OI MATES.
Well, it's been another four months since I last updated this. Three months since we last practiced lol (that's about to change tonight). Whatever.
I hope that you, dear reader, have somehow had a fabulous 2016. I'm noticing the recent social media trend of hopefulness and what not for 2017, which is nice, albeit probably misguided. Who am I kidding though? I start counseling next week, hoping to better myself and get on a path to fixing my broken fucking brain, which in turn will help me become more productive (Fitter, Happier). I'm hoping to quit smoking again. So I guess the hope bug has me in its pincers a little bit too. Better than the alternative. I think?
2017 will see Cloud Rat releasing a shitload of material over five split records throughout the year, as well as touring a bit here and there, with one big one in the summer. We had to cancel our Australia/SE Asia and Europe plans due to financial and scheduling issues. Of course! I'm really not sure how to make crazy stuff like that happen anymore. We need to make a lot more money doing this in order for that kind of thing to work out. BIG HAHA THERE HUH? Nah, it'll all happen someday. Just slower and less frequent than I'd like. Anyways, here's what's on the books:
1/27: 1FEST NYC @ Silent Barn w/ ACxDC, Backslider, Die Choking, Escuela, Goolagoon, Grindmother, Chepang, Death Vacation, Sick Shit
Doors at 7, Show @ 8
Ticket link:http://prekindle.com/promo/id/24796391415925837
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1310349812343559/
1/28: 1FEST Syracuse @ The Warehouse w/ ACxDC, Die Choking, Escuela, Goolagoon, Grindmother, Dyalisis, Meth mouth, Street Feet, Media Limits, Hallucination Realized, Zooters
ticket link: http://prekindle.com/promo/id/24796391416515114
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/185335798552783/
1/29: 1FEST BOSTON @ Hardcore Stadium w/ ACxDC, Die Choking, Escuela, Goolagoon, Grindmother, Ascend/Descend, Suffer on Acid, Lunglust, D-Sagawa
ticket link: http://prekindle.com/promo/id/24796391416514813
FB Event:https://www.facebook.com/events/1593787314256580/
2/11: RORIK'S 30TH BIRTHDAY CLUSTERFUCK
*4PM All Ages Matinee show @ The Hall of Heroes comic shop (1620 S Mission St, Suite P. Mt Pleasant, MI 48858) w/ Disrotted, Phoolan Devi, One More TBA. $5-$8 Sliding Scale Suggested Donation.
*9PM 21+ show @ Rubbles Bar (112 W Michigan St, Mt Pleasant, MI 48858) w/ Disrotted, Choose Your Poison, Lowhangers, One More TBA. $8-$10 Sliding Scale Door.
4/1: TBA AWESOME MIDWEST GIG
6/26 - 7/23: HUGE TOUR TBA
Late October: FEST AND SMALL TOUR TBA.
That's about it for 2017, aside from hopefully a string of local MI gigs and some one-offs here and there. Keep ya eyes peeeeeled. I, personally, would like to do some more short weekends with friends but it's hard. All of our schedules and financial sitches are fucked. Not to mention our collective mental illnesses. UGH.
I think our release schedule is going to go something like:
split 7" w/ Crevasse - March
split LP w/ Moloch - April
split LP w/ The World Is A Vampire - May
split LP w/ Disrotted - June
split 7" w/ Test (tentative) - Fall.
Over an hour of new material that we are reeeeeeally stoked on. There are talks of maybe even doing a music video, after all these years. We'll see. LOTS OF SHIT HOLY FUCK TOO MUCH WORK.
Hails. Stay up.
Love,
Whiskey Dad
Friday, December 30, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
Life. Grind. Death. Love. Decay. Liberation.
Oi loves. Hope y'all are well.
Recording so far is going INCREDIBLY well. Check out https://www.facebook.com/lakebottom/ and
https://lakebottomrecordinghouse.bandcamp.com/. Pals in bands: I cannot recommend JC strongly enough. Easy to work with and is doing great fucking work. Do it.
Cloud Rat merch is online now at Dead Tank Records. Check it!
http://deadtankrecords.com/collections/cloud-rat
Our tour with Wolves In The Throne Room is starting so soon. Can't wait to see so many pals. Here are the dates:
9/10 Buffalo, NY @ Adam Mickiewicz Library - Buffalo Bitchfest *
Recording so far is going INCREDIBLY well. Check out https://www.facebook.com/lakebottom/ and
https://lakebottomrecordinghouse.bandcamp.com/. Pals in bands: I cannot recommend JC strongly enough. Easy to work with and is doing great fucking work. Do it.
Cloud Rat merch is online now at Dead Tank Records. Check it!
http://deadtankrecords.com/collections/cloud-rat
Our tour with Wolves In The Throne Room is starting so soon. Can't wait to see so many pals. Here are the dates:
9/10 Buffalo, NY @ Adam Mickiewicz Library - Buffalo Bitchfest *
9/11 Manhattan, NY @ The Marlin Room at Webster Hall - geni.us/WITTRnyc09112016
9/12 Elizabeth, NJ @ Cianfano's Bar - Fall Fuckfacetival **
9/12 Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus Bar w/ Anicon - Sold out.
9/13 Long Island, NY @ Shakers Pub w/ False Gods, Kids Having Kids, Haagenti - https://www.facebook.com/events/932859053526206/ *
9/14 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia w/ Sabbath Assembly - geni.us/WITTRfoundry09142016
9/15 Washington DC @ Smash Records w/ Brainpan, Ethan Lee McCarthy - https://www.facebook.com/events/161615577604118/ **
9/15 Washington, DC @ DC9 Nightclub w/ Cobalt - geni.us/WITTRdc09152016
9/16 Baltimore, MD @ Barclay House w/ TRIAC, Enemy Insects, Neck Breather - https://www.facebook.com/events/1414295481919949/ *
9/17 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter w/ Cemetery Piss - geni.us/WITTRrva09172016
9/18 Atlanta, GA @ The EARL - geni.us/WITTRatlanta09182016
9/19 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa w/ Thou - https://www.facebook.com/events/1082872028474222/
9/20 Austin, TX @ Barracuda Lounge w/ Sabbath Assembly - geni.us/WITTRaustin09202016
9/21 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada w/ Sabbath Assembly - geni.us/WITTRdallas09212016
9/22 Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room - geni.us/WITTRkansas09222016
9/23 Chicago, IL @ TCC Chicago w/ Disrotted, Clotting - https://www.facebook.com/events/205794516485082/ **
9/23 Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle w/ DJ Adam Luksetich - Sold out.
9/24 Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace - geni.us/WITTRtoronto09242016
9/25 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa (POP Montreal) - geni.us/WITTRmontreall09252016
* No WITTR
** Matinee Show, No WITTR
Cheers! See so many of you very soon, wwwwoooooooooo love y'all,
-CR
* No WITTR
** Matinee Show, No WITTR
Cheers! See so many of you very soon, wwwwoooooooooo love y'all,
-CR
Friday, August 12, 2016
The Arcane Oath
OI!
Hope y'all have been well. Tour with Closet Burner last month was great, lots of staring into the void, and many misanthropic feelings were had. Thanks so much to all the promoters and friends and venues and bands and drugs for hanging out in the hot hot heat with us.
Currently bumming that I'm not in Olympia at Migration Fest with all the homies. Sending much love that way.
Next up: recording at Lakebottom and then tour with Wolves in the Throne Room and then more recording. Will post a real update soon with merch and all of our tour dates, including matinees and one-offs, for the rest of the year. Cheers friends.
P.S. Check out our pals in Disrotted, they got a fucking killer new record out. I picked up the LP recently and FUCK does it make you so sad. Get it. https://disrotted.bandcamp.com/album/divination
-WD
Hope y'all have been well. Tour with Closet Burner last month was great, lots of staring into the void, and many misanthropic feelings were had. Thanks so much to all the promoters and friends and venues and bands and drugs for hanging out in the hot hot heat with us.
Currently bumming that I'm not in Olympia at Migration Fest with all the homies. Sending much love that way.
Next up: recording at Lakebottom and then tour with Wolves in the Throne Room and then more recording. Will post a real update soon with merch and all of our tour dates, including matinees and one-offs, for the rest of the year. Cheers friends.
P.S. Check out our pals in Disrotted, they got a fucking killer new record out. I picked up the LP recently and FUCK does it make you so sad. Get it. https://disrotted.bandcamp.com/album/divination
-WD
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Eternally Committed To The Void
So much to update and say, I don't really know where to start.
Tour with Ferals was so good, and a lot of fun. BFFs. Great shows, great times. Also brutally hot and no sleep fucking EVER. Thanks to all the lovely folks we got to see and hang out with and shit. TEST, WHAT A FUCKING BAND WOAH. Expect a split with them in the future. Seven-One Grind Fest was so killer, apologies to anyone who saw me all fucked up later on Friday night (Full of Hell dudes, Brandon, Thou folks, Bell Witch folks, Brandon Rat, uber driver, sorry y'all), yikes my bad. Milwaukee is officially home base number two. Annnnnd Drugs rule, mmkay?
I guess I'll get the bad news out of the way now... we have a number of cancellations and schedule changes. It really sucks to have to do this, and at this point I'm afraid we might have a bit of a stigma for such things, but it is what it is. :(
Summary: Appearances at Discontent Fest this weekend and at False 5 Year Anniversary gig August 27th both cancelled. West Coast and AustraliAsia tours both pushed back to 2017. For more info/reasons, read the next bit. If you don't care, skip ahead to the next-next chunk of words.
Our slot on Discontent Fest this weekend: cancelled due to one of our members having some serious health/wellbeing issues. I'm not going to divulge, but please, if you have a moment, send us some positive lovey vibes, they are much needed and sincerely appreciated. So yeah, so sorry to Tony, everyone else helping with the fest, sorry to Dakhma who we were going to share a vehicle with, all of the bands and our friends who we were all so much looking forward to hanging and partying with. We will make it up to y'all any way we can. :(
We have to cancel our appearance with False for their five-year anniversary show in Minneapolis on August 27th. SUPER FUCKING BUMMED. This is due to a scheduling issue that unfortunately could not be resolved. We tried everything to make it work, but it's just a fucked weekend. Sorry to our lovers in False and to all of our Minneapolis pals, we want to be there so bad uggghhhh. We will also make this up to y'all anyway we can. :(
We are pushing our September West Coast tour back to 2017. This sounds bad, but is actually for a very good, positive reason. I can't announce the info yet, y'all will know in a couple weeks. West Coast tour will most CERTAINLY be happening next year, and it will be a stacked fuckin tour. And we will hit Minneapolis on that one as well, so all good there.
We are also pushing the New Zealand / Australia / SE Asia / Japan tour back to 2017 as well. This is due to a couple things: Skelptarsis broke up (RIP), and with the health and scheduling issues already plaguing us this year, we figured it would be best to give some time to breathe and save money and shit. It is definitely still happening as well though, and Europe will be around the corner from that again too. :)
In other, better news, our tour with Closet Burner is still happening and is all booked, very stoked. Here is the thingy for that, check it, share it, blah blah blah. Thanks Zach Maatman for the drawing and thank myself for the handwritten junk/flyer layout, thank Madison for the idea. We wanted to have something not so foreboding and grim for the tour poster this time around, the world has so much fucked up shit happening constantly, needed some light for a change.
We are still on track to record in August and October. There is an insane tour to be announced for September, and another couple really fucking amazing things in the works for next year. Merch store is pretty much depleted, so I gotta get on that, maybe it's time to have Josh Deadtank handle it. I'll get on that. Haven't even written him, just posting thoughts now. LOL.
Alright, I'm done ranting. Thanks everyone who has been supporting us via online merch, digital sales, coming to shows, etc etc. The help is just fucking amazing and much needed and appreciated. Keep each other close, be kind and loving and respectful and fuckin cool. Cheers.
Love, Whiskey Dad
Tour with Ferals was so good, and a lot of fun. BFFs. Great shows, great times. Also brutally hot and no sleep fucking EVER. Thanks to all the lovely folks we got to see and hang out with and shit. TEST, WHAT A FUCKING BAND WOAH. Expect a split with them in the future. Seven-One Grind Fest was so killer, apologies to anyone who saw me all fucked up later on Friday night (Full of Hell dudes, Brandon, Thou folks, Bell Witch folks, Brandon Rat, uber driver, sorry y'all), yikes my bad. Milwaukee is officially home base number two. Annnnnd Drugs rule, mmkay?
I guess I'll get the bad news out of the way now... we have a number of cancellations and schedule changes. It really sucks to have to do this, and at this point I'm afraid we might have a bit of a stigma for such things, but it is what it is. :(
Summary: Appearances at Discontent Fest this weekend and at False 5 Year Anniversary gig August 27th both cancelled. West Coast and AustraliAsia tours both pushed back to 2017. For more info/reasons, read the next bit. If you don't care, skip ahead to the next-next chunk of words.
Our slot on Discontent Fest this weekend: cancelled due to one of our members having some serious health/wellbeing issues. I'm not going to divulge, but please, if you have a moment, send us some positive lovey vibes, they are much needed and sincerely appreciated. So yeah, so sorry to Tony, everyone else helping with the fest, sorry to Dakhma who we were going to share a vehicle with, all of the bands and our friends who we were all so much looking forward to hanging and partying with. We will make it up to y'all any way we can. :(
We have to cancel our appearance with False for their five-year anniversary show in Minneapolis on August 27th. SUPER FUCKING BUMMED. This is due to a scheduling issue that unfortunately could not be resolved. We tried everything to make it work, but it's just a fucked weekend. Sorry to our lovers in False and to all of our Minneapolis pals, we want to be there so bad uggghhhh. We will also make this up to y'all anyway we can. :(
We are pushing our September West Coast tour back to 2017. This sounds bad, but is actually for a very good, positive reason. I can't announce the info yet, y'all will know in a couple weeks. West Coast tour will most CERTAINLY be happening next year, and it will be a stacked fuckin tour. And we will hit Minneapolis on that one as well, so all good there.
We are also pushing the New Zealand / Australia / SE Asia / Japan tour back to 2017 as well. This is due to a couple things: Skelptarsis broke up (RIP), and with the health and scheduling issues already plaguing us this year, we figured it would be best to give some time to breathe and save money and shit. It is definitely still happening as well though, and Europe will be around the corner from that again too. :)
In other, better news, our tour with Closet Burner is still happening and is all booked, very stoked. Here is the thingy for that, check it, share it, blah blah blah. Thanks Zach Maatman for the drawing and thank myself for the handwritten junk/flyer layout, thank Madison for the idea. We wanted to have something not so foreboding and grim for the tour poster this time around, the world has so much fucked up shit happening constantly, needed some light for a change.
We are still on track to record in August and October. There is an insane tour to be announced for September, and another couple really fucking amazing things in the works for next year. Merch store is pretty much depleted, so I gotta get on that, maybe it's time to have Josh Deadtank handle it. I'll get on that. Haven't even written him, just posting thoughts now. LOL.
Alright, I'm done ranting. Thanks everyone who has been supporting us via online merch, digital sales, coming to shows, etc etc. The help is just fucking amazing and much needed and appreciated. Keep each other close, be kind and loving and respectful and fuckin cool. Cheers.
Love, Whiskey Dad
Monday, May 30, 2016
Bordello of Blood
We leave for tour with Ferals on Wednesday. Will be playing some shit that we've never played live before, as well as two BRAND NEW songs. We practiced at my partner and I's newly purchased home yesterday (woah. Dad life just hit hard), and it ruled. Very excited, feeling good about the current chemistry.
Bunch of represses coming soon, Self-Titled LP, Moksha LP, and Autarkeia split 7". All on color vinyl, something we haven't done much of.
Recording for all of our new records starts August 19th. Working on all of the material and some covers lately, and its going swimmingly.
July tour with Closet Burner is being booked currently, September West Coast is still in the planning stages, New Zealand/Australia/SE Asia/Japan tour is coming along a bit. Lots happening, can't keep up, as per usual.
We added a show in August, the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of our dearest friends, FALSE. In Minneapolis, don't miss that one. So wild that it's already been that long since we became best pals with them and Thou. Speaking of those bands, 2017 might have something pretty fucking insane happening, involving them and a couple other close pals... Can't reveal anytime soon, but I promise. FUCKIN STOKED.
Alright, I gotta go. Probably forgetting stuff, sorry. Love y'all much, see you on the road.
Cheers.
-WD
Friday, March 18, 2016
Pulp Macabre
Ay! Quick updates!
We scheduled recording time in August. This material will be for multiple splits, with Moloch (UK), Disrotted (Chicago), The World Is A Vampire (NOLA), and Crevasse (Germany/Netherlands). We are writing a bunch, and are working on a lot of different ideas for making all of the material unique. Very excited.
We are touring with our Appleton pals FERALS in June 1st - 12th, out to 71 Grind Fest, down to Texas and back. Then Discontent fest late June. Then Florida tour in July (is that a bad idea due to heat? Should we go to west coast in July then FL in september? email thoughts to cloudratgrind@gmail.com please and thanks). Then West Coast in September. Then New Zealand/Australia/SE Asia/Japan in Nov/Dec with our pals Skelptarsis. LOTS OF SHIT HAPPENING HOLY FUCK.
For our North American booking now, contact brandt@hexagrambooking.com .
More updates and news and email answerings when I have time. Pick up the new SEVEN INCHES TO FREEDOM #13. It's good. http://sitfzine.storenvy.com/
Scroll down for some pics of the weekend and little tour write up thingy.
Sorry, will find photo credits soon.
Last weekend was killer. Thanks to everyone involved. And thanks to my Mom, my sister, and my partner all for coming along for the first couple days. Fun times!
Most every band we played with ripped at every show (the lineup of the Brooklyn show was FUCKING RIDICULOUS and everyone slayed so fucking hard), great to hang with and meet so many awesome folks, old and new friends.
The whole weekend actually started out pretty wonky though. We were running behind of course. The Pittsburgh venue changed kinda last minute (for no apparent reason), and the new venue ended up being DIRECTLY next door to a police department. I mean, the parking in front of the venue where we loaded was literally "police parking only". By the end of the show, there were at least 15 cop cars parked all around, cops with AR-15s, the works. I was really confused during this entire gig. The last time we were going to play Pittsburgh with Pig Destroyer and Full of Hell, we dropped the show due to Black Lives Matter protesters boycotting (rightfully so) the venue because of racist shit the promoter/owner had been spouting online. The same person who contacted us and gave us all the info which ultimately fueled our decision to drop, was the same person who set us up with this gig. I fail to see how that is a safe space, or is in any way OK to have a punk show there, let alone the cognitive dissonance between boycotting one venue in solidarity with BLM, but then supporting and spending time at another one with tons of police activity around... I dunno. Then we were rushed as fuck and our set got cut in half because the venue closed at 10, local band played a long set right before us, etc. Just weird. Thanks to the few folks who DID come out and watch our short set. Next time we are in Pittsburgh hopefully will be a lot smoother.
Brooklyn show was one of the best shows I've ever been too, let alone played. Music Hall of Williamsburg is a great venue with a ton of awesome folks working there. Full of Hell were absolutely devastating. Basically a free-jazz-noise-death metal set. Dropdead were so fucking powerful to watch (I'd never seen them yet, so glad to finally). Mother Brain are some of my new favorite folks and a killer grind unit. And then PD of course were fantastic. Super nasty sounding. The ignorance level of the crowd reached a pretty awful crescendo at some points, but folks seemed to be having a blast so more power to em. I brought my mom onstage to watch PD, so rad.
Stayed with bff Brandt who is now doing Hexagram Booking. Drank too much cheap booze until the wee hours, and ate some yummy eggplant/tofu concoctions. Thanks bb.
ABC No Rio gig ruled, Hell Mary are a great band with really nice folks in it. We missed Soul Glo but get to catch them in June. One of our bffs Jonia joined us in the van for a bit but then decided to stay behind in NY. Unfortunately we had to split to make it to Baltimore somewhat on-time for show number two, at which Dave (another bff, van driver/merch slanger) was yelled at by multiple cops at once for parking in a city spot, I dunno. Baltimore gig ruled, got to hang with Dan SPHC at his beautiful home. Sorry for the late as fuck drunkenness bubby.
DC was killer. Every band had at least one woman, which is super important and needs to happen far more often. Thanks for putting the show together Hasan. Bidet has one of the coolest/nastiest shirts ever (knife up the vape daddy anus, beautiful). Gouge Away rules. There was some weird pit beef during our set, which I didn't see happen. Madison told everyone to chill. Cool.
We stayed with another BFF and vegan warrior Rachel. We all bought too many records and books in Baltimore and DC (Dave and Brandon got a bunch in NY too, silly), then ate some of the best pizza ever.
Then drove to Columbus super late to the show, which lasted until forever in the morning, we got covered in mud, then drove home and got back at like 9AM (Brandon even later?). Then work and kids and stuff. Exhausting. One of those "Why the fuck am I still doing this?" nights.
That happens often. I love punk. It's important. And it's important to me.
But also, sometimes it sucks. It's basically like paying for an internship, that will probably never actually payoff monetarily, but you get to live life and do a lot of cool things and meet great people, so you do it anyways. PUNK INTERNS FTW.
But really though. Expensive, draining, lots of pain and anxiety interspersed with moments of euphoria and enlightenment. Punk sounds/feels like a drug addiction. I'm sure the parallel has been drawn many times, I'm just feeling it more than ever now. The duality of trying to remain creative, driven and somewhat dangerous to the status quo, while trying to enjoy life and spend time with friends and family without constantly being broke and miserable and antagonistic towards "the system" and what not. Ranting now, sorry.
Cheers & love,
Whiskey Dad
We scheduled recording time in August. This material will be for multiple splits, with Moloch (UK), Disrotted (Chicago), The World Is A Vampire (NOLA), and Crevasse (Germany/Netherlands). We are writing a bunch, and are working on a lot of different ideas for making all of the material unique. Very excited.
We are touring with our Appleton pals FERALS in June 1st - 12th, out to 71 Grind Fest, down to Texas and back. Then Discontent fest late June. Then Florida tour in July (is that a bad idea due to heat? Should we go to west coast in July then FL in september? email thoughts to cloudratgrind@gmail.com please and thanks). Then West Coast in September. Then New Zealand/Australia/SE Asia/Japan in Nov/Dec with our pals Skelptarsis. LOTS OF SHIT HAPPENING HOLY FUCK.
For our North American booking now, contact brandt@hexagrambooking.com .
More updates and news and email answerings when I have time. Pick up the new SEVEN INCHES TO FREEDOM #13. It's good. http://sitfzine.storenvy.com/
Scroll down for some pics of the weekend and little tour write up thingy.
Sorry, will find photo credits soon.
Last weekend was killer. Thanks to everyone involved. And thanks to my Mom, my sister, and my partner all for coming along for the first couple days. Fun times!
Most every band we played with ripped at every show (the lineup of the Brooklyn show was FUCKING RIDICULOUS and everyone slayed so fucking hard), great to hang with and meet so many awesome folks, old and new friends.
The whole weekend actually started out pretty wonky though. We were running behind of course. The Pittsburgh venue changed kinda last minute (for no apparent reason), and the new venue ended up being DIRECTLY next door to a police department. I mean, the parking in front of the venue where we loaded was literally "police parking only". By the end of the show, there were at least 15 cop cars parked all around, cops with AR-15s, the works. I was really confused during this entire gig. The last time we were going to play Pittsburgh with Pig Destroyer and Full of Hell, we dropped the show due to Black Lives Matter protesters boycotting (rightfully so) the venue because of racist shit the promoter/owner had been spouting online. The same person who contacted us and gave us all the info which ultimately fueled our decision to drop, was the same person who set us up with this gig. I fail to see how that is a safe space, or is in any way OK to have a punk show there, let alone the cognitive dissonance between boycotting one venue in solidarity with BLM, but then supporting and spending time at another one with tons of police activity around... I dunno. Then we were rushed as fuck and our set got cut in half because the venue closed at 10, local band played a long set right before us, etc. Just weird. Thanks to the few folks who DID come out and watch our short set. Next time we are in Pittsburgh hopefully will be a lot smoother.
Brooklyn show was one of the best shows I've ever been too, let alone played. Music Hall of Williamsburg is a great venue with a ton of awesome folks working there. Full of Hell were absolutely devastating. Basically a free-jazz-noise-death metal set. Dropdead were so fucking powerful to watch (I'd never seen them yet, so glad to finally). Mother Brain are some of my new favorite folks and a killer grind unit. And then PD of course were fantastic. Super nasty sounding. The ignorance level of the crowd reached a pretty awful crescendo at some points, but folks seemed to be having a blast so more power to em. I brought my mom onstage to watch PD, so rad.
Stayed with bff Brandt who is now doing Hexagram Booking. Drank too much cheap booze until the wee hours, and ate some yummy eggplant/tofu concoctions. Thanks bb.
ABC No Rio gig ruled, Hell Mary are a great band with really nice folks in it. We missed Soul Glo but get to catch them in June. One of our bffs Jonia joined us in the van for a bit but then decided to stay behind in NY. Unfortunately we had to split to make it to Baltimore somewhat on-time for show number two, at which Dave (another bff, van driver/merch slanger) was yelled at by multiple cops at once for parking in a city spot, I dunno. Baltimore gig ruled, got to hang with Dan SPHC at his beautiful home. Sorry for the late as fuck drunkenness bubby.
DC was killer. Every band had at least one woman, which is super important and needs to happen far more often. Thanks for putting the show together Hasan. Bidet has one of the coolest/nastiest shirts ever (knife up the vape daddy anus, beautiful). Gouge Away rules. There was some weird pit beef during our set, which I didn't see happen. Madison told everyone to chill. Cool.
We stayed with another BFF and vegan warrior Rachel. We all bought too many records and books in Baltimore and DC (Dave and Brandon got a bunch in NY too, silly), then ate some of the best pizza ever.
Then drove to Columbus super late to the show, which lasted until forever in the morning, we got covered in mud, then drove home and got back at like 9AM (Brandon even later?). Then work and kids and stuff. Exhausting. One of those "Why the fuck am I still doing this?" nights.
That happens often. I love punk. It's important. And it's important to me.
But also, sometimes it sucks. It's basically like paying for an internship, that will probably never actually payoff monetarily, but you get to live life and do a lot of cool things and meet great people, so you do it anyways. PUNK INTERNS FTW.
But really though. Expensive, draining, lots of pain and anxiety interspersed with moments of euphoria and enlightenment. Punk sounds/feels like a drug addiction. I'm sure the parallel has been drawn many times, I'm just feeling it more than ever now. The duality of trying to remain creative, driven and somewhat dangerous to the status quo, while trying to enjoy life and spend time with friends and family without constantly being broke and miserable and antagonistic towards "the system" and what not. Ranting now, sorry.
Cheers & love,
Whiskey Dad
Friday, February 5, 2016
Fallen From Grace
Last weekend was so good. Horribly painful, physically. But that didn't matter, because it felt so wonderful to be back playing again after six months. The shows ripped. Friendships were strengthened. Good times. Now I just gotta get back into fucking shape, because that weekend hurt. Haha. Lots of awesome stuff coming up. Shows, records, new help with booking, etc.
2016 So Far:
Jan 28th @ The Firehouse in Grand Rapids, MI w/ Dakhma, Boddicker, Great Reversals, Discarnate - https://www.facebook.com/events/1651520591786418/
Jan 29/30th Fall From Grace Fest @ Quarters & Frank's Power Plant in Milwaukee, WI. We play day two at Frank's -https://www.facebook.com/events/874854232629345/ & https://www.facebook.com/events/1524010064585250/
Jan 31st @ Walter Planet in Chicago, IL with Sick/Tired, Sea of Shit, Hate - https://www.facebook.com/events/764435153668610/
Feb 21st @ Marble Bar in Detroit, MI w/ Bell Witch and Wrekmeister Harmonies - https://www.facebook.com/events/215013922174269/
March 2nd PREserker Fest @ Small's in Detroit, MI - https://www.facebook.com/events/1721174474769564/
March 10th - Pittsburgh, PA @ TBA
March 11th @ Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY w/ Pig Destroyer, Dropdead, Full of Hell, Mother Brain - https://www.facebook.com/events/927434000673983/
March 12th @ ABC No Rio in Manhattan, NY (Matinee) with Gouge Away, Soul Glo, Hell Mary - https://www.facebook.com/events/745128372254873/
March 12th @ Sidebar in Baltimore, MD with Noisem, Sangharsha, Sunrot, Inertia, Musket Hawk - https://www.facebook.com/events/1090506744306695/
March 13th @ The Pinch in Washington D.C. with Gouge Away, Claw, Wet Brain, Bidet - https://www.facebook.com/events/1623307167932531/
March 14th - Cleveland, OH @ TBA
April 9th @ Trumbullplex in Detroit, MI w/ Closet Burner and Social Werq - https://www.facebook.com/events/1692981564249123/
April 21st - London / Kitchener, ON
April 22nd - Montreal, QC @ TBA
April 23rd - Quebec City, QC
April 24th - Toronto, ON @ D-Beatstro
May 28th - Cincinnati, OH
Summer Tour TBA -
June 1st -
June 2nd -
June 3rd/4th - 71 Grind Fest in Colorado Springs, CO - https://www.facebook.com/events/191061104573016/
June 5th -
June 6th -
June 7th -
June 8th -
June 9th -
June 10th -
June 11th -
June 12th -
June 26th - Peoria, IL
2016 So Far:
Jan 28th @ The Firehouse in Grand Rapids, MI w/ Dakhma, Boddicker, Great Reversals, Discarnate - https://www.facebook.com/events/1651520591786418/
Jan 29/30th Fall From Grace Fest @ Quarters & Frank's Power Plant in Milwaukee, WI. We play day two at Frank's -https://www.facebook.com/events/874854232629345/ & https://www.facebook.com/events/1524010064585250/
Jan 31st @ Walter Planet in Chicago, IL with Sick/Tired, Sea of Shit, Hate - https://www.facebook.com/events/764435153668610/
Feb 21st @ Marble Bar in Detroit, MI w/ Bell Witch and Wrekmeister Harmonies - https://www.facebook.com/events/215013922174269/
March 2nd PREserker Fest @ Small's in Detroit, MI - https://www.facebook.com/events/1721174474769564/
March 10th - Pittsburgh, PA @ TBA
March 11th @ Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY w/ Pig Destroyer, Dropdead, Full of Hell, Mother Brain - https://www.facebook.com/events/927434000673983/
March 12th @ ABC No Rio in Manhattan, NY (Matinee) with Gouge Away, Soul Glo, Hell Mary - https://www.facebook.com/events/745128372254873/
March 12th @ Sidebar in Baltimore, MD with Noisem, Sangharsha, Sunrot, Inertia, Musket Hawk - https://www.facebook.com/events/1090506744306695/
March 13th @ The Pinch in Washington D.C. with Gouge Away, Claw, Wet Brain, Bidet - https://www.facebook.com/events/1623307167932531/
March 14th - Cleveland, OH @ TBA
April 9th @ Trumbullplex in Detroit, MI w/ Closet Burner and Social Werq - https://www.facebook.com/events/1692981564249123/
April 21st - London / Kitchener, ON
April 22nd - Montreal, QC @ TBA
April 23rd - Quebec City, QC
April 24th - Toronto, ON @ D-Beatstro
May 28th - Cincinnati, OH
Summer Tour TBA -
June 1st -
June 2nd -
June 3rd/4th - 71 Grind Fest in Colorado Springs, CO - https://www.facebook.com/events/191061104573016/
June 5th -
June 6th -
June 7th -
June 8th -
June 9th -
June 10th -
June 11th -
June 12th -
June 26th - Peoria, IL
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Friends with Death
Jamuary 14th, 2016. First blog post in SEVEN MONTHS. I think that is a record amount of ineptness for us.
1. We're all bad at the internet (ehh Brandon is pretty good but is also dying).
2. We're all busy as hell outside of this band.
3. It was a rough time for a while after the summer 2015 Euro tour.
Where to start??
The tour was good, gig wise, and of course there was a lot of fun had. Lots of great shows and great friends. Other than that though, it was Long. Strenuous. Exhausting. Hot. Brutal. Financially Destructive. And ultimately was almost the end for Cloud Rat.
Tensions were high for the whole tour. What can I say... it is what it is.
Who am I kidding? Tensions had been high for a long time. All throughout writing and recording Qliphoth, before and after, shit was hard to keep together. I mean fuck, it still is.
Anyways, many of you probably already know, but for those that don't, Adrian isn't playing in CR anymore. You can still catch him with Old Soul and his many other music projects. We wish him all the best health and love in future things.
So now we are back to a three piece. Brandon is playing drums, and we have yet to figure out how we are going to incorporate the noise/electronics in the live setting. We are working on it though. CR did fine for five years without live electronics, so why not again for a little while til we get it sorted.
Qliphoth has gotten a lot of love. It's a pretty great feeling, and I don't really know the words to convey how much it means to us that the record seems to have resonated well with a lot of folks. The process of recording that record was grueling, to say the least. Not the engineering or performance (JC is a dream to work with, Lakebottom Studios for life) or anything, just surrounding circumstances.
It's become agonizingly apparent that everyone in CR suffers from chronic mental illness of some sort. And dealing with all of the crazy shit that life has thrown this past couple years has been especially taxing. So many deaths and disasters and clusterfucks.
So I just want to say, thank you to everyone who has been patient and kind and helpful. And sorry to anyone who has been rubbed the wrong way or forgotten/left hanging, or in some way let down by us. You deserve better. Don't hesitate to email (cloudratgrind@gmail.com) if you have anything you want to say or ask or what not. I know that there is a hilarious common thread since this band started of me continually apologizing for being behind on emails and messages and interviews and everything. I fucking suck at all of this shit. Trying my best, but there is so much going on always. Especially now with two kiddos and everyone getting older with harder schedules to work around. But I'm gonna keep trying.
On that note, currently working on getting organized again for real. I just updated the blog (bunch of dates, new videos, a bio, drugs of faith split lyrics and streaming). Next up is answering a ton of emails and messages, then THE GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING WEBSTORE that I've mentioned for about three years now, and never put up. Fuck.
So, hopefully will be seeing many of y'all at upcoming gigs and we can hang out and be friends again. We are sloooooowly writing and discussing future records and junk. Grind til death.
Cheers. - Whiskey
1. We're all bad at the internet (ehh Brandon is pretty good but is also dying).
2. We're all busy as hell outside of this band.
3. It was a rough time for a while after the summer 2015 Euro tour.
Where to start??
The tour was good, gig wise, and of course there was a lot of fun had. Lots of great shows and great friends. Other than that though, it was Long. Strenuous. Exhausting. Hot. Brutal. Financially Destructive. And ultimately was almost the end for Cloud Rat.
Tensions were high for the whole tour. What can I say... it is what it is.
Who am I kidding? Tensions had been high for a long time. All throughout writing and recording Qliphoth, before and after, shit was hard to keep together. I mean fuck, it still is.
Anyways, many of you probably already know, but for those that don't, Adrian isn't playing in CR anymore. You can still catch him with Old Soul and his many other music projects. We wish him all the best health and love in future things.
So now we are back to a three piece. Brandon is playing drums, and we have yet to figure out how we are going to incorporate the noise/electronics in the live setting. We are working on it though. CR did fine for five years without live electronics, so why not again for a little while til we get it sorted.
Qliphoth has gotten a lot of love. It's a pretty great feeling, and I don't really know the words to convey how much it means to us that the record seems to have resonated well with a lot of folks. The process of recording that record was grueling, to say the least. Not the engineering or performance (JC is a dream to work with, Lakebottom Studios for life) or anything, just surrounding circumstances.
It's become agonizingly apparent that everyone in CR suffers from chronic mental illness of some sort. And dealing with all of the crazy shit that life has thrown this past couple years has been especially taxing. So many deaths and disasters and clusterfucks.
So I just want to say, thank you to everyone who has been patient and kind and helpful. And sorry to anyone who has been rubbed the wrong way or forgotten/left hanging, or in some way let down by us. You deserve better. Don't hesitate to email (cloudratgrind@gmail.com) if you have anything you want to say or ask or what not. I know that there is a hilarious common thread since this band started of me continually apologizing for being behind on emails and messages and interviews and everything. I fucking suck at all of this shit. Trying my best, but there is so much going on always. Especially now with two kiddos and everyone getting older with harder schedules to work around. But I'm gonna keep trying.
On that note, currently working on getting organized again for real. I just updated the blog (bunch of dates, new videos, a bio, drugs of faith split lyrics and streaming). Next up is answering a ton of emails and messages, then THE GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING WEBSTORE that I've mentioned for about three years now, and never put up. Fuck.
So, hopefully will be seeing many of y'all at upcoming gigs and we can hang out and be friends again. We are sloooooowly writing and discussing future records and junk. Grind til death.
Cheers. - Whiskey
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