NOAH GUNDERSEN @noahgundersen - Tumblr Blog

WHITE NOISE

Good things take time.

Upon writing that, I immediately shrink from the pretension of proclaiming that this is a “good thing”. The audacity of definitively stating the positive quality of one’s own work! It’s as if I’ve been culturally indoctrinated in false humility…

So fuck it, I think this is a “good thing”.

This “thing” that I’ve made.

That WE’VE made. There is nothing false in the humbling realization that it takes a village.

But damn, it takes some time.

Work began last spring. I called my then manager and told him I didn’t want to go on tour in the fall. I told him I wanted to make a record. Something different. Something that was going to take some time.

I started writing songs. Lots of songs. Every day. The songs were like buildings, with scaffolding and framing. Things added, things taken away. Like oil paintings, waiting for colors to dry so that the next layer could be applied.

After a few months of working on my own, I brought the songs to my friend and producer, Nate Yaccino, who helped me refine and rearrange. A month later, we brought in the band (Abby, Jonny, Micah), everyone adding their own color.

Then the recording began. And didn’t stop for eight months.

I cannot articulate how grateful I am for the people involved in this project, especially Nate, who worked tirelessly throughout. There were long nights and sweaty summer days in The Baitshop, our loft studio in Ballard. There were days spent on songs that didn’t make the record and songs that were eventually scrapped all together. There were many moments of frustration where we ran up again the proverbial wall. And yet still there were moments of elation where everything clicked and you could almost taste the magic in the room.

This record is about a lot of things. It’s about fear, anxiety, desire, despair (what else is new). But there is also hope. And joy. Because there was joy in its conception. The deep, resonant joy that comes from giving your best, for whatever it’s worth, in the attempt to contribute something beautiful to the world.

I hope you like it. I would be lying if I said I didn’t care. But even if you don’t, I take solace in the fact that the last year of my life was spent in the creation of something I truly believe in.

Because good things take time.

WHITE NOISE AVAILABLE 9.22.17. PRE-ORDER NOW AT NOAHGUNDERSENMUSIC.COM.

CASTING CALL

We're shooting a music video next weekend and have a few extra roles to fill. We're looking for adults between the ages of 25 and 55, with all genders and ethnicities welcome, who would love to be part of a dynamic production. Must be available in Seattle July 8th & 9th. If you're interested, send your information and photos to [email protected] and our production team will be in contact with you. Thanks!

When The Days Are Filled With Madness

What are the words and where do we speak them? To who’s ears in what shadows? To what citadel of power do we shout and in what voice? In what language? How are we to be heard?

These days I feel mostly helpless. The barrage of posts regarding solidarity and resistance and commitment, while well-meaning, only seem to deepen my despair. Because this is our voice: The Ether. An invisible platform. A maze of wires and boxes safely containing our proclamations, while white men with pens close their doors, stuff their ears with cotton, and break the world. While we piss in the ocean. While we drown in white noise.

When does the violence come? If three million voices are meaningless, what of six million fists? When does it all become too much? Where lies the breaking point?

I hope for a better future, with all my heart. I attempt to inject optimism into every dialogue. I imagine a day coming when we look back at our current horror as the catalyst for a great change.

But I also smell the rotten stench of fascism rising from the sewers of democracy. I watch twisted, greedy, pitiful men grab fistfuls of liberty’s hair like a whore for the raping. I watch the faithful followers of a dead man close their doors to millions, gleefully splitting the baby in Solomon’s Palace. I watch the blind pig fist of the police state swell with mindless self importance. As middle america sits sweltering in its own self pity, the high water mark is coming.

Yet still come the little victories. Still comes the fire of the people. The sidelines thin, drawn back from the ledge of hopelessness. Each day offers some new chance to act, with whatever breath fills our lungs.

So when the days are filled with madness, let us find new rooms to shout in. For those with the body and the heart, let it be the streets and the open air. For others, gather up the small pieces, the sandstorm. Find your voice and use it. Do not be contained.

Donate to the ACLU: https://action.aclu.org/secure/protect-peoples-rights-liberties?s_src=UNW170001SEM&alt_src=UNV170001SEM&ms=gad_SEM_Google_Search-Evergreen-ACLU%20Brand_ACLU%20Donate_donate%20to%20aclu_e_169710879082

Donate to Planned Parenthood: https://secure.ppaction.org/site/Donation2?df_id=23001&23001.donation=form1&s_src=Evergreen_2017_c4_ad_sea_1&s_subsrc=4NALz1700K1N1A&gclid=Cj0KEQiAiMHEBRC034nx2ImB1J0BEiQA-r7ctuXs3CLZ-IRi3mUA-bpsooWbzTpWpN2bOjaE7KMPuNsaAmiq8P8HAQ

Carry The Ghost Tour

Being a touring musician is a strange job.

Let me be clear, it’s the fucking BEST job I could ever ask for. But it can be strange. Long periods of time on the road, different cities every night, a lack of personal space.

However, though this can be difficult at times, the real struggle for me is extended time at home. I do great for about a month. I have great friends in Seattle, a wonderful girlfriend, and a comfortable home. I’m a homebody, I like to putter around, fiddle with instruments, read, cook, go to the gym, etc.

But I get antsy. I get “itchy feet”. I’ve been touring for 8 years, performing for 10. I’ve been on and off the road my entire adult life. And it’s gotten into my blood. And sometime, tour life is more “normal” than home life. I love seeing old friends. I love the routine. I love the diversity.

But MOST of all, I love playing music. I fucking love playing music. I love playing music for YOU! Live music is relationship between the performer and the audience. And when both parties show up and actively engage, well, thats where the magic is. Thats what I live for on tour. And I want to take this opportunity to thank you. To thank you for coming to my shows. For showing up, for engaging.

These extended times at home are a reminder of how lucky I am to get to do this. I’m beyond stoked to play these new songs for you. The band is sounding amazing and we’re all fired up and ready to go.

See you out there.

With love,

Noah

9/11 - Vancouver - Biltmore

9/12 - Seattle - Neptune

9/13 - Spokane - The Bartlett

9/15 - Boise - Neurolux

9/16 - Salt Lake City - State Room

9/18 - Colorado Springs - Ivywild School

9/19 - Denver - Bluebird

9/20 - Omaha - Waiting Room

9/21 - Minneapolis - Fine Line

9/23 - Madison - High Noon

9/24 - Ann Arbor - The Ark

9/25 - Chicago - Thalia Hall

9/26 - Indianapolis - Deluxe @ ONC

9/27 - Columbus, OH - Skully's

9/29 - Toronto - Opera House

9/30 - Montreal - Petit Campus

10/1 - Boston - Sinclair

10/2 - Philly - World Cafe Live

10/3 - DC - Black Cat -

10/6 - NYC - Bowery Ballroom

10/7 - Charlottesville - Southern

10/8 - Asheville - Grey Eagle

10/9 - Nashville - Cannery Ballroom

10/10 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle

10/11 - Charlotte - Visulite

10/13 - Atlanta - Terminal West

10/14 - St. Augustine / Jacksonville, FL - Colonial Quarter

10/15 - Orlando - Social

10/16 - Gainesville - HI Dive

10/17 - Tampa - Crowbar

10/18 - Tallahassee - Club Downunder at FSU

10/20 - Birmingham - Saturn

10/22 - Austin - Parish

10/23 - Houston - Walter's on Washington

10/24 - Dallas - The Loft

10/27 - Phoenix - Valley Bar

10/29 - Los Angeles - Fonda Theater

10/30 - San Francisco - Great American Music Hall

10/31 - Sacramento - Harlows

11/3 - Portland - Aladdin Theater

Buy tickets at noahgundersenmusic.com

Carry The Ghost is out today!

Sitting in my underwear here like an excited kid on christmas. I’ve been obsessively scrolling through social media the last few days, partly out of narcissism, but also with so much gratitude. Thank you for allowing me to make this work. For allowing me to evolve and grow and express myself. Sincerely, thank you. I’m proud of this record. I’m proud to say we built this thing from the ground up, from coffee shops, with fans and friends named Evan and Red and Jody and Michael and Karen and so many others, to what it is now, with people named Paul and Brenna and Bob and Will and Jim and Brian and Micah and AJ and SO many others. And with my amazing family.

So thanks. Thanks for buying my album and coming to my shows. I could not have done this without you. I hope Carry The Ghost is meaningful for you, that it brings up the good questions, that it makes you feel less alone. If theres anything that you take away from it, I hope it’s this: the only thing worth loving more than ourselves is loving others.

Love,

Noah

Whitehorse On Select Tour Dates

This summer we had the pleasure of traversing the mountains and plains of Canada with a beautiful and talented couple who perform together under the the moniker Whitehorse. This fall, they will be joining us on the last leg of the Carry The Ghost tour. They are the real deal, with chops honed by years on the road. It’s an honor to have them with us.

10/22 - Austin @ Parish 10/23 - Houston @ Walter's On Washington 10/24 - Dallas @ The Loft 10/27 - Phoenix @ Valley Bar 10/29 - Los Angeles @ Fonda 10/30 - SF @ Great American Music Hall 10/31 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow's 11/3 - Portland - Aladdin Theater

Tickets available at: noahgundersenmusic.com/tour.html

Preorder Carry The Ghost at: noahgundersenmusic.com

#noah gundersen #whitehorse #carry the ghost

Ivan & Alyosha Supporting Select Tour Dates

Ivan & Alyosha just released their newest record, It’s All Pretend, and it’s fucking awesome. They have been one of my favorite live bands in Seattle for a long time and I am so excited to have them joining us for the first leg of our upcoming tour. It also doesn’t hurt that they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Come early and check them out!

9/11 - Vancouver @ Biltmore 9/13 - Spokane @ Bartlett 9/15 - Boise @ Neurolux 9/16 - Salt Lake City @ State Room 9/18 - Colorado Springs @ Ivywild School 9/19 - Denver @ Bluebird 9/20 - Omaha @ Waiting Room 9/21 - Minneapolis @ Fine Line 9/23- Madison @ High Noon 9/24 - Ann Arbor @ The Ark 9/25 - Chicago @ Thalia Hall 9/26 - Indy @ Deluxe at ONC 9/27 - Columbus @ Skully's

Tickets available at http://noahgundersenmusic.com/tour.html

#ivan and alyosha #carry the ghost #its all pretend #noah gundersen

Field Report Solo Set on select tour dates

Last tour, I obsessively listened to Field Report almost every day. This time around, I get to listen to them EVERY NIGHT for two weeks! Chris Porterfield is one of the strongest songwriters I know and its an honor to have him gracing our stage for a solo set of Field Report tunes on the following dates:

9/29 - Toronto @ Opera House 9/30 - Montreal @ Petit Campus 10/1 - Boston @ Sinclair 10/2 - Philly @ World Cafe Live 10/3 - DC @ Black Cat 10/6 - NYC @ Bowery Ballroom 10/7 - Charlottesville @ Southern 10/8 - Asheville @ Grey Eagle 10/9 - Nashville @ Cannery 10/10 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle 10/11 - Charlotte @ Visulite 10/13 - Atlanta @ Terminal West 10/14 - St. Augustine, FL @ Colonial Quarter 10/15 - Orlando, FL @ The Social 10/16 - Gainesville, FL @ High Dive 10/17 - Tampa, FL @ Crowbar 10/18 - Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder at FSU

Tickets available at http://noahgundersenmusic.com/tour.html

MERCH DESIGN CONTEST

Tour for the new album starts in September and we’re starting to gear up! Stage design conversations, rehearsals just around the corner, and new merch designs in progress. This time, we’re asking for YOUR help. Here’s how:

1. Design a piece of Noah Gundersen merch. This can be anything: a t-shirt, a poster, or whatever inspires you. We have a general theme that you’ll notice in some of the album art we’ve released, but feel free to follow your own inspiration.

2. Post your design to your social media of choice with the hashtag #CARRYTHEGHOSTMERCH and tag Noah Gundersen.

3. Email your design as a PDF to [email protected].

You can submit up till July 6th. We’ll be announcing a winner on July 10th. The winner will receive $200 and tickets for themselves and a friend to the show of their choice on the Carry The Ghost Tour.

Y’all are a talented bunch. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

#CARRYTHEGHOSTMERCH

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Tour Journal 11.8.14 // all of the colors

driving through north carolina in november, one can easily picture norman rockwell dipping his brush into the trees and soaking up the burnt orange and amber hues for a portrait of america. the colors are a fucking explosion. fireworks and artillery shells of yellow, red, green and orange. when defining a picture of autumn, look no further. the sunlight is a canvas of 16mm film, faded with nostalgia and diminished in it’s cycle. somewhere, high-schoolers are slamming into each other in oversized shoulder pads. somewhere, someone is falling in love.

as a kid, autumn meant cutting and loading truckloads of firewood. i can still smell the gas and oil from the chainsaw, the sharp smell of cedar, my father’s work gloves and fleece lined denim jacket. in the fall, we pressed cider, enough to fill a freezer and then some. autumn is burning wood and sticky sweet. autumn is all of these colors. autumn is the peaceful resignation of another year.

some days you feel optimistic, like something good is just around the corner.

some days you get lucky.

Tour Journal 11.4-6.14 // Random Thoughts from the Eastern Coast

everything is happening. everything everywhere in this city is happening. you can feel the souls of six million tingling like static from an electric charge. high heels and boot heels beat tattoos on tire-torn and worn pavement, while above and below, sleepers stack like sardines in their salty cans. and i can’t help but wonder how we got here? when did our desire to be together grow so overwhelming that we cascaded over each other, waves over waves, a desperate ocean of humankind? when did the silence of our own souls echoing back the infinite dark become a monster from a bedtime story, that we went running from, into the never waining night light of New York?

the rain has come. it speckles the windshield in the silence of our 15 passenger metal and plastic home as we drive into our nations capital. the rain makes me want to listen to Radiohead’s “Hail to the Thief” like i did when i was 17, driving around centralia at night, full of angst and excitement. those were times when i could fall into the sound like alice down the rabbit hole. the last safe place on earth. the bomb shelter of blown out speakers in my ’94 ford explorer, tan like the tanks in desert storm. i lost my virginity in that car to the repeating verses of the shin’s “New Slang”. i blew out the transmission racing home to the same girl on new years eve, with a different girl in the passenger seat. it had leather seats and a $200 stereo that paid for with the money from my minimum wage job.

now i am on the other side of america, going to play a show for 400 strangers. that girl got married and moved to chicago. it’s raining hard here. thom yorke still sounds like an alien. my mind remembers what it feels like to fall, backflipping down the rabbit hole. thought i was going to pass out in new york yesterday. i envisioned my body crumpled up in some intersection like a praying muslim until some yellow demon taxi crushes me. the mind has a lot of dark corners.

need to change my guitar strings.

Tour Journal 11.1.14 // Throwing Fire

halloween and the night was alive with anarchy. heathen faces spit fire and cum in the face of mortality, daring it to make a move. nights like this, out in the madness, you can taste the insanity of humanity and laugh. we are salt and we are vinegar, only a thin veil of societal, religious, and consumer culture between us and chaos. our weakness has been capitalized into a leash and a kennel.

but on some rare nights, we howl at the moon and feel our own blood running hot in our veins. and it is good. it is good to remember our madness. out of the madness comes sparks and fire. so dance a little. sing a little. drink. for a moment, accept that nothing makes sense and never will and we are all running blind, but blind together. and traced behind our eyelids is the glory and pain of existence.

do not hold your breath. open wide like balloons, expand and release. all of this is only for a moment and a dream. may we dream like exploding flares in the blackness of the night sky. and should we pass into each others dreams, let us not tread as cherubim, but as gods and dragons. hurl fire into my soul, the world is cold.

Tour Journal 10.28.14 // Out In The Open Again

just past the two week mark on this tour and the road is still open and clear. driving though the midwest, i recall our last trip in the early part of the year, when we would leave the van for an hour and return to find all of the water bottles frozen solid. most days it felt like mother nature was beating us over the head with a punishing baseball bat. or maybe the giant psychotic wooden mallet from super smash brothers.

needless to say, touring in the fall is much better. all the fields and tree’s are putting on a show. most van rides i find myself simply listening and watching, despite the mundane expanse of the american interstate.

i didn’t know anyone cared, but i’ve been asked about my tour journal in two separate interviews recently, so i thought i’d give it a whirl again. dear diary….

we entered the state of Ohio about 30 miles ago. writing this in the front seat of the van. it’s a clear but grey day, the sky the color of smoke. the shows have been going well. i think we really began to lock into our groove musically as a unit several days ago. there are more moving parts and mechanics on this run, which is fun but has taken some ironing out.

we’ve been lucky to play some amazing shows so far. chicago was a highlight. selling out lincoln hall felt like a milestone. thank you so much to everyone who came out. and to anyone who came out to any show. i’m so grateful.

we’ve been jamming the new Ben Howard and Field Report albums pretty heavily. go listen.

Tour Journal 4.7.13 /// Spring Fingers

Spring is creeping its slow fingers over Kentucky as we drive for the third time through the state that birthed Lincoln. It's such a subtle magic, spring. You taste it in the mornings and smell it on grass, somehow greener and longer, as if it chose the night to escape the crumbling earth under cover of darkness.

The memories of spring are strongest from my youth. The mornings when I woke up at 7AM to milk our cow were a little more gentle, with a sense of promise and hope. Washington's cold, wet winters only last so long. My birthday is May 31st, therefore spring meant celebration, celebration in only the way a child does, unencumbered by regret or substances.

Spring reminds me that this is a new year. The past will be the past. All our nostalgia will not bring it back. Neither will our shame and regret. But the future is bright. This year is the only year. Today is the only day. This lesson has truly helped me survive touring. Constantly reminding myself that today is the only day.

I have been touring for a large portion of the fall and winter and I look forward to the spring and summer in my new home. My girlfriend and I recently moved to quaint, funky house in South Seattle, overlooking Lake Washington. Spring is there as well and soon I will be in that greener grass, breathing in a new year, a new day, with only the future to look forward to. Here's to backyard BBQs, good friends, bike rides, kiddie pools, PBR, hiking and camping, bare feet, and tan lines. Here's to celebrating like we did as children. Here's to hope.

Tour Journal 3.21.13 /// From The Nose Of A Whale

Hello again. How are you? How are your days and your nights? How do you spend the passing time spent in one city for weeks and months on end?

I find that life harder and harder to comprehend. By no means do I say this with any pretension. Who am I to say that my chosen path is better or more valuable than yours? It's only that with each tour I become more comfortable as a transient. I have good friends in many cities, know the landscapes a little more intimately. So the thought of spending a lifetime in one place, doing the same thing every day, is unimaginable.

After a short but sweet West Coast run with Joshua James and his band of hooligans, we headed east to the great city of Austin, TX, overrun with the teeming masses of industry, advertisement, and consumerism for SXSW. Oh and there was a little bit of music.

This was my third and most relaxed South-by. We rented a small house several miles north of downtown and took advantage of the quiet. We played two shows, both well attended with beautiful, attentive people. We also shot a takeaway video with our friends at Invisible Children, which I think turned out really well. The highlights of the week for me were seeing good friends like David Ramirez, Anis Mojgani, Corey McGuire, Robert Delong and his tour manger Matt. All good and talented people.

After parting ways with Texas, we spend a couple days off in Nashville with my friend Ethan.

The beauty of Nashville is that 90% of the population is there to make or sell music, yet there is a surprising lack of egoism in the people I have encountered there. It's one of the few places in this country besides Seattle where I could see myself living.

I'm writing from the front bucket seat of Levi (Leviathan) on a cold, bright day as Jesse drives us to Cincinnati, our stop over before our show in Athens, OH tomorrow. See you somewhere down the road.

Noah

Tour Journal 3.7.13 /// Lion & The Lamb

I have thought for some time about keeping a journal, some kind of record of my thoughts and travels. It is my hope that keeping such a record will cement things more clearly in my often distracted mind. It is also my intention to express in written words what I so often seem unable to in conversation. A friend once pointed out that my life is full of small talk, which is true. Meeting strangers every night or catching up with old friends quickly becomes the same conversation. It is uncommon for a topic of substance to have time to rise. Like bread. This is no ones fault, really. Truthfully, on most occasions I would turn down the opportunity for a meaningful conversation, knowing my full attention would not be present. But perhaps it is the snake eating itself. Distraction leading to lack of conversation leading to distraction and so on.

Anyways, my hope is the process of writing here will help pull the fragments of my mind closer toward cohesiveness and in doing so, give you some insight into my life and thoughts, if you are interested.

We are in Los Angeles. This city is like a friend you see only a couple times a year, who never changes, for better or worse. It's my brothers first time here. It will be his first time in almost all of the cities we play in the next 2 months. I am excited for him. Secretly, I want to live vicariously through him, as all of this is new.

My first time in Los Angeles, my first impression was BRIGHT, coming from the seemingly never-ending months of North West grey. My second and third impressions were DIRTY and FALSE. However, FALSE soon turned into DIFFERENT. People everywhere are FALSE. L.A. just seems a little more comfortable wearing it on its sleeve. I love this city now. It's full of broken dreams and heartbreak, along with bright futures and incredible talent. It's teeming with the filthy sewer rats of the entertainment industry, but there are good giants here also, true believers in art and expression. Los Angeles is where the lion and lamb lay down together.

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