Lindenhurst was a day off. We had fun with Hooking Up, chilled out and went to bed early. Nuff said. Also, their DIY scene in Long Island is mad committed. 

Let’s talk about Philly! First off, Mark Walsh is my new favorite person. Really enthusiastic about what he does. He’s in a band called Secret Plot to Destroy the Entire Universe, but he also runs a really cool DIY space in Philly. Definitely a tour highlight so far. My friends from a band called Fugue (RIP) came to me highly recommending him when I asked about good places to stop, and boy, they weren’t kidding. It’s in the middle of a pretty sketchy area, but these guys make you feel safe and at home. As do Banned Books, whose house I’m currently sitting in. They played with us tonight, and damn were they on top of it. Still geeking out over their set. It’s like pop music but way more experimental. So not pop music. But it’s too experimental to be popularized. WHAT KIND OF LABEL DO WE STICK ON THEM!? Banned-Books-core. That’s as close as we can get to adequately explaining them. 

Head on over to their bandcamp for those tunes. We also played with Trees of Light and Barrow from North Carolina. Great guys, cool post-rock/hardcore-influenced acts. Hooking Up was on the bill too, who cares. Locals Bleeding Fractals killed it at the end of the night. 

Gotta finish this sandwich. SUNY PURCHASE TOMORROW!!!

I was too lazy to type this earlier/I was too busy trying not to get a parking ticket. We didn’t get one! Rock and roll! 

So here we are at the Spoon Cafe in Lindenhurst, New York on Long Island. We’ve just been hanging out all day playing Scrabble and getting kicked out of CVS. We’re not thugs, just punks putting diapers on each others’ heads! What’s wrong with that!?

But anyways. New York City. Well, first off, let me just say that there’s nothing quite as brisk as twenty degrees not counting wind chill. Definitely reminds you of what’s important in life out of fear of being frozen to death. Thankfully, Chestpiece was bundled up warm and ready to take the stage at Piano’s in New York! The crowd wasn’t as present as we would have liked, but we went all out just the same. Our new friends Pauli and Christian dug our sound, at least. Try to guess which one of the two plays drums with Gorillaz! And no, that’s not a joke. They flew these two guys out from London and LA respectively to play with the opening band Queen Kwong, a 3-piece doing a showcase for some labels. Good thing those labels left before we went on, or we would’ve done something anti-establishment or something arbitrarily reckless along those lines. Punk rock, right?

We learned a ton about the other side of the music industry from our new, dear friends—the side that has managers and agents coordinating their career moves. And let me tell you, it gave us a newfound appreciation for what we’re doing, this whole DIY thing. Being in charge of our own affairs, while it may deprive us of crowds of 100,000 people, gives us the creative edge all artists strive for but not enough have. We pick the songs we want to play and where we play them; this is an opportunity that these guys were not entirely used to and commended us for our efforts. Some of the most interesting, philosophical guys we’ve ever met. By the time they left our friend Aly’s apartment in Brooklyn at 4:30 AM, we felt like we’d known them all our lives. It was like saying goodbye to some old friends—Christian put it best though; “Perhaps our paths will cross again.” We certainly hope so.

Day off in Lindenhurst, NY tonight as we watch Hooking Up take the stage! See you in Philly tomorrow! 

Watching Spinal Tap. This is just about the best way any night could end on tour, period. Tonight was tons of fun; we got to see old friends and new friends from Connecticut, including self-proclaimed sixth member Andy Jones, engineer of our most recent EP! He got to join us on stage for Cassius Clay to reprise his backing vocals, which has always been a personal dream of mine to fulfill. Great to see that come to fruition.

It got lonely without our pals in Hooking Up tonight….Darrell and I were singing Dirty Laundry on our way to get some Hot and Sour Soup. Wait, that song’s not on their Bandcamp….does it exist? You bet it does. But we DID get to hear Real Job tonight! Though it wasn’t the one most people would recognize….improvisational two-piece Awesome Opossum (Nixon’s Nightmare) played their own version at our show. Their premise is simple yet incredibly tantalizing: they pick a random song title and roll with it. Like, literally roll with it. They make it all up as they go along based on a song title given from themselves or the audience. And damn, was some of it hysterical. Rich Ochs of Chestpiece fame got to sing on their version of Pop Pills, turning into a rousing folk-rock number. Definitely one of the most entertaining, engaging sets we’ve seen on tour thus far. You need to see this one live in CT if you get the chance—recordings and words can’t quite do this group justice. Pop-punk trio The Theatre Zombies were great, too. Fast, melodic songs that remind you of when you were 13 again are always a plus.

Aside from donations, we went home penniless tonight because the venue itself didn’t even break even on the door. Do we care? Not really. If we wanted to make money, we would have sold our instruments rather than played them. We’re Chestpiece and we’re here to have fun. Stick to yr ethics, kids. 

Piano’s in Manhattan, NYC tomorrow for $8! Be wary, this one’s 21+. Sorry young Chesties. Perhaps you will see us in Brooklyn the following night….details TBA…

It’s quiet in this kitchen. Too quiet. Not to be the creeper of this travelling group of punk rock minstrels or anything, but I am currently watching everyone else sleep. Mmmm. I guess that automatically makes me the creeper. Ah well. I haven’t shaved in a while anyways, so at least I look the part. Ladies take note: Not actual creeper.

AHEM. Day two! We arrived in New Brunswick, NJ with open arms from Eric and Steve of Brick Mower! They’ve been to H-Burg before and killed it when they were there (shamelessplug http://www.brickmower.bandcamp.com shamelessplug). Hopefully we were able to return em the favor. Not only are they an awesome band, but they’re also really great hosts too. Big ups to them for letting us crash at their place!

The show itself was tons of fun. Unfortunately, local opener Appendix had to drop because their guitarist broke his hand :( If you can hear me out in cyberspace, get well soon! (I hope he heard me.) Anyways, we stepped up to the plate and kicked off the show right. Maybe gained a couple new Chestheads along the way. Who knows? You’re Jovian from Virginia Beach was up next, minus 2/3 of the band…the drummer did it all by himself with backing tracks. That takes balls, man. Kudos. Then Hooking Up who cares. THEN SUN PUDDLES. Oh man. Sun Puddles was like, the TALLEST band I’ve ever seen. So many tall people. Imagine, like, a tall girl and three Darrells. No, they were taller than Darrell. They were also really reminiscent of Pavement and Silver Jews and White Laces and all of those bands. In a good way, I might add. A very good way. Despite a screeching mic, the band pulled through a supremely good set for their first in December. 

The show was over by 10 PM. WAIT, WHAT!? Harrisonburg, VA take note: Someday we will start a show on time and you will all miss it just to spite you.

All threats aside, lots of cool moments last night. Caught a glimpse of 2/3 of Screaming Females before they embark on their Spring tour today. Ran into a guy ex-Arches from Philly, a band we played with in Blacksburg, VA (SMALLEST WORLD IN THE WORLD.) Learned literally years of history from Scruffs, resident New Brunswick DIY historian. Got to make Clam Chowder at a reasonable hour (did that rhyme? UPDATE: Yes it did.) Played a game called Facebox….or Facebag….one of those two. Don’t try that one at home, kids. Dozens of other crazy shenanigans transpired, but those were some of my favorites. Anyways, gotta go wash this pen off of my face. For the record, I took off my shoes before I went to sleep, so somebody owes me an apology….

HEIRLOOM ARTS THEATRE, DANBURY CT 7 PM TONIGHT! $5 COVER CHARGE!

-Robert

Just ate a sausage, onion, pepper and feta omelet. Mad props to the Mulcahy family for the bountiful breakfast we just had. We made a killing in DC last night at the Casa Fiesta. COOLEST space. It was a restaurant downstairs (highly recommend the fajitas) and upstairs was a room large enough for any circle pit you could imagine. Too bad there wasn’t a circle pit. Don’t worry, Vince and I tested it out before the show. You could definitely do one if you wanted. There WAS, however, a new band called Meta that opened the show, excellent indie-pop tunes. Gotta keep my eye on them. Thanks to indie-folk-rockers Coxey Brown who played too! Another young band. ATTN KIDS: Keep making music! 

The biggest chunk of credit, however, is due to Alex Edelmann and Robin Zeijlon for setting up the show. 17 years old, folks! It was the 2nd show they had ever put together, so huge thanks to the new booking agents in DC. They’re gonna go far—remember those names. Patrick Walsh, watch yr back.

So far, having a blast. Too bad nobody told Jordan microwave pizzas will go bad. Never fear, she ate them last night! Rejoice!

New Brunswick tonight @ Rehab w/Sun Puddles, Appendix and You’re Jovian. Starts at 7pm sharp. Let’s do this thaaaaang. Stay Chest. 

-Robert 

-Robert 

I write this from Harrisonburg, VA—a place where we will not be for the next week and two days. Chestpiece embarks on their tour with fuzz-pop local heroes Hooking Up today. This morning, we reached an unfortunate set back. Despite the wonderful work of DIY enthusiast Gus Caldwell, our new line of shirts will not be accompanying us on our journey. At first, we were all deeply disappointed; our hearts and our wallets hurt. Then we remembered: we were a band before the shirts, and we will be a band after the shirts. So we’re just going to have to kill it five times harder.

That being said, the shirts were going to provide some financial sustenance for us on tour, so if you could donate a few extra bucks in lieu of a tee, that would be amazing. We hope we can give you a show of equal if not more value. Hopefully more. 

We can’t wait. We’re ready. Here we come. #protectyrchest

Washington, DC tonight at Casa Fiesta with Hooking Up, Meta, and Coxey Brown!

3/2: Washington D.C @ Casa Fiesta
3/3: New Brunswick, NJ @ Rehab
3/4: Danbury, CT @ Heirloom Arts Theatre
3/5:Manhattan, NYC @ Pianos
3/6: TBA (Brooklyn, NY)
3/7: Philly, PA @ IHOP Estate
3/8: Purchase, NY @ SUNY Purchase
3/9: Boston, MA @ Gay Gardens
3/10: Atlantic City, NJ @ The Boneyard
3/11: Harrisonburg, VA Blue Nile

Chestheads! Fresh back from a trip to the local music store with a bevy of tour-related purchases, I bring some news. I guess. Let’s break it down:

1. NYC Shows aka Chestpiece Takes the Muppets Who Took Manhattan 

Got a call from Vincent of tour fellows Hooking Up…we’ve had a scare with our March 5th show falling through, but that show is officially a go! We will be playing together at Piano’s in Manhattan, NYC alongside Vic and Gab plus Queen Kwong. Trust me when I say the bill has gone through some interesting line-up changes. I wish that Christian Metal band didn’t drop the show. Is that an oxymoron?* Anyways, if you’re in NYC and you’ve got $8 to spare (which I might add is totally unfair pricing,) come and hang out. We’re also trying to cook up something March 6th in Brooklyn with fellow Harrisonburg rockers Adam in America, so stay tuned for updates on that.

*=NOTE: I am super respectful of a band expressing the ideology that they wish to endorse. I’ve just always found it funny that a type of music with origins cemented in satanic references and demi-worship (see: Black Sabbath) found its way to the audience that despises such imagery. 

2. Firetrucks

Part of Chestpiece’s outlook on “the scene” is to forge friendships with other bands not as a means of social climbing, but to unite niche groups in smaller communities to create a larger epicenter of constructive social behavior. In other words, let’s get together and punk the fuck out. One band that really wants to do that is Firetrucks from Charlottesville, VA. They are SIXTEEN/SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD and they clearly like The Descendents as much as they like Agent Orange and Natural Child. This is a killer 3-piece worth knowing. If you are in Virginia (or anywhere, really,) get these guys places to play. Their live set is energetic, frantic yet composed, and extremely engaging to watch. They make me optimistic for the future. You should feel the same way. 

http://www.firetrucks.bandcamp.com

3. T-SHIRTS!!!

Starting with tour, the new wave of Chestpiece’s Spring catalog will be out in full force, and by that I mean, NEW SHIRTS! Probably going to be sold in the ballpark of $5-6, expect pictures real soon. All I can say is you have a choice of green or blue and the picture is totally relevant. Additionally, we’ve still got a couple of those classic Ghostpiece shirts designed by aforementioned DIY enthusiast Vincent Castellano and screen-printed by our buddy Gus Caldwell (Kilgore Trout, Foulmouth). Help us ditch those so we have more room in our merch box. 

That’s all for now. Check out those tour dates if you haven’t already!

-Robert 

We resolve to use this blog more. What? Nah, we’re not two months into 2012. No, today is January 1st. Check your calender. Actually, don’t. Just take my word.

Anyways, we also resolve to use this blog for a higher power, aka what the kids all like to call “the scene.” That means we’re gonna hype our friends’ bands and groups we’ve played with as much as is humanly possible. It’s all about branching out and building that community. So, without further ado, some Chestpiece + Friends-related news:

1. Not sure if we ever formally announced this, but our good Peter Mulcahy is now a part-time bassist for Chestpiece! He’s the guy that’s not Dave. Don’t worry—Dave’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Right now, he’s really busy no longer being a full-time student and working at home, so his schedule is not as flexible as it used to be. We support his endeavors 100% and plan on working things out with him. You’ll see him on tour for sure. But anyways, buddy-boy Petey is an all-around great guy who shares our belief in ethics of responsible opposition-fun. He also really likes Cassius Clay, which is always a plus. You can catch him at our show playing the Flea-tar (my new name for a bass) this Thursday. Speaking of which….

2. This Thusday, 2/24/12. Harrisonburg, VA. MYMANSION. 10 PM. We’re gonna play in town one last time before tour with a fantastic two-piece from Norfolk, VA called Glass Pennies. Seriously some great guys—they wanted to get dinner before the show at one of my favorite places to eat in town. So they know their local cuisine AND their local scene. Mad props. Also, their last cassette, Acid Food Cake, was absolutely killer. If you’re into grunge-soaked riffs backed by rugged drums, this is up your alley. It’s out on SHDWPLY now, or you can stream it at their Bandcamp at http://www.glasspennies.bandcamp.com. Pacing in Squares are playing too. They seem like great people—I can’t find their music anywhere online, but I plan on giving a rave review of them after Thursday. 

3. Some friends of ours from Richmond in a band called Springtime just got put on a bill with folk-punk giants Andrew Jackson Jihad!! For those of you unaware of that group, that’s a big deal. These Phoenix, Arizona scenesters (get it?!) put out a great record last year called Knife Man. Grab it. But anyways, I’m not stopping there. Joyce Manor is on that bill too. Yes, THAT Joyce Manor from CA who rarely tour the East Coast. Arguably the best punk band doing it right now, http://www.joycemanor.bandcamp.com will explain the band far better than I could. One of the best records of last year. So excited for their follow-up this Spring. Spring? Oh, right. Back to Spring. Anyways, major congrats to our buddies in Springtime! Hopefully we will have tunes of theirs to post soon. Here’s the event for that show of theirs: http://www.facebook.com/events/340128339359062/. It’s not till April 17th, but I’ve already kept that date open. You should too.

That’s about it for now. Stay great, Chestpeople!

-Robert 

Oh yeah! We have a Tumblr! I forgot.

Anyways, we’re going on tour with the delightful dudes in Hooking Up in less than two weeks. Here are the dates/locations:

March 2nd: Casa Fiesta, Washington DC

March 3rd: Rehab, New Brunswick, NJ

March 4th: Heirloom Arts Theatre, Danbury CT*

March 5th: Pianos, Manhattan, NYC

March 6th: Brooklyn House Show TBA*

March 7th: IHOP Estate, Philly, PA

March 8th: SUNY Purchase College, Purchase NY

March 9th: Twin Towers, Boston MA

March 10th: The Boneyard, Atlantic City, NJ

March 11th: Blue Nile, Harrisonburg VA (Hometown Show!)

*=without Hooking Up

Also, new t-shirts are ready to go! They have a blimp on em! Probably gonna be $5-$6. Hopefully we can get those online soon. See you on the road! 

http://www.hookingup.bandcamp.com

Credit to the lovable William Huberdeau of Digging Up Virgins for this classy footage from our release show this weekend. Nothing quite like a bunch of people knowing the words you wrote on a piece of paper 15 minutes before a band practice many months ago…