fire bail on us and leave us abandoned this week.

i think we all have a new found appreciation for Modern Life is War on this tour. their words reflect these situations more and more daily. we face uncertainty, but we push ahead. onward and upward.

love,
steve jackson.

days off are bullshit.

2009-09-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

not having shows/having shows dropped really fucking sucks.

after rapid city we went east and hit sioux falls, stopped for a minute, then we turned left, headed north. another 10 hour drive in the can, we finally pulled off to the great mall of america. we met up with our new good friends in DEAD END ROADS. we explored the mall, and seriously only covered 25% of it in an hour and a half. we ended up on the top floor to get some chipotle and teryaki. it was bomb. after a ghetto block party in the van on our way to "sketchy saint paul", we rolled up to the dead end roads apartment.

we crashed and prepped for the show the next day on 9/17, in Buffalo, MN.

also, fisch quit:

"First off, I don't appreciate you insulting me. I care deeply for Open Fire, everyone knows that. There is nothing that I would like to do than to tour all the time with this band. But because of the cirumstances, I m not allowed to leave the state. Yes this is my fault and I take full responsibility for all of it.

I was in fact very stoked for tour. I wouldn't have worked hard to make it happen. I'm sorry that I wasn't more responsible to find out more about my probation. I, like everybody else, thought that nothing would come of it. But now, you guys are on the road having the time of your lives. And I'm stuck here....

I don't need life lessons for you. I'll my life the way I want to and you can live yours the way of your choosing. Yeah I don't have any money to contribute to the band. And yes, I would love to help the band out. But I'm in tough spot in my life right now, and it doesn't seem like any of you guys get that.

I hate to do this. But it feels like I'm holding you guys back. You guys deserve someone who is able to tour and help pay for shit. I don't think I will be in that position for awhile, and I don't think it's fair for you guys to have to wait. So I'm quitting the band. I don't want any hard feelings between all of us. I'm just doing what I think would be best for your band.

And, just to let you guys know, I have tried to make an effort to making it out there. I came to fond out that my xbox is broken and iPod was stolen. Otherwise, I would have been out there. I will still try to find some money to send to you guys."

anyone wanna play guitar in open fire?

9/14 Sheridan, WY

2009-09-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

After the 4th Block, we rolled on through the midwest. 11 hour drive through the rest of idaho. on into montana, and pushing our way towards wyoming.

Quick Montana Story #1: when i was a kid, my family and i always drove out to south dakota, once or twice a year, to visit family. I remember once stopping at a McDonald to eat breakfast. everyone there was wearing suspenders or sunday dresses, it was bizarre to me, coming from washington. i was young, maybe 8. a kid asked his dad if he could get some more soda or fries or something simple, and he said no. The child asked again, and the dad smacked the child. i remember my mom and I gasping, and my dad turned and looked. The kid went to ask again, and the dad said "boy, don't make me use my belt," and reached up to hit him again. My dad moved next to him and said to him "you hit that child again and ill use my belt on you." the man closed his mouth, grabbed his kids and food and left. that was that.

Our show that night in south dakota had been canceled, but we knew about a silverstein show in wyoming a friend of ours had tried getting us on. we figured we could show up, and try and sell some cds and shirts to kids to help us out with some gas. finally pull up, and see some kids. and a huge tour bus. keep in mind, this place is a fairgrounds expo hall. its huuuuge. we rolled up, and saw there was maybe 100 kids, harsh. we talked to the promoter, and they said they cant let us on, cuz its up to silverstein. we started looking around, found silverstein, and started talking with those dudes. the singer was alright with it, but we were late so he wasnt super stoked on the idea. he felt on the spot, so he said it was up to the tour manager. after about 15 minutes of searching, we find the dude, dougie. awesome, because he knows mutual people, and is from washington. harry talked him up and we got added. the only time it was gunna work was right before silverstein. so we set up super fast, and when time came, we hopped on.

SETLIST:
INTRO
I HAVE WASTED EVERY WORD
THE MORAL ECLIPSE
TREND-TERMINAL
SURVIVOR
WHAT MEANS THE MOST
INTERLUDE
FAITH-HEALER / DEATH-DEALER

to be honest, to say we did well is an understatement. kids went nuts. couple stagedives, lots of moshing (push mosh and dancing), and 1 kid knew the words to faith healer. girls screamed between every song, and it felt like we were huge. it was insane. we actually did really good. we didnt get a cut off the door, but we sold some merch and cds, so that was rad.

afterwards, we sat and talked to silverstein and a couple other dudes. the bassist of silverstein was positive we were on a label and was shocked we werent. the singer was really impressed and was glad to help us out. it was a fuckin blast. walmart, albertsons, and then holiday inn parking lot. in the morning, we trekked out to south dakota. hit up mount rushmore, and then we crashed at a mutual friends house in rapid city. watched some lost, and geeked out hard on movies and video games. long day, weird. little ceasers rules.

battlefront 2

2009-09-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

ian v.s. anthony (dead end roads)

here we go.

sitting in st. paul hanging out with new friends DEAD END ROADS. matt and ian are now on battlefront. i think ian is killing it.

we arent doin shit today, but we went to the great mall of america. huge. tons of shit, cool stores. we covered maybe half of it. gunna hit it up tomorrow morning to promo the show and sell some cds.

pics and shit later.
-stelo

ps these dudes totally have midwestern accents, im into it. and they drink crush. and have a pet snake called medusa. da fuuuck

brainly thoughtaments

2009-09-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

drive, park, gas, drive, park, drive, play, drive, park, gas, drive. average day/day and a half of tour. as every waking moment goes by igain new respect for bands, and their unearthly amount of patience with each other, as well do i garner respect for armor for sleeps "the complete guide to touring". great band. weird dvd but it makes more sense hourly.

we have companions on this tour. our merch dude harry has been a friend of mine for 6 years or so, and he did merch for us on the last tour. i cant imagine a better person to do it, as he has impecable people skills, as well as he has a very persuasive, strong personality. not to mention he moshes harder than you, and has listened to the hoods since age 15. get into it. hes married and cant to get home to his laaaadaaaay. also with us, are frank and carlos. here they are, respectively. there stories behind each dude, but theyre very personal.

ian is constantly yelling at no one...whether it be his pokemon or whomever hes battling, he is in a constant verbal struggle with it as his thumbs twiddle away. nick blows his nose a lot and sets up his drums slow while we constantly rush him. guess you cant rush a good thing, i do love his kit. chug had a nosebleed this morning. i wonder if he picked his nose too hard. or if it was all the coke he did. im constantly trying to keep things charged. laptop, phone, ipods, van battery, and myself. have only had one good night of sleep so far. i think most of the dudes are the same except a couple of us may have gotten a bit better sleep here and there.

these are the hills of america. built by the blood sweat and tears of america. they are everything the rest of the world is not. dull, plain, boring, mediocre and ultimately depressing. its a shame america couldnt figure out how to distribute resources better. instead of homes being crammed 140 houses on 7 acre lots, we could spread thigns out a bit. obviously, suburban spread has destroyed the allocation of resources, but there is far too much unused space. all the clusterfuck mall cities every 20 minutes apart on the freeways up and down the coast, should be spread out hours apart through the midwest and the great american hills.

this post doesnt really have a point. just thoughts on my brain for me to type out instead of stare at buttfucking nothing/reading.

9/13 Twin Falls, ID

2009-09-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

The destruction of 4th block. A good morning full of shits, showers, and about 6 turn arounds tryin to find the right freeway, we finally got going and headed to twin. this show was a house show with Ghetto Shark and Priscilla. It was booked by the same dude who booked our Burley, ID show with I Declare War last February.

Josh, the promoterand bassist of Ghetto Shark, continually told us 4th Block is this beat down house that he wants us to put holes in, smash windows, bust the ceiling, etc. mass destruction, he demands. so with this in mind, we pull up to a well manicured lawn, 1 story nice sq ft rambler. windows are all intact. infact, inside it looks fantastic. nice cqars in a backyard driveway, and every house next to it looks even nicer. an older gnetleman walks out and says "you looking for josh?"

10 minutes later and a phone call from his dad, josh pulls up and tells us to follow him across town. on the otherside of town, theres another 4th ave. we pull up to the back side, and can tell this is the place instantly. huge half pipe. sketchy looking hardcore kids. dude with more face tattoos than anyone in WA. this must be the joint. get there, and the owner of the house is wearing a BULLY tanktop so i get a little more stoked. we roll in, check out the inside. all 4 walls of the living room have been completely ply-wooded, and there are still holes in the wall. also, in various tags all over the property it says "4th Block" or 4BK. stoked. this place is hard. kids get a little rowdy during the first 2 bands but a lot of kids sit on the couches out front. we later found this place doubles as a tattoo shop. dope. talked with some kids, pumped some iron (the weights and everything were just sittting outside), and finally our time came up.

SETLIST:
INTRO
I HAVE WASTED EVERY WORD
THE MORAL ECLIPSE
TREND TERMINAL
SURVIVOR
WHAT MEANS THE MOST
INTERLUDE
FAITH-HEALER / DEATH-DEALER

every kid that was on the property came inside for this one. it was crazy, because there was only 5-10 kids for the other bands, but when we went on it was at least 30 in the living room. and the mosh...fuck. whats up 2005? shit was violent and hard. dudes swung and kicked hard and didnt give a fuck who or what they hit. we were stoked for kids to get that rowdy. one or two knew the words to faith-healer, so that makes kids knowing words to songs at every show so far. fuckin WEIRD, but so awesome. i got smashed in the dome by face tattoo dude, aka SWEAT. it felt good, havent been smashed in the mosh in a minute. hahaha

we sold a lot of merch, kids were super fucking helpful and down to help out. donations brought in a good amount too so it turned out awesome and we were fuckin amped. hung out with kids at the show, talked about home and the burley show and about us coming back in november with a better hope foundation and pull out.

to fuck you up with some kenny powers truth: people need to grow the fuck up. complaints are for 13 year old girls. grown ass men need to just figure out that the world doesnt revolve around them and stop assuming that their way is the only way. stop fucking complaining. whining on tour is like whining about not making enough money when you win the lottery. if you want a perfect example, ask me

still working on videos pics and shit. next blog update: our show with silverstein....weird.

9/12, boise, ID

2009-09-13T03:06:00.000-07:00

well well well, what do you know? open fire sleeps in 45 minutes late, but somehow manages to leave 2 hours late. fuck us, right?

a nice clean apartment to leave/come back to, and we are on the road. i started watching Observe & Report (highly underrated, check it asap) but i passed out.

9 hour drive consisted of: too many stops. filled up the tank twice (currently getting 11-12 mpg. not stoked) 90 degree weather as soon as we passed snoqualmie. fuuuck, its hot everywhere but home (heard it was hot at home too). we hit a gas station, and somehow instantly got covered with flies. like 50+ flies were instantly in the van. it sucked. we rocked some ciara, 3 six mafia, every time i die, acacia strain, madball, casey jones, make do and mend, new found glory. most of us just shifted driving cuz we were all super tired from our 2-4 hr sleep the night before.

load in was around 5:30-6pm. at about 5pm, we figured we were about an hour and 15 minutes behind, so wed be there at the most 45 min late. doors werent til 7 show was later. however, at around 5pm, we realized boise, ID is one hour ahead of us. it was actually 6pm, and we were 2 hours and 15 minutes late. cuz, obviously, we left 2 hours too late this morning. fuck. my. life.

call with our round of apologies and excuses of stupidity, and we finally roll up. we meet up with homies BARE WITNESS, and then we checked out the venue. its a very small warehouse. if youve ever been in a storage facility, imagine the biggest storage unit available, and its about that big. maybe an ounce bigger. then we found out that we're playing first. kind of a bummer since we were a touring band, but definitely not a big deal. there were 3 locals, 3 touring bands. 2 touring bands (us and elitist) were on tour from out of town. gaza was just doing a one off show from SLC. but we had to play first. also, this place housed art from local artists, so that was cool. and there was a stoned kitty laying on top of the toilet in the venue....it just laid there while a couple of us pissed and i took a shit. soooo bizzare, wish i took a pic. ps, the cats name was ZIGGY STARDUST. yeah, seriously. the owner dude introduced with the enthusiasm of john from studio 7 but twice as weird. he called us after fire. thats better than open flame, i guess.

setlist:
INTRO
INTRO
I HAVE WASTED EVERY WORD
I HAVE WASTED EVERY WORD
THE MORAL ECLIPSE
TREND-TERMINAL
SURVIVOR
WHAT MEANS THE MOST

if youre wondering why we played the intro twice then i have wasted every word twice, heres why: as mentioned, fisch was inable to make this tour with us, and didnt notify us until after we played the olympia show essentially. so, with that, we had no time to teach chug any of fischs parts. unfortunately, the way the songs are structured, fisch plays the leads and 95% of the transition parts. it is the key to our sound as it shapes the song structure, and makes our songs far far more technical and tight.

the first time we tried the intro, chugs guitar cut out before we even started, so we hit our opening note......just drums and bass. no guitar. then we tried again, and got a minute into wasted words before chug fucked up the riff, got lost, then when he came back in, his guitar cut out again. it was just a fucking wreck, completely unsalvagable. sooo, we started that song again. fortunately, we made it through the rest of the songs with PRETTY much no incident. we had to hurry since we were late and fucked up the whole first 5 minutes. so tuning wasnt great. everyone was a bit stressed. we finished up okay. our buddies asked for what means instead of faith-healer, so we played that and finished. thanks to the bare witness dudes for singing along. a few kids bought some merch, and we are super grateful for that. a good amount of kids came up and told us they loved us/really enjoyed us, and so i just apologized and told them over and over that wait til we come back with a full line up, then we'll be worth fucking seeing! ...maybe

bare witness went on and they were fucking amazing. they fucked up their intro too, so maybe it was just "one of those nights". bone dance played, and they were heavier than i expected, their songs on myspace seem a little more laid back. not quite as driving...but it sounded awesome. jument played and they were really fucking heavy. elitist were heavy too. i thought they were solid but missed some of it. then gaza played, and all im going to say is that it was a seriously fucking insane show. they were thriving off it hard and it made them play harder, and kids go off harder. a perfect show from a musicians point of view. good for them, the band rules. go download/buy/see "I Dont Care Where I Go When I Die". great grind/metal record. it was a semi shitty night for us due to being late/playing first/playing so so so bad, but kids were amazing and the bands ruled and we did okay financially so it was a good night overall. thank you to everyone who was there!

post show was pretty chill: los betas (i think was the name). idahos version of taqueria el reconsito, but cheaper/more quantity. maybe not the best flavor though. delicioussss. we are all sooooo full from it.

then we went to the bare witness house/apt, and this place is fucking sweet. im off to go crash in the van. ive been up for 22 hours (or 21, maybe cuz of time diff. i dont know anymore) and im done. gnight. video from oly and pics from boise up tomorrow. i miss my girlfriend, but cant wait to keep moving with tour. twin falls house show tomorrow.

-stelo

9/11 olympia, wa

2009-09-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

video from tonights set comin soon.

well today has been a nightmare. flushed the radiator and the popscrew broke off. had to fill the hole and seal it. probably gunna need a new radiator at some point on tour. then, fisch finds out he has prior commitments here while we're gone on tour, and cant go on tour. sweeeet.

we are broke and couldnt come up with enough money for new merch designs, so we're gunna be hurting for $ this tour. we went and got ian, some last minute shit at guitar center, and then some food. load up and left for olympia. good times. got there late as usual cuz we are a bunch of untimely pieces of shit. watched to new beginnings and coldfront, then we played.

setlist:
INTRO
I HAVE WASTED EVERY WORD
THE MORAL ECLIPSE
TREND TERMINAL
SURVIVOR
WHAT MEANS THE MOST
INTERLUDE
FAITH-HEALER / DEATH-DEALER

awesome reaction, thank you all so much for moshing and singing and having fun with us. we love you all. we made a little gas money. thank you kevin and cassidy TONS for helping us slide onto this show. we didnt fit but it was a BLAST and we had fun. we loaded up, and now we're showering and packing. 6 am wake up call, and we hit the road for boise to play with gaza:

http://www.mediafire.com/?bxzwgypmtyh

check it. super super heavy shit from utah. comparable to owen hart & black sheep wall. cant fuckin wait. see you soon. check tomorrow for the video of tonight.

-stelo

Survivor & The Moral Eclipse lyrics

2009-09-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

all lyrics by Steve Jackson

"survivor"
* = written by Andy Parmann

will i sit curled up like this until it goes away?
the swallowing feeling that starts at the back of my eyes,
down my throat and through my soul. its endless, it draws me deep.
this is true fear and i wont accept it as reality

we're so surrounded by false infinity.
(this is true fear/this is panic. i cant see anything/i cant breathe)
concrete statues from concrete minds seeking eternal infamy
the things we do to relieve death anxiety
we all seek eternity.

but time waits for no man.
from dust to fucking dust.
a death grip on existence
what will it take for us to let go?

will we waste our lives searching for means to no ends
or can we dissolve our nature, and no longer pretend
that we are exempt from nature. no life exceeds its means.
i accept no life beyond this world. from dust to fucking dust.

there is no turning back as i take this step forward.
no delusions of eternity, no fear of forever.
there is no turning back, this is all we have left.
(life passes by)
"there is no great reunion in the sky"*

but time waits for no man.
from dust to fucking dust.
our death grip on existence
what will it take for us to let go?

"the moral eclipse"

In my words I find resolution and understanding,
and with others I progress.
Skeptic at heart I question everything
that I see, everything in front of me is
subject to scrutiny. But in my questioning
I denounce introspection, and now we're left
without self-reflection, but the truth is
that I'm a wreck just like you.

I lost myself in search of answers and truth,
I lost myself in hopes to save us all.
I lost my drive for change in search of myself.
I just need to find some peace of mind...

I'm torn between the world and myself,
but when the world burns itself down, why do I bother?
Ill always push for change, but will I always save myself?

I need to find some balance,
I need to find a way out.
I need to find some balance I need out.
I need to find some balance, or I will watch this all burn.

I lost myself in search of answers and truth,
I lost myself in hopes to save us all.
I lost my drive for change in search of myself.
I just need to find some peace of mind

hopes

2009-09-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

practice today...i hope.

ive never used a jackshack, but i imagine that on this tour i may become a believer of their services. any city suggestions?

new layout thing on the myspace: www.myspace.com/openfirewa

updated tour flyer. sweeeeet. same amount of shows, but a couple things moved around

fuck you part 1 (of 1000)

2009-09-05T03:12:00.000-07:00

9/4, olympia

2009-09-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

what a long mother fuckin day. i went to bed at 5:30 am after spending the night watching oceans 13 (solid), rounding out the 3 night oceans trilogy. got up at 9 am, did some shit, got some gas in the van, loaded up our borrowed/rented trailer, and hit the road.

got ian and chug, went to the merch shop in seattle. then spent 30 min trying park that sumbitch in downtown seattle. practice went...peachy. went to KFC/Tbell. hit the 5. 4:30 pm. pulled into ted brown (tacoma) at 5:27 for a 5 minute purchase. at 5:53, we left. fucking tight. pulled up to the venue at 6:30, to hear cowardice playing. awesome, missed our friends and openers. hate being fucking late to shows.

finally get everything loaded up. sell a couple shirts (thank you everyone!), hang in the van a bit, watch some bands, and we played. said some shit that apparently really upset people. if you are mad or upset or offended at anything i say, talk to me. dont be coward, dont be a baby. talk like adults with me. i wont hit you or be a dick. i love discussing opposing opinions.

we played like dawg shit then got the fuck off the stage. something about airplanes was rad. andrew from like trumpets played bass. hes our boy. love you pablo. we later hit up sharis, had a lot of fun. props to katen for entertaining everyone.

im beat. long fuckin day, not worth talkin about anything else really. im about to dump some pics.
-stelo

reality sets in

2009-09-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

welcome to machias.

tour is in a week. we play olympia, wa tonight in the big room.

we will be blogging the entire tour. it will mostly be a picture blog, but there will be stories, anecdotes, and lies told here as well. hold on to your shit mother fuckers, kenny powers is here to set you straight and fuck you up with some truth.