After an extended summer in Melbourne writing songs, playing some special shows and heralding in the new AFL season, it’s time for me to once again hurtle myself across the Pacific Ocean for my favourite part of the job - touring.
It recently dawned on me that I’m approaching completion of my first decade of professional touring. Being thrust into a world of living out of vans, buses, hotels and green rooms when I was in my early-twenties was far more of a shock than I gave it credit for at the time.
My life up until that point had consisted of doing the bare minimum at various part-time jobs as a financial means to an end to keep my music ambitions alive. Most shifts during my days shit kicking in the fluorescent lit basement of an office building in the Melbourne CBD would conclude with me running to the 7/11 on Bourke Street to grab an Up & Go to line my stomach for the night ahead as I took the 112 tram to the Evelyn Hotel where I was invariably playing another residency show with my band at the time. Although the Ev is still thriving, some of those other things changed - specifically, the disappearance of the 112 tram line, along with $10 jugs of Carlton Draught and my capacity to sufficiently digest lactose.
It’s funny to think back on those early years of my life on the road and realize that there are periods of time I simply don’t remember. I’m not just talking about being able to recall moments in my own life during that time - there are pockets of history and discourse that totally passed me by. For example, I completely missed the whole Belle Gibson scandal up until watching ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ a fortnight ago, despite the depicted events taking place less than five kilometres from the house I grew up in. In the whirlwind of my newfound transient lifestyle, I think I found it hard to manage the necessities and responsibilities of being a musician on the road along with existing in the world as events and humanity unfolded around me.
I recall when I went into my second album touring cycle in 2019, I made a very conscious pledge to myself to be as in the moment as present I could possibly be from the moment I stepped onto a stage until the moment I stepped off. Make every second count. “Love every note”. Don’t let your mind wander even though you can play this set in your sleep at this point. It’s a mindset I maintain to this day. In an economy where it’s harder than ever to justify touring, it’s easy to be constantly questioning its value in real time. You watch your bank balance trickle down into its final figures, you’re aware every single thing around you is an expense, crowd numbers are totally unpredictable and who knows if there’s another world halting pandemic around the corner? The only thing in my control is to play the best show I possibly can, so that’s what I’m going to do.
My band and I are heading on tour for the entire month of April with Laura Jane Grace and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve done all the necessary things to prepare myself for the time away - I replenished stocks of my deodorant of choice (Rexona “Shower Fresh” for those wondering), got a haircut, gave all my friends long hugs goodbye and told Reggie the cat to live forever.
Even though the nerves are always there, I forever feel so lucky every time I leave for another tour. In fact, I think I’d go insane without it.
If you see us out there, come say hi!
Until next time,
AL x
AL PLAYS
Tascam Portastudio 414 mk II
While everyone was swimming at the beach, dining al fresco and frolicking in the meadows this summer, I was spending my time in a windowless room discovering the joys of cassette looping. A few months ago, I observed a friend create gorgeous drone loops using a reel to reel in his studio. As I watched and listened to him create these beautiful soundscapes, I thought surely I could do something similar on my Tascam Portastudio 414 mk II - a four track cassette recorder I had purchased secondhand during the pandemic with the intended purpose of using its crunchy preamps for grungy guitar recording and drum processing (manifesting here and here). A few YouTube searches later, my suspicions of my Tascam’s looping capabilities were deemed correct and I plunged myself into the sonic vortex of ambient panoramas, warm tape hiss and the exciting unpredictability of a machine I thought I was so familiar with. After years of exclusively recording using software, it has been a cathartic change to harness a physical medium and enjoy its tactile nature, along with the surrender to those happy accidents that find themselves on tape and can’t be wiped with a habitual cmmd+Z.
For anyone who’s interested in starting their cassette loops journey, I gotta give a non-spon shout out to the good people at Warble Loop Lab who do all the work for you and have a store full of handmade blank cassette loops ready to go.
AL WATCHES
Abbott Elementary
This show probably needs no introduction, but in typical AL fashion of being super late to the party when it comes to television shows, I have only just hit play and subsequently plowed through the entirety of this genius work of light entertainment. Set in an elementary school (duh) in a lower socio-economic pocket of West Philadelphia, ‘Abbott Elementary’ is a faux documentary style show (think ‘The Office’) with an agenda - amplifying black voices in the mainstream comedy arena and shining a light on the lack of funding for government schools across the US. My favourite character is Melissa Schemmenti, a South Philly proud Italian-American who has “a guy” for anything you need done (legally or otherwise) and is played by the same actor as one of the all-time great queer coded characters of the 90’s, Chessy from ‘The Parent Trap’.
AL LISTENS
Your God (God’s Dick) - Laura Jane Grace
Brian Eno refers to a “song of revolution” as a powerful way of reclaiming people’s attention - getting everyone to swerve their focus away from where the big machine/s want us to stay and towards spaces where we get perspectives, opinions and solutions that want to make the world a better place for everyone. LJG’s latest song does exactly that from the first line “does your God have a big fat dick, cause it feels like he’s fucking me”. Seeing footage of her belting this song at the Bernie Sanders rally in Wisconsin over the weekend is one of the most punk things I’ve ever seen in my life.
Cross The Street - Junior Varsity
My friends, the indie sleaze crown has been won and it is atop the head of Junior Varsity. This song is like a big warm hug from my Limewire downloads folder circa 2008 and it has become my hyperfixation song of the summer. It has the simplicity of the loop based production and colour of this era along with really contemporary vocal production and presentation. It ticks all the boxes for me and I can listen to it on repeat for hours without getting sick of it.
Taking The Long Way - The Chicks
To circle back to “songs of revolution”, this is perhaps one of the greatest records, let alone political records of the modern age. Filled with rage, anger, sadness and eventual hope, this album released during the post-9/11 Iraq War era feels like it’s having a full circle moment in today’s socio-political bin fire. The beauty of this record is that even in its most tender moments (‘Easy Silence’ comes to mind), it never takes its eye off the ball - the narrative cohesion that is woven through each moment of this collection of songs is nothing short of masterful. To me, if this is the defining political record of the Bush presidency, then the defining record of the Trump presidency will truly be something to behold and I think we’re all ready for it.
As always, head over to my infinite playlist to get the full neverending scope of what’s flooding my ears (best consumed on shuffle).
AND JUST WHILE WE’RE ALL HERE…
Our tour with Laura Jane Grace through the US kicks off in April and shows are already selling out! Don’t sleep on it, fam
If you made it this far, let me tell you I’m gonna release TWO new songs next week…
Feed the beast - buy AL a coffee
You must be built different to love touring so much... it sounds like exhausting work to someone like me! But the fans love you for it.
Looking forward to hearing those songs you wrote while at home!
Thanks for keeping us updated on SubStack. And I love your retro tech obsession.
Hello friend! If you haven't already, check out William Basinski : The Disintegration Loops.
ox