Last night we found ourselves at Rumba Cafe. Now, this wasn't necessarily a show, considering that nobody really did "show" up, except for the bands... and what a gang we all made. Never before have I left somewhere with my muscles a-flutter with such excitement.  We were immersed in a pool of energy and enthusiasm, from which my fingers are still wrinkled as I type this blog. 

On a whim Dillon and I decided to ask our good friend Kyle Davis of the Devil Doves to sit in with us for the set. His freaky fluidity and rhythm hopped up the performance to another level, and we were blessed to have him play with us. When I expressed disappointment in the turnout, Kyle leaned over and simply reminded me, "Every gig has a purpose." 

This comment has been on my mind steadily since we left Rumba last night. The absence of the crowd made this less of a gig and more of a networking party, a symposium of earth-love vibrations that had every fellow musician in the room buzzing with chatter.  When we arrived it took no more than a handshake to become friends with everyone. By the end of the night, we were all hastily exchanging numbers, show dates, business cards, and music.  

And believe me, this music is something to get excited about. I have spent my morning in a four hour haul to Indiana, during which the music of last night was repeatedly cycled through the car stereo. A listen to Little War Twins, then a run of Graves' cassette tape, then on to Last of the Wildmen's very-well produced full length, then back around again. My head has been swimming in the sounds of the night. The most pleasant surprise of the event was the fact that all of the bands were related in many ways. The Imaginary Friends began the night with energetic folk tunes, our lyrical content was mirrored at times by that of Little War Twins, with us both singing of star-gazing and the power that can be found in releasing oneself to something greater than oneself. Last of the Wildmen carried our folk base and layered shoegaze guitar effects and a driving bass line on top, pushing the energy through the roof. When the Little War Twins took the stage, they picked up the energy and ran, giving us all a reason to dance. Fully entranced by their performance, Graves drove us deeper into our minds with their great, droning riffs and delicate chord progressions. Both Graves and Little War Twins utilized loops and prerecorded material as an accompaniment, achieving an incredibly full sound despite there only being two people in each group. Between the tools we use (acoustic guitars, loops) to the things that inspire us (space, small town life, fear and love) everyone had something in common with everyone else. 

One thing that was never absent from the night was passion. Rumba Cafe was full of inspired and dedicated young men and women, living like they were dreaming, and trying to get that much closer to who they really are. We are dreamers, carrying on a tradition of gazing at the sky, or staring at the floor and writing down our thoughts. These expressions are echoes of others' fear and inspiration, of other people's thoughts and feelings. The whole event has left me so at peace. Dillon exclaimed to me during a set, "We are not alone!" It is a peaceful thought, and now I know it's true.

During the flurry of conversation held just before the show, Gaetana of the Little War Twins said something along the lines of, "I feel like we are some kind of distant family members, like we are related."  

The best way to respond is to simply ask, "well aren't we?"


Definitely check out these bands and give them some love, I am pretty sure both Last of the Wildmen and Little War Twins are going to be touring all the way to the west coast soon. LOOK THEM UP AND SEE THEM LIVE!!!

Little War Twins (On Tour)
http://www.littlewartwins.com/

Last of the Wildmen (Soon to be on tour)
http://www.lastofthewildmen.com

Graves. (Local Columbus Band)
http://www.facebook.com/gravesohio

The Devil Doves (Badass good friends of the Friends, Kyle Davis sat in with us last night!)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Devil-Doves/117877531614624?fref=ts

Welly welly well! As well as the splendidly exciting news of upcoming shows, it seems we have got ourselves a website... Along with the website comes the blog. Blogs are something strange and foreign to me. Sometimes blogs are smoother than conversation, because drifting away from the point is often easier to remedy in print than in person. Equally beneficial is the fact that you can use the phrase, "I digress," with a minimal level of guilt. It has been more than a few blue moons since I have ever attempted writing in paragraph form; it is likely that this entry will be heavily dosed with grammatical errors.

I digress.

Today, we unfortunately had a show cancellation. It's all good though! The show has been rescheduled to next Monday, February 11th. The unexpected free time allowed me to work on a flyer for next Friday night, when the Friends will be joining weird punks Weird Science and the electrical folk of Jesse Wilkes. I have recently found that making flyers is a wonderful productive distraction. After all, a flyer is something that needs to be done to promote a show. It turns the date into an event. It can add a tone, a color... a theme that can only be found if it is hidden. I love flyers and flyer art. It makes taking a piss at a bar bearable, when the bass hits so hard the forgotten Bud Light backwash falls from the shelf above and causes you to relieve yourself all over your pants, and there is a line of embarrassed looking men out the door, all too afraid to stand two by two in a urinal trough and piss simultaneously. Flyers turn telephone poles into relics, schedules into art, and hobos into preachers. I am relatively new to the game, and there are a couple flyer artists I find particularly inspiring. Among the best of them is Annie Bussell.

When I was in high school my best friends and I formed a band called the Paraplegic Millipedes. When we set out to record an EP in my parents basement, we asked Annie to to the album art. Ever since that first napkin doodle, a creative friendship was born. You may recognize Ms. Bussell's artwork from our very own "Are You An Imaginary Friend?" poster design. I have always been fond of Annie's poster work, particularly her lettering. To the right is an example of one of her flyers. Using a crossword as her inspiration, she weaves the band's names using three dimensional blocks with shifting perspectives... the effect is at times disorienting and very unique when placed on a bulletin board among countless Microsoft Word printouts. I have a few more excellent examples of her work but can't seem to find digital copies at the moment, maybe in a later flyer blog. Her technique and boldness has surely evolved with her talent.

Another local flyer artist I have found myself inspired by is who I believe to be Caleb Brown of local newgrass group, Controlled Folly. He and I have actually separately created flyers of very similar design unaware of each others ideas. Brown has been developing his style over the past year, especially, primarily using pencils and ink. The content of his flyers (aside from bands/place/date) range from musical instruments that will likely be heard at the show, to political or social issues that affect us, to the creative visuals displayed in this example to the left. They are easily picked out among the collage of flyers that can be found all over Athens, especially uptown.


These are a few friends that have inspired me tonight.

I ask of you, Friends, who inspired you today?
What is your productive distraction?

For more on Controlled Folly, including show dates, visit:
http://www.controlledfolly.net/

More Ethan & the Imaginary Friends Flyers here:
Flyers Photo Album

Submit your own flyer artwork to HERE!


-Ethan

When the band gets paid for their performance in a keg of beer, it is nessesary for at least one band member to do a keg stand for 20 seconds or more, especially if the beer is a mystery.