Moab, and all the treasures it holds

I think it's interesting, that when you have less than usual, you appreciate what you do have a lot more. That attitude kind of summed up our trip to Moab this last weekend.

We've never been that good at preparations

when it comes to camping in general. I think

every camping trip we've been on we've forgotten

cutlery and bowls, among other things. We always tend to get tents that break down all the

time as well, along with not being able to find a place to camp and resorting to "stealing" designated camping areas.

Nonetheless, all of these miserable instances have made our camping trips that much more enjoyable. We can't help but laugh at all of our misfortunes on the road. It's the thrill of being away and on the road that keeps us going.

Brandon, Andrew, Jared, Shane, and I left around 10:00 p.m. Friday night, and arrived at around 1 in the morning. Someone decided that we should take Andrew's three seat truck and that two people would ride in the bed with about seven

blankets to keep themselves warm, while holding guitars and avoiding any detection from the cops.

Yeah, ton of fun.

When we arrived in Moab, we realized that we didn't even think of where to camp for the night. We approached a trail named "Hell's Revenge" and decided against it. We finally found a KOA-kind of place (the gate was open, and no one was in the office) and parked at a random open spot. We fought the wind and attempted, near unsuccessfully, to start a fire and cook tin foil dinners. While they were cooking, Brandon and I were trying to fix this damn tent with a broken pole and zipper. We eventually got it, ate our tin foil dinners and headed to bed.

The next morning, we left pretty early to avoid

any fees from the camping spot. It's pretty easy to steal a campground. We found a more

promising camp site by incredibly beautiful rock walls, paid for entry, and set up camp. We made

awesome hash browns and eggs, then headed to find some climbing spots.

Everything was beautiful. I was somehow daring enough to actually climb such a titan. I noticed some very interesting perspectives of the rocks, actually looking like entities of massive proportions. I got the inspiration for a drawing of Leviathan from one of these structures. It

was amazing. At the top of the structure, I felt like a hero of old who conquered that which he feared, and to be revered and respected only by himself, knowing that he can do anything. We took a few photos of the amazing, seemingly untouched world beyond.

After our climb, we headed to town for some

coffee. Following some decent chai tea and criticism of modern art, we went to the camp site and made a rather lavish dinner of rice, quesadillas, soup, and chicken and ate around a decently sized fire. Simply delicious. A kangaroo mouse kept running up to us and we fed him

some scraps, to which he would return to us for more. We named our new friend Grizabella.

We jammed a bit of an acoustic set with Andrew and Brandon on guitar and me on bongos. It

was pretty incredible. Ghost natives projected

through us as we played, and felt the true power of music. Unbiased, unrehearsed, nothing to prove, no one to impress. It's a good thing we played with such passion, because we woke up the next morning to my twelve string guitar having a large crack across the body, probably from the wood compressing because of the cold.

We packed up and went for one last climb before we left. We

found a gated area that was simply beyond beauty. It seemed like a step back into prehistoric times, where the primal man thrived, and everything was more... balanced. There were walls with carvings of people who visited in the past, various peace signs and dates of trips taken to this wonderland. A cave that had to have housed natives in centuries past loomed nearby, and we paid a visit. The echo inside was thunderous, in reminiscence of the voices spoke before its own.

Shane, Andrew, and Brandon climbed a formation that didn't promise a safe way down, but they made it nonetheless. We stumbled upon a little grotto with damp rocks; in a storm it would be flooded. I was curious to see such events, but we had to get going. We stopped at a burger join

t, and I enjoyed the best vegetarian burger in my life. A Western Barbeque Veggie burger. If that isn't an oxymoron, I don't know what is. Probably the greatest lunch I ever had. Brandon and I slept in the back on the way home. After a practical joke played by Shane and going down the wrong road for about an hour, we got on track and eventually made it home.

Art can be found anywhere. Anyone who says that art is considered anything made only by the

hands of man hasn't seen what we saw that weekend. To see a great distance of nature

untouched by mankind is an overwhelming sense of nostalgia, and I'm glad I shared it with my brothers.

Experiences like this are really what brings us closer together; to know that our eyes see the same and that we were able to witness such marvel.

Toooouuuurrr please

Lately, I've been wanting to go on tour. Very badly. I miss the open road, being with my brothers and sharing good times. We've only been on one tour, our move to Boston, but it was incredible nonetheless. It was a life changing experience for sure.

A combination of the last three shows we played and watching Coheed and Cambria's Neverender concert series is driving me insane. I don't want to stay in Utah. I want to live on the road, writing and jamming and sharing the good and bad times with everyone. Hopefully, if we do embark on a tour soon, it will be a full electric tour, as opposed to the acoustic tour we did last summer. Hopefully Justin can come, and hopefully we'll meet some really cool people.

Ahh man, good thing the Coheed show is coming up.

I've been having the idea of creating ambience with my bass. I've done it before, but sadly through my poor amplifier it doesn't work the way I would wish. I need a new bass cab, and maybe a few reverb pedals. I've also wanted to get a new lap steel guitar, preferably a 10 string, for extra ambience. We'll see how it works out.

A few days ago Brandon, Andrew and I played two tunes from our old days: "Act I: Copper and Steel" and "The Man With Guns For Arms", two of my favorite songs of all time. I remembered how to play them remarkably well, and it was amazing revisiting old songs. Hopefully they'll see the light of day soon.

We've got some crazy plans for the summer, including a few new releases. That'll do, pig.

The Murray Theater

Hey everyone,

Because of the technological advances in the last decade, convenience and comfort are a part of our daily life. A shame really, but then again it does help a lot. I created this blog as an online companion to a tour/band journal I keep, so the wonderful children of the internet can read up on Utah's favorite heathens.

Let's start with our show at the Murray Theater, March 5th, shall we?

March 5th

The Murray Theater

Setlist:

Ocean Jam

And So We Took

March of Leviathan

We were asked by the Murray to play a big local showcase that consisted of Eye Dee Kay, Mute Station, and touring band The Icarus Account, among a few others. I was excited to play this show, knowing that my favorite band Coheed and Cambria were playing the same stage in May. This was also our first big show (minus an open mic night at Muse) with Nate Butterfield, our new drummer.

We rehearsed almost every day for about three weeks for this show, deciding on setlists and working on Shane's amazing light show (Andrew and Shane bought a four hundred dollar laser, well worth the money). When we weren't practicing, I worked with my cousin Andrew Anderson and Photoshop wizard Kaleb Davis to finish the album artwork for the Memory Electric EP. It is always a great feeling to be so productive for what you love to do.

I arrived at the rehearsal space at around one o'clock. We rehearsed the set a few times, loaded up, and everyone left for the Murray Theater while Justin, Riun and I went to AMS to pick up our finished records.

Finally, after months of recording, mixing, and trying to find the money, we have the finished product. It's amazing for me to know that I've come so far in my journey, to record these ideas and music for others to enjoy. Just one step, children.

After some trouble with the venue owner concerning our light show, we set up our merch booth and hung out for the many hours before we were up (We were last on the bill, so we wouldn't be on until around 10:15 or so). Justin and I went for a nice walk around town, commenting on the convenient placement of a liquor store, a police station, and a hospital across the street from each other.

Andrew A. and I manned the merch booth for the majority of the show, on the aptly named"Cock Table". A few nice concert-goers purchased copies of the Memory EP hours before we performed.

While the last band played through their set, we were stretching and getting ready for our moment. We loaded everything on, the house lights went down, and FtE hit the opening notes to the "Ocean Jam".

A structured improv session, the Ocean Jam is a fraction of the massive "I Am The Ocean". The song went really smoothly. Shane's cool lights made the atmosphere, like we were in the ocean itself, cold and comforting.

The next song was also a new one, called "And So We Took...". An epic in its own right, I felt this, in particular, was the best played song of the night. Shane's topaz lighting during the island-jam near the end was incredible. Everything went well, minus a few things here and there. Maybe my bass was a little loud, but there isn't a lot of thought outside of the performing itself. We were in the moment, being who we are, no strings attached.

We closed with yet another new song, "March of Leviathan". Lasers a blazin', we stomped through the tune with steel boots. Nate lost a stick at one point, but recovered quickly. As the ambience played through my laptop cleared, we loaded everything off and went to celebrate.

By celebrate, I mean breakfast joint. My favorite place to be. Life doesn't matter to me when in the company of good friends and memories.

Sorry for the long description; I'll do better next time. I would tell you about the show last night, but I have to get ready for our show tonight. Maybe a little later I'll fill you in, because it was a good one.