As if becoming addicted to an inanimate object seems impossible, falling in love with an idea is as dangerous as falling in love with that blonde who sits across from you at work. Touring is a rambunctious aspect of the music industry and one that plenty of people strive for. Contributor Sean Gonzalez is one of those individuals who fell victim to the heart of the road, and is back out on tour, this time with Las Vegas act Alaska.
One.
My last stint with Hodera left me salivating for more. I felt an uneasy weight pull my heart out of me as I tried to redevelop bonds with old friends. Everything new that I started oddly felt like I was faking it. It brought me back to a conversation Doug Gallo and I had in South Carolina. “I don’t like making conversations about me, it makes me feel awkward,” he said. I get it, the context of the comment came from the thought of arriving home — young and exhausted — and having friends writhing for every detail, intent on knowing everything that happened. It’s not wrong of them to be curious, it’s hard to pour out particulars to things that happened as fast as the memories faded. People ask for the craziest experience and if it doesn’t live up to that same standard as when you were in said moment you feel you cheated them of something. It stuns you a bit when you draw a blank on hundreds of memories that made you feel alive until they stun you in the middle of a conversation over dinner with your best friend, talking about something completely different. It was also extremely difficult to go back to the old conversations about previous employment because it is something I pushed away from on purpose, so bringing it back up made me uneasy. I felt self-fulfillment float away from me and found comfort in letting my mind fantasize about anything.
“I feel like right now I have a million things that are falling apart and falling together,” Joel Kirschenbaum — singer and guitar player for Alaska — told me back when I was talking to Alaska for a feature article. All I asked was if they could help contrast the road life vs. the home life, and I think Joel hit it right on the head, continuing, “I am not sure if I am at peace or blissful or super apathetic about everything. It’s a weird non existence in a way.” I resonated with this statement and decided to build up the courage to see if I could hop on tour with the Nevada quartet. Luckily, I leaned in far enough that they said yes, and so here we are. Now we exist.
About a week ago I met up with the group in Boulder, Colorado to watch them perform and hang out; i.e. get through the awkward first impressions. This group is going to be just as fun as the last, with clashing personalities. They are currently in Canada right now, and I wonder if the 24 beers I sent them off with has been drank and/or helped them at all (please say yes for my own embarrassing assurance). I catch back up with them soon via a red eye to Buffalo, New York to go be an idiot for a day and relax (yea right) before they swoop me up. Little do they know, they are saving part of my life. I will not turn into a floundering pest stuck in my mom’s house, but a travel ready animal ready to reap the joys of life. Little do they know, I am now apart of their memories and lives forever. I’ll never forget this.
This will be a very short run with two other bands (Del Paxton and Young Jesus) that is just an express way to get me through the month of June — a month that has been harassed with terrible tragedies and personal shortcomings. I need something to quiet the outside noise besides listening to “Common Cold” by Tiny Moving Parts or If I’m The Devil… by letlive. or crying my eyes out to “Sun” by The Hotelier. Silencing my restlessness is the goal of being able to travel with a great group of individuals. More importantly, watching Alaska play live is stunning. Their debut Shrine became a sort of comfort on the last tour with Hodera due to the New Jersey act having a C.D. drive as the primary form of listening to music (I purchased it immediately after watching Alaska play). Everyone in Hodera became addicted to listening to that record. I’m selling myself short when I say I know the parts as well as Alaska. Maybe. Probably (except I can’t actually play them). Seeing a group do what they do best, enjoy it every night and watching crowds be as into it as the band is heart warming.
At that Boulder show I invited a friend that is not too familiar with the D.I.Y. community and told him Alaska was worth watching. He left saying he was thoroughly impressed. That’s fucking cool. The conversation isn’t about me, it’s about this scene, the group of people supporting a dying industry and the bands dedicating their lives to dying with it.
Alaska is:
Joel Kirschenbaum – Vocals, Guitar
Cody Furin – Guitar
Tyler Kawada – Vocals, Bass, Trumpet
Nick Strader – Drums, Percussion
