May 4, 2020
Record's out yo! https://kiddurango.bandcamp.com/
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Record's out yo! https://kiddurango.bandcamp.com/
One night i was driving across a bridge into a popular strip for nightlife to play a show when a billboard caught my eye. There was a man on it vaguely resembling Drake. And under his oVo eyebrows were giant block letters saying "got consent"? It took me too long to put together that this was an add to discourage rape. After I realized what it was, I laughed it off. It seemed absurd to me that anyone in 2015 would need a 200 foot reminder posted over a river not to rape someone before going out at night. We’re adults, this is America, we have equal rights. WTF? Then 2am hit on east carson street and all hell broke loose. I noticed droves of half conscious women being dragged across streets, into cabs, and parked cars. I had seen it before, but somehow that billboard had opened my eyes that night. It was happening all around me, it had been happening for so long, it was hidden in plain view. Words like “stalker” and “creeper” were thrown around by groups of females turning down rides from potential suitors. Epithets like “slut” and “bitch” were given back in rebuttal to ladies who had refused the advances of certain young men. It was unsettling all over again. It felt like a safari for virtue. What made it more unsettling, is the commonality of it. Guy meets girl, guy and and girl get drunk, and then it gets blurry. Was guy too pushy? Or did girl ask for it and just not remember? Where can we intervene? Why isn’t “no” the default in our culture anymore? And why do we let it persist? If idiots in Steubenville can rape a girl and almost get away with it, rest assured that shit is happening every weekend in your backyard too with probably less arrests. So here I am full circle saying I was wrong. That billboard was not absurd. If anything it wasn’t direct enough. It’s sad to say that we have to spell this out in the 21st century, but here it is for the money. “Don’t Rape Me Bro”. Just don’t do it. Pretend that woman over there with the attitude and the ridiculous looking high heels is your little sister. Show her respect, even if her insecurity has put her in the position where she’s willing to pop cleavage and shoot whiskey for a little attention. Alcohol consumption doesn’t mean you need to see her naked, stumbling and throwing up on your mattress. And that goes the same for your buddy. Say something if you see something. I assure you, you’ll have plenty opportunity this Friday.
I give you the finished work of Kid Durango and Matt Very. I'm really proud of it. So proud that I'm getting records pressed of it. More on that later. We wanted to name it Ha ha Hater because the subject matter of each original song in this recording is about things that truly piss me off. I'm a hater at heart. And sometimes the hate is so strong that you end up joking about it through your teeth. That's what I do anyway. That's what I did on this record. I find myself taking certain issues out of my control so seriously, that only the anger persists and the problem doesn't get solved. Anger is only a good thing if it motivates change. For everything else, there's cynicism. That's what this record embodies. It's the step back from debilitating anger to cynisicm in an effort to calm down just enough to see a solution. I'll post the problems and the solutions of each song here in the days to come. But for now, lets get cynical. Enjoy Ha ha Hater.
Recording Update:
This is not the kind of recording update I have posted in the past where we post more pictures than songs. By the time you read this, the record might Very well be done. Matt Very is a force in his element, and tracking at Very Tight Recordings has been the most effortless process I have ever experienced in making music. There are no opposing creative forces. It’s like tracking with a genie with unlimited wishes. Music will be pressed on vinyl in the coming month and you should get it because it’s shaping up to be the best recording we have ever made. We’ll probably even throw in a cover for all of you that still watch VH1 and listen to Bob FM. You have no idea what’s about to happen to your ears. I’m really excited guys.
Here lies the video for Golgotha II. It was shot and edited by Brandon Vatter who just so happens to be the lovely bassist for Love Bettie. Brandon has been the band's guardian angel for many years now. We first met when he offered to fill in for bass during the band's re-formation, and he has helped us secure musicians in the past for shows he could not play. Here; he makes his directorial and editorial debut in the form of a lyric video he shot during our Make-a-Wish benefit show at the smiling moose. The show was held the day after Black Friday of all days. The irony is not lost on me that a giver like Brandon would find solace at a benefit for sick children in what might be the most self obsessed weekend of the American Calendar Year.
Cheers Brandon.
ENJOY!
Back in the cave this weekend tracking vocals for the LP. I know its ridiculous to still be working on something going on 3 years. The record should have been out by now. We’re past the honeymoon phase and well into the divorce. Pretty much everyone has threatened to leave the band and this project for good reason multiple times by now. Some have made good on these threats. But this is work for me. This isn’t about fucking off and having fun while microphones are on. This isn’t for bragging rights next time I kick it with my favorite local band. This is about finishing what you set out to do. This is about keeping promises to your former self. This is about matching the world to the vision in your head and not visa versa. And I’m angry. I’m so angry, I shake when I sing now. I’m so angry, I can’t remember how it started. But I’m going to finish it. I don’t care who with or how long. This is a vision, that deserves closure.
We're playing with United Nations (members of Thursday, Glassjaw, Pianos Become The Teeth and more) and Frameworks at the Smiling Moose on August 14th. We have tickets for $10, let us know if you need some. Spread the word, this should be pretty awesome.
This is a video from our show at Howler's Coyote Cafe last April. The ceiling is layered with band shirts from groups that have played there from all over the US. I learned earlier this year that We The Kings had played there on their rise to fame. I wasn't going to post this, but then I found out a friend at the show had recorded part of this song on his phone. And while I would like to believe his phone bootleg was purely for the purpose of ridicule, I can't help but worry a fraction of it's melody might be used in his own pop-punk band that shall remain nameless. So here it is first draft of this song before it is made flawless and beautiful through the hands and ears of other talented musicians. One day you might hear it's progressions in a sold out arena played with unbelievable clarity and tone. But right now... Right now it's over modulated and played over the backdrop of only a few beer soaked audience members. Enjoy.