Audio Files

On the road again, Motheater style

Story And Photos By Tuyet Nguyen
nguytuye@mscd.edu

Tour doesn't make any sense. Especially in the hands of an underground rock band, the entire idea of it is just impractical. Take one van and cram an entire band plus equipment and maybe throw in one or two friends for good measure. Then route a city by city itinerary trusting that across each new horizon there will be a venue to rock out in and hopefully a couch/floor to sleep on. Become accustomed to the delicacies of truck stop food and rely on selling t-shirts and other cheap merchandise to make gas and food money. Really, tour is an acquired taste.

There's also something to be said about touring with, say, a band like Aerosmith versus touring with a small band from Denver that has never really been outside of the Rocky Mountain region before. Aerosmith has tour buses, managers, catered dinners, groupies, expensive lighting, and a guarantee to get paid for each performance. Motheater, also known as My Summer Vacation, graciously accepted me as their road mother for a little over two weeks on their recent trek across the United States and, suffice it to say, they are no Aerosmith. But that doesn't mean they don't party as hard (or probably even harder).

Everything that happens on tour becomes "we." We stayed up for nearly 24 hours in Las Vegas and then went swimming at 6 a.m. We nearly lost an expensive bass head and had to drive hours out of the way to retrieve it. We spent about four days in California and didn't get paid a dime. We survived the heat of Arizona and illegally camped in the woods. We made it through the Midwest, Northwest, West Coast, and the desert in a cramped van and we're still friends.

For the bands and road buddies who brave the open road, tour is an experience not too often captured in words. There's no real way to describe the bonds that are created night after night with total strangers. There's no way to re-tell an inside joke that lasts for 15 days straight or to understand newly created vernacular among band mates. There's no euphemism or metaphor sufficient to really capture the strange satisfaction of not showering for days and being absolutely comfortable with it.

Essentially, tour comes down to this: being broke, hungry, and smelly but never wanting to come home.

What follows is a three way conversation after a house show in La Grange, Ill. featuring Mike Reisenger of Motheater, Nick Mielke of Lazer Mountain, and Jeff (last name unknown) of Holy Smokes interviewing each other and basically being as, um, serious as possible.

Tuyet: First, introduce yourselves.
Jeff: I'm Brew City from Brew City, Ill. of the band Holy Smokes.
Mike: I'm Randy McCloud of the band Motheater from Denver, Colo.
Nick: They call me Kennesaw Jim... that or Whiskey Jim from Kennesaw Mountain Georgia. Otherwise known as Nick Mielke from Lazer Mountain.
Mike: Holy Smokes! What's it like being an up-and-coming band and struggling in the harsh adversity of stardom?
Jeff: It's like a donkey trying to pull a cart through a town of jackasses.
Nick: Okay, if you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take ten things and two people, what and who would they be?
Jeff: Ten things and two people? Flash light, Brew City, an entire '70s classic rock record collection without a record player so I can just look at them, a monocle...
Mike: Don't be ridiculous.
Jeff: ...lube, tacos, tacos, gravy.
Tuyet: Now, two people.
Jeff: Nick Mielke and this man (points to Mike).
Tuyet: Now ask McCloud a question.
Jeff: So, what's it like being in the Mile High Club?
Mike: Well ... (pause) As a teenager living on Long Island at sea level, I thought, man I'm never gonna be in the Mile High Club. But then at the tender age of 16 when my retired parents moved me to Grand Junction, Colo., from then on every single time I've had sex, I've joined the Mile High Club. So I've re-initiated myself, like, I don't know, how many times have I had sex? Four times?
Jeff: Seriously, be honest.
Mike: 417 times. I'm like the Captain of the Mile High Club. Okay, no more questions.
Tuyet: What about Nick?
Jeff: What's it like to hump your best friend's favorite girl?
Nick: First of all, it was his ex-girlfriend. And it was pretty awesome except I was on Dexatrin so I couldn't get an erection, no matter what.
Mike: He felt nothing.
Nick: I got the royal treatment but, like, I just wasn't up to it.

This is only a glimpse of the silliness of Motheater's summer tour. For a day-to-day account, color photos, and general nonsense, log on to http://themetonline.mscd.edu