My favorite part of Bled Fest was seeing one of these above the urinal I was peeing at. Best Band/Best Friends.
We YOLO’d at Bled Fest like nobody’s business.
(Source: crazy-chick29)
What it means to me
James wrote up a post about what Michigan music means to him. We’re hoping we’ll be able to see some of you this weekend, and hear about what it means to you.
I still have very vivid memories of my first local show. It was December of 2005, and this girl I really liked asked me to go see her friend’s band: Modulate to A. I remember standing in the dark Howell Recreation Center, watching a whole bunch of bands with kids just as awkward as me in them, and feeling stupid for not realizing that there was such a cool music scene right here in my hometown.
That night was the first time I saw a band called The Hard Lessons play. Thinking about them playing “I Like Your Hair Long” still gives me chills. This band would go on to be the first band to legitimately change my life, as corny as that sounds.
From there on out, I was hooked. I went to shows as often as I could. I remember being blown away by bands like Empty Orchestra, Ports of Aidia, Ender, and Monument, Monument. I was amazed that such talented, polished bands called my state home. Several years later, I finally found myself playing music in some of the venues I so often attended.
My first show was an acoustic performance at the Hartland Performing Arts Center. I played a few really simple sad songs about a girl breaking up with me. After I played, a friend of mine that I met through this music scene approached me about adding some extra instrumentation to those songs. In a nutshell, that’s how Good Weather for Airstrikes was formed.
We’ve been a band for about four years now, and these past four years have without a doubt been the best, and most important, years of my life. I’ve met the most amazing people in garages and halls. I’ve learned more about myself and the world around me in talking with these people after shows than I ever have in any classroom. The best nights of my life have been spent in confined spaces, and left me with my ears ringing and sweat on my body that was likely not mine. The most profound things to come out of my mouth are words that are not my own. They have been shouted out in unison while musicians pour their hearts into instruments and microphones.
The world of Michigan music is not for everyone. But to some of us, it means more than anything. For me it is friendship, compassion, expression, and community. It is people who care about something real and honest. It is everything I love happening all at once. It is feeling accepted, and being loved for who I am.
Sometimes it feels like all I have. I will never forget that, and I will never take that for granted.
Michigan Music Matters. We’ll see you later this week.
James//Good Weather for Airstrikes
Michigan Music Matters: The Details
We have four shows that we’re really, really excited about this week. We’ll be all across Michigan playing with our pals in Tiger! Tiger! and Hawk & Son. Come out to one of these dates, and help us celebrate Michigan music.
4/25 - Lansing, MI - Mac’s Bar w/ Little American Champ
http://www.facebook.com/events/304128896326476/
4/26 - Grand Rapids, MI - The DAAC w/ Circle Maybe
http://www.facebook.com/events/186481191470744/
4/27 - Flint, MI - Fletch’s w/ As A Lark
http://www.facebook.com/events/351173551601426/
4/28 - Bay City, MI - Brewtopia w/ Lobster etc.
Good Weather For Airstrikes @ Hamilton Street Pub 3/31/12
Michigan Music Matters: Michigan Music Matters: An Introduction
The “Michigan Music Matters” idea came to me one night when my band, Good Weather for Airstrikes, was on tour this past December. We were in Tennessee or Georgia or something, really far away from home, and I was thinking about how much I love the place I am from. Specifically, the music, and all other forms of creation and expression, in the place I am from.
What I wanted to do was get some of my favorite bands together and play a few shows across this state, just to have some nights showcasing just how good the music and music scene here is. The more I talked and thought about it, the more the idea grew.
The music here matters because it is ours. And I am not speaking from the perspective of a musician. I truly think that every song belongs equally to the people who wrote it and the people who heard it. Each interpretation is unique, as are the situations you interpret these songs in. And when we hear a song written by a band from our home state, it resonates even more. We know what it’s like to tough out a Michigan winter, or fall in love on a calm summer night. We’ve thought about the things that make us sad a little too much when we’re driving down 96 late at night and there’s nothing much to see, or when we’re stuck in the perpetual construction traffic of 23. We hear a song, and we know that feeling. We know that experience. Chances are, we’ve lived it, or seen one of our friends live it.
Music connects us through shared experiences and interests. Chances are you’ve met some of your best friends through the shows that take place in this state, and had some of your best nights at those shows. I know that’s true for me.
The last weekend in April, we will be getting together to celebrate those memorable nights. Hopefully we’ll have a few such nights in the process. Our goal with this string of shows is to highlight what makes the Michigan music scene so important. And what makes it important stretches beyond just the music. We have so many talented individuals across the state, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we can showcase their work on these nights as well.
More than anything, the Michigan music scene is a community of open-minded, creative, and inspired people. Getting together and appreciating the people and music and talent around us is what this is really about. Because all of those things belong to us. And that matters.
Really, really pleased about being a part of this. Check it out. Love it.
Several months ago, my parents did something increasingly common: they got divorced. What was weird about it was that they were married for 24 years before getting divorced.
It hit me really hard, and I let it affect my life in a lot of ways it shouldn’t have. As the oldest of four kids, I felt it was my responsibility to singlehandedly keep my family together. I also didn’t see the point in dating anyone. I felt that eventually you’re just going to fall out of love, and eventually you’d find something wrong with the other person, so why waste your time.
I was bitter. I felt torn apart. But then I saw a bit of a silver lining. I decided that maybe changing up something so crucial to my life could offer some introspection and some fundamental progression of my being.
I had to completely rebuild my faith in love, as well as my faith in a lot of other things. But that is so crucial. More or less, that is what this album is about. Saying, “fuck it all” and starting from scratch. Figuring out what’s really important to you, and ignoring the rest.
I think a lot of people are really afraid of sadness, and forget about the good that can come after it. You can’t get comfortable in that sad state, but you can’t run away from it, either.
-James//GWFA
Dark World is done. Thanks to Chris Liu and everyone else who worked on this
Click through the image to download
This is really good. You should download it.
(via annarboremo)
This is actually the first track we wrote for this album, and it was written at least two years ago. It is a song written about lost love, and the hopelessness that I felt at the time.
Love does a lot of things to us, but mostly it intensifies everything around us. This occurs when we are in love, and everything seems brighter and full of life. This also occurs when we fall out of love, and everything seems a bit more bleak.
I think love is what hits us deepest. It goes down to our core, and affects every thought and action. When we’re in it, we feel we can do anything. When it goes away, we feel like we can do nothing. And that is what this song is about. That feeling of incredible vulnerability that takes places after your heart is broken. You feel that, for the rest of your life, something will always be a bit off. It’s daunting.
I tend to think of our album in two halves. This song concludes the first half of it. Thematically, the first half is about the relationships that we go through in life and how they affect everything and how they can weigh us down.
These relationships we go through, whatever they consist of, are crucial. But at times, they hold us back. Sometimes, they can suffocate us, and prevent us from chasing what it is that we want.
It’s easy to get caught up in the bad things. But something that I will always believe in is that despite awful things happening, there is still beauty around us in the people we love. Sometimes it’s hard to see, and it can be frustrating when it becomes especially difficult to see. But it is there.
I will always have fond memories of every person I loved. Sometimes, I get sad because of things that have happened and I write songs like this. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think we can embrace the negative things in our life, and appreciate them for how they’ve shaped us and forced us to grow.
-James//GWFA
I often feel helpless, in a way.
I was talking to my brother recently, and we talked about the veil that is over the eyes of so many people. You don’t realize just how much is wrong with this world until this veil is removed. When it is removed, what you see can be too much to handle.
I don’t mean to be melodramatic. It’s just something I think about. There are so many things I’d like to change, but I can never seem to find the right ways to change them. This is why I feel helpless.
I wrote this song on an extremely beautiful fall day. I was driving, pulled over to the side of the road, and wrote down these lyrics I had in my head. Those lyrics became the first verse of the song. They talk about what I think everyone thinks about at least once or twice: what my friends will say when I die.
Life is obviously finite. We will all die one day. Our legacy, the memory of who we are and what we did, has the potential to be infinite, though. I feel like we all want to be remembered for doing something important. For making a difference in this world in some way. This song is about that. This song does not answer any questions for me. In fact, it creates more questions.
When I got home on that beautiful fall day, I finished the rest of the lyrics, carrying on the same type of theme. That night, I went to a friend’s house and then recorded a demo version on his Macbook. I was really excited about this song, and couldn’t wait to start working on it. Ultimately, it became something ENTIRELY different.
I’ve always considered this one of the “sadder” songs on the album. It’s about looking for something important but not being able to find it because of all the doubts and fears that you carry. But, I originally called this song “What Gives us Hope.” And I think we can let our desire to leave a legacy and be remembered fondly give us hope and motivation.
