We will be playing a new yrs party at the Crocodile with Aqueduct and Fresh Espresso. Come do new yrs stuff with us! Dec 4 we will play free songs on the KEXP 90.3 FM for you.

Heading out on another tour next week! Check show page for details. The CD of L O V E W O R L D comes out October 20 at most record stores and online as well. Digital has been out for a while. Finally playing an all ages show at the Vera Project in Seattle on Halloween! Hope to see you all at the shows.
Love,
U.S.E

Go to stereogum-- http://tinyurl.com/n9jwgs for the next 2 days for a peak at the new vid!

L O V E W O R L D is in full effect these days. Physical copies set to drop on the streets October 20. Meanwhile, to celebrate Seattle SOUND Magazine we are playing on Oct. 2. Go to shows page for info, and text BLISS to 41055 for RSVP's VIP stylee! Also, going back on tour in late October, then possibly an ALL AGES show back in Seattle...(finally).

Added more tour photos in the photos section.

Hey, thank you everyone who made this last run of concerts VERY memorable. Crazy.
Love,
U.S.E

Love the shows! Thanks to all who have come out.

Check out the itunes and amazon links on our intro page for the complete album out now!
See you on the road.
Love,
U.S.E

Go here and get nastaaay. In a good way. SFW ;)
http://www.spin.com/articles/download-hot-dance-group-uses-summer-anthem

After Bumbershoot come to Havana and drink drink specials with us. $5 cover includes our new album! DJ's, video 'n more. Lots lots 'n more!

New tour dates announced via the Shows page. New t shirts and sundries available soon along with some EP's. LOVEWORLD will now be available by Sept. 8 on-line, and October 20 in stores. Love, U.S.E

SPIN loves L O V E W O R L D!!
http://tinyurl.com/neg6rn

Let's work out together Monday, August 3 at the Crocodile! Go to our shows page for more info.
Working on getting Dance w/ Me released on-line, and some other cool stuff for everyone. Our album release is getting pushed back to September because of distro and such... :( More info later.
Love,
U.S.E

In case you didn't check the use store, you can get more (free)songs from our upcoming LOVEWORLD album: http://store.usemusic.com/

To all in the Seattle area, we will be playing tonight w/ Pela, Iran and TMTS. Awesome.

We have set up a store for you that will be updated w/ new music every mth until our record release in August. Come get your free music here...http://store.usemusic.com/

Firstly, if you don't have ALL THE WORLD yet, see previous posts here for the d.l. link.
Second of ly, we are planning on dropping some more mp3's for yallz very soon as well as other neat, interactive steez. We gonna put our record out this summer! Stick around, stick around....

Been having lots o' fun playing again this spring. Added another show at the end of this month, recording a video, adding photos, and looking at how to put out this 100% completed full length!

And, yet another rad music blog (Stereogum) just put up "All The World" from our forthcoming full length for the world to hear/see!! Let them know what you think.
http://stereogum.com/archives/mp3/new-use-all-the-world-all-the-world-ron-kurti-remi_061582.html
Love,
U.S.E

Fluxblog just posted a d.l. for our new song "All The World" off of our forthcoming full length! We hope you like it! Let us know what you think. Or, tell the blogs! ;p
http://www.fluxblog.org/

Love,
U.S.E

Just wanted to say thank you to those of you who came out and danced with us at the new Croc on Saturday!!! We had so much fun playing music and seeing Velella Velella and Strength start the party!

Go here for a fresh taste of the new stuff!
All The World!

New shows added to the shows page, plus if you haven't bought your tix to dance w/ us at THE NEW CROC, do it now...
http://thecrocodile.com/index.html?page=calendarandevent=1077647

We are playing the new Crocodile on March 28! Come dance and listen to some new songs from our soon-to-drop full lemth! Velella Velella will open, along w/ a freak show...stay tuned for more info.
Tix @ thecrocodile.com

The album is 99% finished, and we have several shows getting booked! A new show has been added to the shows page, and we hope to have lots of great stuff to give away soon!
Love,
U.S.E

Our album is officially done being recorded. Wow, it's been a while. Now, the painstaking process of mixing will be undertaken. But, it helps that these songs are so full of love and bubbles and rock power! That means soon we will be playing these songs a lot for all the nebulas. Hope to post new trax soon. Happy Holidays!!

The album is nearing a close. Dude vox, screams and mixing/mastering are all that is needed. We are getting quite blissful to play the trax for the intergalacticas maximus. Once it drops, there will be a very loud noise reverberating across whatever can reverberate. ?

Hi,
We regret to inform you that our Portland, Sept 5 show has been cancelled due to a very recent death in the family. We hope to make it up to you in the near future.
Thank you for understanding. We will be posting more studio news soon...

Life and death,
U.S.E

Again, at Avast, again w/ Cam-ron the great. Then, we storm Portland on Sept. 5, and continue to another studio hide-away in Cannon Beach that same weekend. The day of the hour of the new record is upon us...

Luv,
U.S.E

Hey, what a great show the block party turned out to be. Despite sound problems we had a blast. Looking forward to dancing w/ Seattle again very soon! Here's a story and some pics for your enjoyment...
courtesy of the PI.
story: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372330_blockparty26.html

pics:
450blockparty26_down.v.jpg
621blockparty26_down.h.jpg
450blockparty26_pink.jpg
450blockparty26_U.S.E.1.jpg
450blockparty26_U.S.E.2.jpg
450blockparty26_U.S.E.3.jpg
20080725/621_MG_2543.JPG
621_MG_2414.JPG

But we are still locked inside recording. That's okay, we'll get some Vitamin D at the Capital Hill Block party in July! And this weekend at Seattle U's quadrockfeststock.

Again, we go back to the studio for another week in May. We came, we saw, we c-c-c-conquered.

Just got added to a show in Spokane at Whitworth College. We're gonna bring finals week in real smoove like.
Check the shows for more info. Actually, our shows page isn't working. So not sure what to tell you other than the info will be revealed to you on the eve of Mordur.

Noah Star Weaver will be participating in the next Rock Lottery on April 13. Come and listen to his blazing keyboard of fury!
Rock Lottery

Going back to Avast studios for another session in the beginning of April. So much to do before we drop the heat this summer! Thanks to all of you who put up w/ the ticket master prices (boo!) at our last 2 shows. You made history. For those of you who want a blast of what went on, check back soon for a vid clip of the highlights. We took down the stream on synclive because of audio difficulties...

Luv,
U.S.E

If you can't be with us at the Paramount March 15, then get your stream on!
http://www.synclive.com/?show/19121

Luv,
U.S.E

2 more all ages shows scheduled on the Shows page! All in the midst of recording...awesome. Be good to yourselves.

We shall be entering the studio once
again next month to finish off
this bad boy.
Wish us blessings...
and expect a
finished result in late spring 2008!
And you might find us on stage very soon...

In case you don't live in the NW, and want a taste of the last 2 weeks, you can see some kind words and great photos of our recent shows at the following:
lineout.thestranger.com
Three Imaginary Girls

Here's a cool, short vid of our party last Wednesday. We are at the end, after Kay Kay and Siberian, who by the way, made some amazing sounds that night.
http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/12/use_siberian_kay_kay_repeal

More Rad News: "Emerald City" made #32 on Seattle Sound magazine's
"Seattle's 50 Greatest Hits" list! RIGHT ON!
You can check out the digital issue here: http://www.seattlesoundmag.com/

Love,

use.

If you like reading fun interviews w/ bands here's a good one:
http://www.bandweblogs.com/blog/2007/10/08/united-state-of-electronica-interview/

2 shows have been added for December. 1 is free, the other is all ages! Come January and February we will be finishing up the album. Will post updates from the studio.

If you're tired of reading about political races, 1/2 yrly sales, and why we should be scared of new germs this piece makes a pleasant read:
http://music.guardian.co.uk/newbands/story/0,,2179474,00.html

For some reason, a Seattle Times article about some pretty unsavory news was linked to our previously posted interview about why we are amazing. We apologize, and don't know how that was posted. In the event that you were offended, please don't be. We are not evil.

Here's the real article on PopJustice

Here is a nice piece, and short interview as to why we are amazing.



FIVE REASONS WE ARE AMAZING
By United State Of Electronica

1. When we sleep at night we don’t count sheep, they count us.

2. The chief export of USE is amazement.

3. Red Bull gets its wings from our blood.

4. We invented history.

5. God borrowed some sugar from us the other day.

Yes, still recording/writing/loving/ this summer. Too much fun to stop. Will update you when some fall shows are confirmed...
Love,
U.S.E

Hey! In case you haven't heard, Jason made an album called The Thieves of Kailua. It's an Island blast and you should take a look/listen!

The Thieves of Kailua will be bringing the summertime party a few times this summer, please come check it out! It guarantees to be an extravaganza including 4/7ths of U.S.E. and much, much more.

The Thieves of Kailua
THIS THURSDAY!! 8/9
Live on KEXP at 12 Noon and then at Chop Suey with good friends and U.S.E tour-mates Velella Velella and the Love Lights

and... The Crocodile Cafe 8/24

more info:
http://www.thievesofkailua.com
http://www.millpondrecords.com

Hope to see you all at the shows!

Sorry for lack of updates. We have been busy traveling, recording new U.S.E songs, recording w/ our other projects, and generally enjoying the summer here in the beautiful NW. Currently putting together a mini-tour for the fall as well as some demos for your auralicity. See you at the beach!

If you're up in Bellingham, and you are all-ages come dance w/ us this weekend. Go to the shows page for more info. Summer is near...
Luv always,
U.S.E

The Stranger compiles some newsprint love:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=219271

We will be playing an all ages dance parrrrty this Friday at the Old Firehouse in Redmond in lieu of the Lashes, being that an unfortunate incident has befallen their fearless guitar player last weekend. Please come out and help us support him. Proceeds from U.S.E earnings will go towards his rehabilitation.
Article in The Stranger

Let's record more music and play more secret shows! Okay!

Thanks to all who made our Comet tavern show a sweaty, happy mess! The fire marshall and the cops couldn't stop the beat. Stay tuned for more cryptic messages about shows...
Luv,
U.S.E

The rumors are flying, and so are we! All the way to Spokane, WA to play for the beautiful people of Whitworth college on Saturday night, May 5. Opening are the minions of funk brutality: Vellela Vellela.
It's been too long...writing/recording can take a while. Go to the SHOWS page for more info, or here for directions: http://www.whitworth.edu/
Come with us!

That is all you need to know at this time. Thank you for your love.

A holiday present from us to you from our friends at J-Four.
http://www.j-four.com/videos/ItsOn.mov
Happy Holidays! This season make it a special reason for the season this special season with Jon e.'s seasoning salt.

Check out this new video of Open Your Eyes that our friends at J-Four did:
http://j-four.com/videos/OpenYourEyes.mov
http://j-four.com/
Still writing the new one and doing lots of side projects.

Please do your part. It really does count.

U.S.E continues our world love tour with the first single "It Is On!" being released in London on October 23! This was remixed by the legendary Lee Groves, so be sure and visit www.tunetribe.com for purchasing info, and listen/request it on BBC radio right now...

The official UK release date for our full-length "united state of electronica" is November 6. You can purchase the UK release on itunes and tunetribe as well. Also, new videos will be posted soon.
Keep loving...
U.S.E

Look out for new remixes, videos and other new material to be posted here and http://myspace.com/use in the coming months as we drop our self-titled album this fall in the UK. New things to come in 2007, too! Thanks for your emails, comments, and general love as we move and change and live.

USE begins it European Invasion with its first ever UK release: a Limited Edition 7" of 'It Is On'!

http://www.originalelectric.co.uk/

July 13th at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, WA U.S.E's newest project NITEDANCE will perform 5 songs of South American descent. Come dance with us and welcome the newest members of Mannheim Worldwide, then stay for the other part of the collective- Seattle's the Catch, Whitegold, and Portland's Strength.
http://myspace.com/nitedance
http://www.thecrocodile.com/

As we have been piecing together Jay's home studio we have been piecing together lots of songs for all our projects as well. U.S.E, Wonderful, the Catch, Thieves, Magnificent Machine, Nitedance...the list goes on. Look for demos to be posted on our universal site of love-Mannheim worldwide. Enjoy the warm rain.
Luv,
U.S.E

If you are part of the podcast generation follow the applicable links to KEXP's recent podcast (volume 15), and listen for "La Discotecha". Meanwhile, we are writing/recording the new thoughts in our heads. Thanks to all who came to the UW show!
Luvmachine,
U.S.E
Podcast links:
U.S.Eing iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=76069540

U.S.Eing another service:
http://www.kexp.org/podcast.xml

We will be playing at Western WA U this Friday! It will be wet. We will be playing at UW next month. It will be more wetter. SHOWS page has it all...

3/20
SX2K6tour2000 tour journal. . .
tomorrow is spring!
this little tour has been the best spring break filled with so much friends and family and dance and rock and roll. i could have gone for at least 3 to 5 weeks. . . thanks the pale pacific for taking care of me and letting me rock the r.v. and crazy in love with you. i miss you.
austin/awesome texas. saw some great shows. . . the divorce just don't stop blowing me away. best aqueduct show i've ever seen. can't wait for the new record! missed a lot of great shows too, but it was great to see friends in schoolyard heroes, crosstide, the cops, the lashes, sfr, and more and more and more.
oh yeah, and the catch played. amy and i got new tattoos. (sorry mom).
lovecarly

March 20

HOORAY for U.S.E spring break family vacation! The shows all the way down to Texas were more rockin' than we could have imagined. 500 kids from all over the Northwest showed up at Sedro-Woolley High School and said it was the best day of high school ever. Whitworth was an unstoppable dance party. We had the greatest time warming up the dance floor with our friends the Pale Pacific and Velella Velella each night. Boise, Salt Lake City, Denver turned out crazy for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday nights!

First night of South by Southwest i was rocked by our friends The Catch, The Divorce, Aqueduct, walked right into a secret show by the Flaming Lips and got to meet my heroes Wayne, Steven and Michael!!! Couldn't have had more fun dancing to Something for Rockets and Velella Velella, and walking around rock and roll-filled streets of Austin, bumping into friends every few feet. U.S.E rocked a double-header on Saturday afternoon - tore up the Sonic Boom party, tore down, raced across town and blew away the UK at a British Underground showcase party. Takin it all the way worldwide! Endless Love to all who came to dance and sing and play with us from the north to the south to the east to the west. Can't wait til next time!

Love,

noah star weaver.

A few new pics from tour and recording last week at Orbit Audio have been put up in the photos section. We expect to win lots of awards for these pics.

Despite blizzards, ice, and fire we avenged the dance floors across America and ended up with even more love and music. Now back to the studio. Thank you everyone for your fun and support. Please go see the Pale Pacific and Vellela Vellela. 2 bands with an amazing live show.
Love,
U.S.E

We will be going down to Austin w/ our friends the pale pacific and vellela vellela. Check out the shows page for 21+ and all ages stops on the way down to indie spring break. It will be a party from the beginning of the show 'til the a.m.!

Writing, recording, and enjoying new music. March tour dates to come. Happy special photos from the January Japan shows will be posted soon. Check back later.
Love,
U.S.E

U.S.E will be playing this Saturday night 1/13/06 in Tokyo, Japan at Studio Coast. This is an anniversary party for the Gan Ban Record store. http://www.ganban.net/5thparty-main.html We are so excited to come visit our friends in Japan once more.

Read below for an interview with Jason for a Japanese publication.

We'll see you soon!

Love, U.S.E!



(1) What can people expect from your live set at the
Ganban party in Tokyo - what kind of musical style(s),
the vibe, and the intent...


We bring as much energy, love, and excitement to the stage as we possibly can. There are seven of us so the sound is huge, blissful and pumping. Our live show is rumored to be even more rockin' than our album is. There will be dancing, there will be sweating and rock. We encourage everyone to freak out as much as possible and party with us. U.S.E is you and me, so everyone in the room is as much a part of the experience as we are up on stage. The intent is to channel joy and love to earth.


(2) What records do you like to play at home? The
producers you respect, and record labels you think are
"hot"...?


That is always such a challenging question because all 7 of us are listening to many different records everyday. So I'll speak myself today: I've been listening to Daft Punk's new record "Human After All" all day today. It is such an underrated album, many people overlooked it right away when it came out due to the fact that it's less poppy than their last incredible album. The new album is so exciting, sonically. Every sound is brought right up to the point of explosion, the repetition and subtle variations of simpler themes really makes the music pound itself into your head.

Speaking of production: I think that the modern hip-hop production is some of the most exciting, accessible music coming out these days. There are tracks that the Neptunes make that are very modern and exciting to me. Much of my favorite production came from the nineteen sixites and seventies. Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Phil Spector (The Ronettes, others), George Martin (The Beatles) and Roy Thomas Baker (Queen) are all producers and artists whose sounds are permanently written on my brain. I also love the production of Dr. Dre, Jim O'Rourke, Shane Tutmarc, Jon Brion, Dave Fridman and Chris Walla. I have much respect for anyone making music that is artful and accessible. As for labels, Mannheim Worldwide will keep getting hotter, I don't know much about labels, they don't know much about us.

(3) What's happening with U.S.E. right now?


Right now U.S.E is taking a break from the road. We have toured the states and Japan for over 2 years supporting our first album. It has been a long and fruitful run, we are overjoyed that U.S.E has made its way to the ears and hearts of so many. But now it's time for new music. We have no shows planned for early 2006 other than ToKYO!!!!

We're in our rehearsal space and studio, masterminding the recording of our next record, and working on new songs. The next record is looking to be a bit more rocking and live sounding while being more focused and tight, we've played hundreds of shows since the last one was recorded.

Just 2 Hours ago, U.S.E was in our space preparing our set for the Gan Ban party at Studio Coast next week. We'll be debuting a new song that was written last time we were in Tokyo, and is about our love for Japan and the people that we've met and played for in our last two visits.

In other n-use, our first album will be released in the UK and possibly Europe this spring, more info on that to come.


(4) What exactly is U.S.E. music, and how do you feel
you are unique?


I feel we are unique because of our true love for eachother. We are all really united as friends and work to be very supportive of eachother. U.S.E really feels like a family.

U.S.E music is many things. It's always hard to describe your own band because you're inside of it and perhaps have less perspective.. However, our Diva-To-the-Left, Carly, put it best... U.S.E is Dance-Party-Rock.

As far as our sound, I feel we're unique because of: our use of a live-vocoder playing over very-melodic songwriting, our MC drummer, our 6 vocalists on stage, we have no "leader" or "front person", we have Jazz-chords with anthemic shout-choruses, we have a drum machine just pumping boom, boom, boom the whole show, the lead vocal is shared among 3-6 people and probably a few other things. It all comes together to make U.S.E, I haven't heard any other group that sounds exactly like us yet. I'm still looking.


(5) What are your impressions of the Japanese scene?


To tell the truth, from our previous visits, we all have the brightest and most positive impressions of everything Japanese. We have had the pleasure of meeting some incredible Japanese musicians on our last few trips. We love the music of Ramrider, Beat Crusaders, Cornelius, Towa Tei, DJ Krush and many other Japanese artists. I think there is a real sensitive, ornate quality to Japanese music both modern and traditional and it has sincerely crept its way into our songwriting. There seems to be an intense and unending enthusiasm that we've noticed in the fans in Japan, I think that really pumps up the bands to perform better and better.


(6) What are your plans for 2006?


Well, as stated above 2006 will bring the recording and hopefully release of our second full length album. It will also bring a release in Europe of our first album. I'm sure we'll end up touring the states a bit and hopefully make it over to Japan and other places around the world. Our goal is to play a show in every country in the world, we'll have to really plan ahead for that.

We hope to also work on other musical projects, we have other bands that can be heard at http://www.mannheimworldwide.com and http://www.thecatchmusic.com . We hope to keep pursuing these projects as well. The more music we make the happier we all are.


(7) I hear that U.S.E was born after several members
jokingly posed as an imaginary electronic band from
Mannheim, Germany at a Seattle nightclub. How and why
did this joke arise...?


Actually U.S.E was born just BEFORE that happened. That did happen at the first U.S.E show and I don't think we really fooled anybody because we were playing to an audience of mainly our friends. However, fake German accents were attempted, each song was played twice and it was very, very mysterious. This just reminds me of the completely goofy and playful spirit that brought on the birth of U.S.E. It was funny and the band was not really an "actual band" yet so the idea was, "let's pretend we're an 'actual band.'" I think we may actually be an actual band by now but I'm still not sure sometimes. Mannheim has a warm place in our hearts, I actually had the opportunity to visit there this year and it turned out to be much less-romantic that expected. Mannheim is also the name of our guerrilla-record label and mascot.


(8) What directions (in music) do you think will be
important this year?


North West seems to be an important musical direction this year. I feel that there will be a strong push of conceptual island-adventure-pop music this year as well. In truth, I really hope that music will take a stronger turn to melodic songwriting. I understand the powerful emotion and energy expressed through non-melodic singing and screaming but we are all most inspired by a beautiful melody. It is encouraging to have albums coming out this year by beautifully-melodic bands such as The Flaming Lips, The Strokes, Aqueduct, Wonderful and U.S.E.

Thanks for supporting us and our music. We are so excited to come back to Japan! We feel like the most blessed, lucky band in the world for this opportunity to spend more time in our favorite foreign land, Japan!

Thank you so much for coming to all our shows, dancing w/ us, sending weird things in the mail, and for spreading our music to your friends and families. Hope to see you next year. Stay tuned for new record announcements. Happy new year...
Love Luv,
U.S.E 2006

December 17 the Chop Suey hosts a free(!) party w/ U.S.E, Headphones, DJ Frankie Chan, Porq, Sunday Night Blackout and holiday games. Also, look for the egg nog shot girl. Please see the shows page for any further details.
Love, U.S.E

Thank you to all who made our show in Fremont so much fun. Hopefully, the 100 kids who rushed the stage during our last song didn't get hurt by the security guards. At one point a bouncer was handed a tambourine, a microphone, and a skateboard. They proceeded to either dance, or do some form of karate on one of the dancers. It was hard to tell. See you all at one of our dj sets, or perhaps next year at an Aqueduct show. Until then, we will be in the studio. Happy Holidays to all.

Join us in Fremont for a dance party w/ our friends Aqueduct. We are so happy to be sharing the stage w/ them again! Also, show up early to watch a snowboarding movie about snow, boarding, and movies. But unlike other snowboarding movies w/ exxtreme maxximum verts and nu metal, this one actually has a great soundtrack (smoosh, pattern 25 bands, etc) and a unique story line. Go to our shows page for more info.

It is so exciting to see everyone getting involved with the website, we're so excited that we can be so interactive with you all through it.

I apologize for not doing a tour diary on this trip, I was clockin' all the miles behind the wheel. Well not all of 'em but... we had a really amazing time touring this great nation of ours. I think the U.S.Ers that did diary told the story as good as I could have. Endless thanks to all the new friends that came out to the shows, all the clubs, the people that let us crash and the breathtaking views we saw every day. Thanks to Schoolyard Heroes, Kandy Whales and The Divorce! We learn from ya'll every night.

It also broke my heart to miss the show on Halloween, it was the last thing in the world I wanted to miss but, due to doctors orders, I was in bed that night with pneumonia. May I never miss another U.S.E show!!! Thanks for coming out and making it a great show anyway, I wish I coulda seen, it! A million thanks to Mr. Josh Ottum for filling in for me on the guitar. Look for his album to burst in a few months as well!! http://www.millpondrecords.com

It is a treat to be back at home in the most beautiful city in the country, the Emerald City! We're home and masterminding the next U.S.E album, it promises to be a beauty-love-energy-blast like no other!

Oh, and while I'm at it. We would be overjoyed if all of you went to http://www.mannheimworldwide.com and downloaded all the great free music we have up there. Including U.S.E, Wonderful, and my new "Island Masterpiece", "The Thieves of Kailua" it is recently completed and only available at mannheim for the time being. Please check it out. http://www.myspace.com/thethievesofkailua


O.K., thanks for the patience as I reconnect with ya'll. Much love to you.

Jason Holstrom

We will be playing another Tokyo show in January. Check the shows page for more info. We may be adding more shows if things work out.
http://www.ganban.net/5thparty-main.html

We have been invited to play a couple all ages shows in November. Please see the SHOWS page...we will update it w/ more info as we receive it. Hope to see you all there! Glad we could make these all ages.

Come celebrate the invention of the costume this Saturday at local haunt Neumo's. There will be DJ's, prizes, and ghouls. Lots of ghouls. Advance tickets through http://neumos.com/.

For a great article on the reinvention of rock go here: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_3109755
For a fun and funny interview from our Salt Lake City show go here:
http://provopodcast.com/
For our Japanese fans (this is either a review or a recipe): http://oops-music.com/info/view.html?oid=18326
The Village Voice had this to say about the Knitting Factory NYC show:
http://tinylink.com/?yxk5iN5l3E

Saturday, October 22, 5:53 AM

On the last stretch of road before home! Driving through the clear starry night to reach our own beds by morning, hallelujah!

Just had a fantastic final blowout in Boise, turned a room of curious spectators into full-blown dance mayhem by mid-set. Even I am astounded at the amount of energy we've expended within the last five weeks, night after night, party til we drop, don't stop, get up and do it again!!! Where does it come from? I don't know! But it has something to do with: seven people who love each other very much, everyone present dancing and singing and pouring the energy we put out back into us... And the spirit of music itself. It never ceases to amaze me - we can be tired, burnt out, ready for bed just before the show, then we get up there, the beat kicks in, power surges, the spirit takes over, fatigue vanishes, all of a sudden an hour has gone by and what was a quiet room has become a love-drenched mess and i feel better than i ever have...

I LOVE MUSIC!!! I know music is a healing power because it happens to me and those around me every day!

***************

8:17 AM

AAAAAAhhhhh! the top of the Emerald City just peaked over the trees on the horizon! I can feel it! Bright yellow saturday morning, over the lake, through the tunnel, across the bridge, oh how good it feels to be home home home! Home Philadelphia, Home Baton Rouge, Home Tucson, Home Minneapolis, Home Los Angeles, home across the world! Ah, but nothing like our sweet Emerald City surrounded by mountains and water and friends and Love...

"Man it's always like a beautiful sunny day when we come back" observes J with a huge smile...

Love Love Love,

noah star.


p.s. the Divorce is *$%^and* AMAZING! i love you deeply jimmy, garrett, shane and kyle! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE TRIP!!!

dear tour diary. . .
oh diary, i have so much to tell you. the shows have been really great for a long time now. so much love in new york city! and, amanda and i had just barely enough time after sound check to run to HandM, in the rain. which was awesome, but not nearly enough time. the show was really fun and it was great to see so many friends there. would you believe that we stayed in the trump tower that night? beautiful, right on central park. and kandy whales homecoming in philadelphia was awesome. rad new video! it was so good to spend time with them and watch them play every night. thanks so much to the altons too, for every thing. i love it there at their house, i feel so at home. we are blessed with so many homes away from home it is amazing!

now we are with the divorce. . . the divorce happen to be one of my favorite bands. not to mention awesome friends and great entertainment. they're funny. i love seeing them play every night. (sidenote- half of the divorce are in my other band, the catch, with amy rockwell and me. [i miss you amy!]. check it out, seriously)...
chicago was awesome, met lots of cool new friends and the show was off the hook. thank you pleeseasaur and tha 446. after the show everyone danced to dj spring breaks aka jon e rock and dj snakez aka jason holstrom. amanda and i stayed in chicago so we could go to HandM again and kick it with the divorce boys. we both got some cute new clothes, which is good because we've had nothing to wear for several weeks now. thanks the divorce for the new van games. minneapolis has always been great to us, thanks again. great to see you all again. STEVE! so awesome to see you again! where will you show up next, seattle? jonathon, thanks so much for taking care of us.
for some reason, it feels like we're heading home now, and that feels kind of nice. i'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family at home, and to seeing my extreme apartment makeover by anna banana! (check out pretty parlour to learn more). and my friends at work! i miss you guys! check out www.vain.com to learn more. but...

the truth is we still have like a week worth of shows to play, and i'm STOKED for that! i love being out here on the road with six of my very best friends aka my brothers and sister. i love fall, and its so amazing to watch it out the window of the van all over the country. feels like home! again!
praise the lord!
lovelovelove
carly

SEE YOU SOON TOKYO!

I think its been a week or so since I've written, and so much has happened! We are in Connecticut now, on our way to Philly to play the last show of our Kandy Whales/ U.S.E tour. We will miss those guys terribly... it has been so much fun to experience all of this together, and to dance to their incredible music each night.
In a couple days, we'll meet up with our buddies from back home, the Divorce, and continue on toward home.

In New York, we met 2 very generous people, Erin and Pete, who let us stay with them in their suite at the Trump Tower. We woke up to the most stunning view of Central Park, it was was just like the movies! Sure beats the Motel 6. I heart NYC. Oh, and Steve from North Carolina.... thanks for bringing the party! Hope to see you there next time...

LOVE and miss you, Seattle.

Amanda

Rainbow in the distance as we cruise down the Florida coastline, ears filled with Carly's Grandpa singing Up A Lazy River with the Country Nicks. When Vamos a la Playa came on the radio going to the beach never sounded so exciting so we took a right to find the crystal white beaches of Crystal Bay and took a dip in the Gulf of Mexico...

The first raindrops hit the windshield and turn into a one-minute rainstorm as Orlando comes closer. Jon e. and Amanda flew to Los Angeles early this morning to celebrate his sister Tanya's wedding this weekend! So we're on vacation in Florida til our show on Monday which we kicked off with a hot and humid dance party with KW and the Seminoles of Florida State.

And Thank You, Thank You, to all our new friends in Baton Rouge, wonderful wonderful people from all over Louisiana who transformed Red Star with us on Thursday night!!! You could feel a new beginning take over the place. Someone there said Katrina means cleansing and he feels like a brand new man, all those little things he used to worry about gone for good. Amen!

Love,

Noah Star.

September 30, 2005 7am

We played an amazing show in Baton Rouge last night... we met so many incredible people there and made a few new friends. We headed out afterward for some Louisiana home cooking c/o Louie' s, an all night diner. There are no available hotels in Baton Rouge, so we decided to try our luck and drive all night to Tallahassee. Its 7 am now and the sun is up. I am the designated shot-gun passenger this morning and Jon e. and I have seen some amazing things already. We passed over the Mississippi border to find even worse destruction than we had seen earlier. We saw interstate exits literally gone... just piles of debris remained... there was a hotel in ruins with all of its contents strewn across the parking lot... including piles of mattresses. The energy surrounding us is chaotic and nervous, almost as if everyone on the road is trying desperately to get home. Among all of this, its beautiful here. The morning sun is bright orange and glistening through the remaining trees. We're only about 10 miles from Biloxi, Mississippi, I wonder what awaits us there. Thank you, Louisiana... see you again soon, I hope.

Love Amanda

September 29, 2005

We hit the Louisiana border a few miles back, and I've never seen anything like this. What amazingly beautiful yet tragic country. The Hurricane hit hard here, and across the other side of the border to Texas... I feel like I'm in a war zone. There are army vehicles blocking every exit, there's no gas, no working toilets and every business and home we've passed has been abandoned and has boarded up windows. We are just about the only vehicle on the road that isn't here for the relief effort... but I guess in some sort of way we are. We've come to complete our mission of spreading love and joy and music throughout this country, and I think the people here need that more than anywhere. We are the lucky ones, we've got enough gas to get us to Baton Rouge, air conditioning and cliff bars. We've been listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival (born on the Bayou) and Bruce Springsteen's stories of the American working people and oil refineries... which we've definitely seen a lot of. We also saw trees literally ripped from the earth, with bright green patches of grass still surrounding their roots, suspended in the air. We saw a gigantic jack in the box sign on its side, where it rested on an SUV. Some hotels and churches look like they have been bombed out and then abandoned for the past decade. I am so thankful I get to see this, however difficult it may be, it has been an incredible thing to experience. Much love to the state of Louisiana.... and to all of you...

LOVE Amanda
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i love you noah.
tour is awesome! i love schoolyard heroes, the indigo district, burritos, family in la, austin, ella ford, kandy whales, the van, not getting hit by a hurricane, jason, noah, jon e, amanda, peter, derek, and seeing new places! amanda and jason sing along with the boss. here we come dirty south! we are on 10, one week after hurricane. can't wait to see what happens next! now is the accepted time! in sleeplessness, in fasting, but not really. i'm having fun. miss you friends at home.
can i butt in here? hi everybody! ok done. peter - cute.
lovecarly


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i love carly

Nine Twenty Nine,

"Everything' s totally bayou-style - so green and wet " notices J at the wheel, rolling towards Louisiana to Creedence Clearwater Revival: "I see them hurricanes a'blowin!" I am So Excited to see this new territory, a whole corner of the country that none of us have ever experienced!

Oh! Places we've never been!
Places weve never been!
I'm so glad to be Places weve never been!

Just rolled over the bridges of Old River, Lost River and Trinity River in...

"Whoa!! A whole tree!!" we shout as we look out and see a tree still attached to its ground completely uprooted, then another, and many more, huge trees completely shattered by wind. Thank God its sunny right now...

"That's a good song name - Turtle Bayou Turnaround - dance sensation sweeping the nation" J points at the sign.

And there's a McDonald's sign with no arches left, power lines hanging over the edge of the freeway, military checkpoints along every exit, houses with tree-torn roofs, a church duct-taped together, every sign and billboard shattered beyond recognition, a boat stranded in the middle of a field as we pass through Beaumont, an area hit hardest by Hurricane Rita. Looking at the rugged Louisiana coastline on the map, it would seem that it has been torn up a million times before...

Ahhh... cool, cold, refreshing Houston, TX.
Actually its 105 or so degrees and humid, but we are all glad we made it here. Somehow the hurricane's path skipped all the places it was supposed to go, and therefore skipped all the places we were supposed to go... we didn't even have to cancel one show.
We're nearly two weeks into our five week tour, and so far its been amazing! We spent the drive and shows down the west coast with the beautiful and talented Schoolyard Heroes, then met up with our good friends and touring mates Kandy Whales in San Diego. We've been in Texas now for five days... but we're off to Baton Rouge tomorrow! Its been so interesting to be down here in South, among people that have been directly affected by the recent tragedy... I can't believe the strength and hope these people possess... and they still want to DANCE!!!
The shows have been ridiculously fun and the friends we've met have been priceless.

I miss you, the Emerald City! See you soon!

LOVE Amanda

Rolling downhill with a blown out tire right into a 24hour tire repair in the middle of Nowhere, Texas. Hurricanes changing their course to spare us and our three shows that were almost cancelled. Holy protection surrounds us.

Kamping with Kandy Whales on the mediterranean shores of Travis Lake was a transforming experience. Swimming all night, backfloating beneath the stars, songs surrounding the fire, bacon in the morning - the best remedy to the Austin heat.

It only gets hotter from here...

Love,

noah.

Earthquakes a day behind
Hurricanes a day ahead
Lightning up above
Rainstorm to the left
Rainbow to the right
We are in the heart of it!

Woke up on the First Day of Autumn in the soft blue just before sunrise on a beach looking across the bay to San Diego, a half-moon and a few stars still in the sky. The best bowl of beans and tortillas known to man and a new radiator on the KW van fueled us up for the arduous trek east across the desert to Tucson. Pulled up to Solar Culture at sunset with a few angels hanging out on the back porch. 11 days since my birthday, 11 days til Carly's, and the 7 of us played our 7th show in 7 days. U.S.E and Kandy Whales made it a celebration of course, and the desert kids responded tremendously...

Love,

noah star.

Life i love is makin' music with my friends, I'm so glad to be on the road again!

Off on our biggest trip yet, 5 weeks all the way around the States in a van with my best friends in the world... Took off Friday for Portland, where we were met by our friends and Seattle natives Schoolyard Heroes, who drove 24 hours straight from Nebraska fresh off a 9 week tour with Vendetta Red to head down the West Coast with us! We kicked it off right, P-Town style, and had a blast rocking Eugene, San Francisco, LA together. Parted on Tuesday night with a raging parking lot party after fully unraveling Hollywood's Knitting Factory. We love you Ryann, Jonah, Steve and Brian!!!

Woke up this morning to an amazing Armenian feast cooked by Jon e.'s dad at his home in Clairemont, CA. Heading down to San Diego this afternoon to meet up with our Philadelphia brothers, KANDY WHALES to begin the rock n' roll onslaught we have been dreaming about together for the past ten years... AT LAST!!! Dreams do come true... I see it happen everyday.

Love,

Noah Star.

Out on tour! It's fun. And wet. Check back often for journal updates.