Greetings!
Thanks for clicking the link. I’ll bet you’re wondering a few things: Who are we? Who am I? Why am I writing something? I have a pretty simple answer: I don’t know.
I sing and write music in some band called the Format (read more). We’re a rinky-dink little outfit from Phoenix, AZ. We’ve been around for something like four years. Maybe five, I dunno — I should do like most people who interview us and consult our bio, but then again, they never do either — and we have a couple of albums. One that we made when we were like, 12 or something (under the “guidance” of a bitchin’ major label who “guided” us into doing such bitchin’ things on the album as “making the songs higher octane” (?) and another record we released on our own label last summer called Dog Problems). So, like most bands are supposed to do (I think) we tour a lot. We’ve been very lucky to be a support band on a lot of tours, namely with bands we’ve never heard (but we always end up liking one song — it’s usually the hit) and we’ve done a few tours of our own. All in all, touring is a good time and it’s a near impossible task to get us to turn down a chance to travel across the country doing what we love to do. Just look at our track record. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, you did see us in Indiana, PA with that one band that had that one guy who did that one crazy thing with his instrument. We were that band that opened up for them, the one with the bearded guy who played an orange “piano.”
We love playing live, so fortunately a few months ago we were approached by Guster to be the main (and only) support on their spring tour. This was great news for us. Not only were we relieved to be going back out on tour, we were thrilled that it was with a band that we enjoy musically, and also envy the way they have built their career and approach this whole weird music business. This was a chance for us to maybe play in front of a different bunch of people. It really was a great breath of fresh air.
Also Read
Compact Discs: Sound of the Future
So, as the tour approached, we were informed that it was going to be mainly a college tour (always a good time; they always give you extra veggie burgers on your rider), and it was going to be a “green” tour. I’ll assume most of you know what that means (I was telling my neighbor who does a lot of different non-profit political work that we would be going on a “green tour” and she looked at me like I was a moron and said “I know what that means honey”) and if you don’t, please click here.
Anyways, this is a great thing for us because we like everyone, need to become more informed and better equipped to help this planet out. And not just down the road, but right now. I’d get into it a little more, but it’s something that you should read for yourself. If you don’t want to read the facts for yourself, then you can read the first hand experiences on becoming more environmental friendly from our guitarist Marko on his blog every Wednesday throughout the tour on SPIN.com.
I got the easy task: I’m just going to spend the next four or five Mondays of the tour telling you stories and talking myself up. So, I guess that’s why I’m here, to write a “blog.” Wait, I don’t want to call it a “blog.” A “close” friend of mine writes for a living, and she informed me more recently that “blogging” isn’t exactly the most credible way to write. So, to better credit myself (and I need all the credit I can get here) I am “skillfully typing on the interweb” about our tour experiences. Nothing so far that is really worth mentioning.
Oh wait, maybe one thing: did you know 12-year-old shirtless kids in random town Indiana are throwing around homophobic terms left and right to 25-year-old passersby? Yeah, I don’t make this stuff up, these are the things you get to see when you travel across the country for a living. Now, if only I would have been quicker on the draw with a witty response to those little punks (I’ve since come up with a handful of responses, but unfortunately I’m not sure what the censorship policy is on this website). So, until next Monday, when I have dozens of stories, take care.
–Nate
On the Web:
theformat.com
Campus Consciousness Tour website
Now Watch This: The Format – “She Doesn’t Get It”
