I usually don’t write notes on one-stop trips. But our first visit in Russia deserves one.

Let’s just say: Having had buddies being robbed, kidnapped and whatnot in Murmansk before, the level of anxiety was slightly above normal when crossing the Russian border. Most bands that go there are on organized trips. We, on the other hand, had a show booked by a local promoter – and went in on our own knowing pretty much nothing of what to expect.

However, we were offered some advices/rules from our Russia-knowing friends up front: 

 

Do not bring more valuables that absolutely needed

Do NOT leave your gear alone

Do NOT get drunk on vodka and rage around at night

In general: Keep a LOW profile

 

We stopped by in Kirkenes and had our good friends in Burka Brothers set up a delish DIY show at Basen – Thank you so much Marthe and crew for everything, much appreciated – had a few beers at Havna Pub with the local punks. Two hours before the arranged pick up time the next morning the phone rang and woke me up. The voice spoke Russian. I went outside and met Dimitri, our driver for the next 24 hours. Dimitri is a good man. He didn’t say much, but he did the job. He drove. An hour later we had crossed the border and started on the 3.5 hour drive to Murmansk. Upon passing Nikkel – in short terms the creepiest city I’ve ever seen – the first “situation” occurred. And bare in mind we were already nervous. “Is that a police control?” – someone muttered. No, it was a car accident. As we rolled slowly past the site we saw the shattered car upside down in the ditch. And next to the road: A dead person. Around him: Ten guys seemingly unaffected by the morbid sight at hand. Smoking cigarettes. Oh well…

 

Two hours later, still alive, we rolled across the bridge into Murmansk, overlooking the vast concrete landscape and were met at the venue by our promoters Ivan and Anton from 7 Behegemot. Great guys. We were served a tasty Russian lunch meal and met Inessa, our translator. And then broke rule #2. We left all the gear behind and went with Inessa on a guided excursion of the city. It was pretty much all war related. Realizing that we had entered a different time zone (all of Russia are using Moscow time for some reason) we had to rush back to the venue in order to make it to the show. We got their in time, set up and went on in front of a couple of hundred wild Russian kids inside “Gulf Stream” and had a kick ass punk rock show with all the obligatory moshpit ingredients in place – crowd surfing, shout-alongs and general circle pit action. It took the guards two minutes to clear the floor after we finished. It was getting late and time to pack up and leave. So where to? Our promoter’s apartment. That I understood. And yeah, I noticed “vodka” being used several times in the sentence. Totally worn out, hungry, still a bit sketched out by the oncoming Murmansk night and with no power on my cell nor any Russian money I kinda realized and soon settled with the fact that our well being was not in our hands anymore but in our promoters’. So we got out of the venue and broke rule #2 again: Putting all our gear in an unlicensed taxi (An black Lada with a spoiler), sending it all off with our promoter. In my mind I strategically reckoned: If it disappears, then our promoter disappears with it - meaning we don’t a place to stay. Further on I thought: Without equipment we can more easily move around and be less of an object of desire for the mafia. Critical thinking for critical times… 

 

We got to the apartment and the first thing I see is a monstrous cat. Good thing I didn’t bring my allergy medicine. I was preparing for the worst night of my life. I was so hungry, hadn’t showered, still no power on my cell, no Russian money, a slight paranoia growing on me and surprisingly enough: Absolutely NO intention to party.

 

I don’t really know what happened next. Or wait, I do: Vodka happened. All of sudden the spirits were rocketing to the Murmansk sky like nuclear cosmonauts and before I knew it we were on our way out of the apartment building on a hunt for more fine Russians liquids and in the process breaking all four rules in style. We had adapted. Two hours later I passed out on the floor. When in Rome…

 

I was awaken by Dimitri’s voice on the phone. Time to go home. I didn’t want to leave, really. Dimitri got us back through Nikkel and across the border – where we met the only real jerk on this trip, a f&%/ worthless, fresh-out-of-school Norwegian custom officer clearly in need of displaying whatever power he had.

 

Bottom line: We are totally going back to Russia. Huge thanks to Ivan and Anton of 7 Begemotov for inviting us and putting on this show – can’t wait for the full Russian tour next year, Inessa our translator and guide, Dimitri the driver, Rune Rafaelsen and the Barents Secreteriat for the support, Marthe & Burka Brothers/Basen for the KKN show and all the kids who came out to share the good times with us.

 

Nostrovia!

Dear friends, fans and future collaboraters,



here is some information that might interest you





Upcoming touring:



We are currently booking shows worldwide (US, Europe, Asia) in support of our fourthcoming album, due for release in Norway in august 2009. Promoters/venues/etc please contact us at turdus@turdusmusicus.com for further details and inquires.





Upcoming release:



We are currently running things ourselves through our own label INTIMATE with Scandinavian distribution thru Bonnier Amigo Music plus a world wide publishing deal with Phonofiles that secures proper digital distro of our music through all major online stores (incl. Itunes Music store and a ton of others). However - We are now scoping for label support for our fourthcoming album - produced by Jason Livermore in legendary Blasting Room Studios. Needless to say: The album is by far our proudest moment to date and ourselves and all whom have been so fortunate to have been given a sneak peak couldn't agree more. Get in touch (turdus@turdusmusicus.com) for more information.

Hope to see you all on the road later this year

Can't wait.....

Yours truly




"WE MEAN BUSINESS"
Turdus Musicus April 2009
Photo by Daniel Mikkelsen

Hey friends

We have been handpicked out of hundreds of band for this support gig of METALLICA, ANTHRAX and MACHINE HEAD in Hultsfred July 18.
Now it's ALL up to YOU if we can get it. It would be fun huh??
It's super easy:

Go to this website:

http://www.myspace.com/aeglivesweden

Press VOTE/submit.

You can only do it once a day but please feel free to check in daily!

YOU RULE!

Carl & Co

We just got back from our second trip to Asia, and thought we’d share some of our memories with you all. We brought along acclaimed cinematographer and homeboy Rich Goodwin to document it all, that video will appear sometimes later this year so stay tuned. So, what happened?

 

Participated in a grand theft auto-worthy Chinese downhill-ish ride from Zhenjiang to Nanjing. Almost died like six times. Check.

Played some of China’s finest club venues, including Vox in Wuhan (the first punk venue in the country), Yu Yin Tang (Shanghai’s only real rock venue), D22 (China’s CBGBs), MAO (oh yes) and Starlive (yup, the same one NOFX gets ripped off in by the shady promoter in “Backstage Passport”). Check.

Played in front of a crowd of over 10.000 crazy chinese rock kids. Check.

Gained probably 10 pounds from just eating, eating and eating all the delish Chinese food. Check.

Ate frog. Check.

Crashed a wedding party in Zhenjiang. And they thanked us! Check.

Used a freakin HIGH end government building for green room at MIDI. Most luxurious ever. Check.

Awake for 48 hours straight, partying and playing shows in both Zhenjiang and Beijing in that time. Jetlag rules. Not. Check.

Had our show at MIDI festival stopped before the last song in order to “calm the crowd”. Didn’t work. Check.

Sang karaoke. Drinking Jack & Ice tea out of laboratory glasses. Check.

Guarded by some twenty badass Chinese cops at our show at MIDI. Check.

Met Jacques Le Deusche. Check.

McDonalds for breakfast. KFC for lunch. Show with a straight edge band for dinner. Keepin’ it politically incorrect. Check. 

Signed autographs at McDonalds in Zhenjiang. Check.

 

And the list goes on. Such good times. So many people to thank. Most notably of course our Chinese brothers in Tookoo (www.myspace.com/tookoo) and their wonderful wives and girlfriends, King-Size China, Chang Liu, Zhang Fan and the whole MIDI organization, Paul Huang from HOT POT Music, the fine people of Mike TV and AOF, Carl’s sister Christina, Nevin at D22, Dostav Dixit at VOX, Have Heart and of course the mysterious Mr. Jacques Le Deusche who appeared from out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly one early morning at Beijing International Airport. And of course – the thousands of Chinese punks who came out to rock out with us. Check out the picture in the "Tourage: China" album. And yeah, see you next year!!! Zai jian!

Hey there!

So we're heading back to China in less than a month. Pretty stoked on it, getting to play China's equivalent of Woodstock, the mighty MIDI festival plus tour with Chinese punk legends TOOKOO and Boston Hardcore heros HAVE HEART. If you are on facebook - attend the event here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=75595763063&ref=mf

Feel free to invite your Chinese friends!! Or fuck it, buy a ticket and fly out to rock out with us!

Also: We're playing the newly ressurected DØDTID festival in Tromsø. It's a rad initiative by the local hardcore scene to, well, make the scene thrive once again and the line up consists of some of the most interesting local and national hardcore acts. And us. Hah!

Here are some dates for you:

April 17 TROMSØ @ DØDTID FESTIVAL

China tour:

April 30 SHANGHAI @ YUNYITANG w/Tookoo(CN), Army Of Freshness (US), Mike TV (UK)
May 1 ZHENJIANG @ MIDI FESTIVAL OPEN AIR
May 3 BEIJING @ MIDI FESTIVAL/Starlive
May 4 WUHAN @ VOX BAR w/TBA
May 5 BEIJING @ D22 w/TOOKOO (CN)
May 6 BEIJING @ MAO LIVEHOUSE w/HAVE HEART (US)
May 7 SHANGHAI @ YUNYITANG w/HAVE HEART (US)

And yeah, as some of you might now we have our brand new record recorded in famed BLASTING ROOM STUDIOS and produced by Jason Livermore (Rise Against, Descendents, Comeback Kid) ready to be released. We're booking the Scandinavian release tour in august as we speak so STAY TUNED FOR MORE!!!!!

Hei!

Om du er i Tromsø stikk innom vår gode venn Bård på BADLANDS SKATESHOP for å rive deg ut et eller flere eks av vår rykende ferske merch.

Den OC-baserte tattoo-artisten Stevecreeper fra BLACK FLYS (www.flys.com) står for designen, og vår gode venner i Start The Press (Ft Collins) har trykket noen aldeles sinnsykt smoothe greier. Hettegensere, baseball tees, vanlige tees, girlie tees.... Sjekk ut sjekk ut!

Og om du ikke bor i Tromsø, gå til WWW.BADLANDS.NO og bestill der!!!

It had been some 5 months since we left LAX last time. But it sure felt like yesterday when our good friend and "the Norwegian liaison" Travis picked us up and took us down to Huntington Beach. It always feels good coming home. We push our entry date 1 day to be able to take part in Trav's 30th anniversary party. And what a day. Surfing, golfing, BBQ-ing, partying and the culmination of all good things: An acoustic b-day show with us and Skatanic Rednecks in Trav' own backyard. The perfect way to kick off the tour. So here goes…

Pasadena, CA @ CCR Studios w/The Logan
First show. Invites only – No VIP bullshit, rather an opportunity to hang out and get to know The Logan, which we'd be sharing the next 15 days with . Big thanks to Eric & co at CCR Studios for hosting it. We all played, showing off to each other he he, testing the new gear, getting all things lined up for en epic ride….

Live in CCR Studios, Pasadena CA.

Los Angeles, CA @ Motion LA w/The Logan
Heard some stories about downtown/east LA, supposedly one of those "shady areas". The GPS guided us through the downtown area, maneuvering the vehicle thru the jungle of skyscrapers, didn't look all that bad until like 500 yards away from the destination… Rolling onto the street where the venue was located, all signs turned Spanish and our impromptu tour manager and local boy Travis mumbled something like "yeah, this is shady…". Loaded in to a rather freaky looking venue, classic punk rock underground style in one of the halls, techno DJs in the next room. Weird!
Show went okay, we got out alive and headed up to Hollywood for some kick ass mexican food and to stay at Conor's place.

Paulo slamming drums in East LA.

Huntington Beach, CA @ Gallagher's w/The Logan
Looked forward to this show. We love Huntington Beach. Again it was Bud, Kev and Big Red's Boardnight at Gallaghers. The Logan went first, kicking ass, and by the time we threw our self into the opener "Give Up" all our friends were there, and ready to party. Such a fun show. Big ups to Trav, Kate Bud, Kev, RJ, Double D, Jaimes and the whole HB crew.

The HB crew ready to rock!

Santa Barbara, CA @ Velvet Jones w/The Logan
Drove up to Santa Barbara the next morning. Such a beautiful scenery. Rolled up in front of Velvet Jones and ran right into our favorite bartender of all times, Donald. We had such a blast last time we were here, and we we're all stoked to meet up with the Velvet pit crew. Show went really well and in a moment of euphoria Carl named one of the new songs "Riot at the Velvet Jones". In a related event, Donald managed to make Carl go from sober to not remembering leaving the venue, in 30 minutes! Thanks buddy, appreciate it!

Paulo with Donald and Casey of the Velvet pit crew

Las Vegas, NV @ The Beauty Bar w/The Stript, Hang Em High & The Logan
We rolled through the night to Vegas. The Logan's veggie oil van had been running smoothly but somewhere along the road through the Nevada desert something started to seem fishy. By the time we reached the last looong hill we might as well have been walking beside the van (NOT an option thou, given the freakin HOT temperatur, 115 at least). Hearing Conor mumbling something like "I don't think we're gonna make it up this hill" put a chill through the whole crew but somehow we miraculously managed to get into Vegas and into some shady garage. To make a long and shitty story short: They couldn't fix the problem, instead they fucked it up even more and by the time we had already lost any chance of reaching the next show in Oakland on time (multiple mechanic fucks later that is) we decided to say "fuck it!" ended up renting a new van, leaving for Portland Oregon, a mere 21 (!) hour drive.
But back to Vegas: Brian and Mike from THE STRIPT picked us up and The Stript guys saved our asses. We made it to the Beauty Bar and had a kick ass rock show. The second day stuck in Vegas was Carl's birthday, so instead of dwelling over the sad fact that we didn't make it to Oakland we decided to do a little partying. And party we did. Some more than others. It didn't stop until Conor were asked to "leave the premises" at Hard Rock Hotel (for that story in full: Check out The Logan' myspace blog). And after hitting up Vitamin Water's warehouse for supplies (Thanks Travis!) and picking up the new van at the Vegas airport (big thanks to Hang Em Highs drummer for taking us) we hit the road, hauling ass up to Oregon.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with Brian from The Stript on Carl's b-day.

Portland, OR @ Ash Street Saloon w/CZAR, The Logan
Drove through the night. Didn't stop until we hit Boise, had a sweet breakfast there. Some 15 hours later we rolled into Portland and parked outside Maura, our host's wonderful house. Portland rules. Chilled out for an hour before we rolled downtown and loaded into Ash Street Saloon. Our buddy and skate legend Dave Duncan was in town for The Oregon Trifecta contest and brought the whole crew of skate pros to the show, good times! After the show we headed to the Trifecta after(house)party. It was sick! Dave is pretty much the ultimate host, and showed us a really good time. For some, maybe a little too good of a time. Short story (in Carl's own words):
"So.... In the basement there was this Brasilian RnB/Hip hop backing back playing, super good stuff. The crowd was going off, lots of dudes were on stage freestyle rapping, rippin'… Muchos tequilas later the inevitable occurred. Thankfully Alex was there to take some of the burden off my shoulders. I don't really know how it happened but I was on stage. With a mic. Rapping. At first doing some repetitive rhymes, and then… Freestyling. It was bad. Really bad. Allthough I was waaay too "in the zone" to notice the fact that I sucked. Alex probably realized it, walked off stage and handed the other mic back to the female RnB singer present (supposedly quite famous), and I (still IN THE ZONE) thought "Cool, duet!!", ranting some "check, check"-ish stuff. Seconds later this bouncer-looking dude came on stage, grabbing my mic and I stumbled off stage to the legendary words "Thank you, Norway…". EPIC!"

Partying with Double D and X-games winner and fellow Scando Rune Glifberg in Portland.

Seattle WA @The Funhouse w/Falling Blind & The Logan
Finally a short drive. Drove into Seattle in the afternoon, heading straight to Ohana for a kick ass sushi dinner. Stacie had flown out from Fort Collins to hang with her family and meet us, and Jamie and Jenn also called and met up for a delish raw food fiest. Headed straight down to the Funhouse after dinner, walking in as our friends from last year Falling Blind went on stage and delivered a superb set. We were next, and played a pretty good show, even thou the lack of back up guitars (left back in Vegas) became evident as Carl broke pretty much every string on his guitar. The Logan, however, were pissed off! I wont go into the reasons why, but they had a good reason. Well anyway: The played their best show on the tour this night. Next night is in Missoula, a small town in the Montana mountains, a beautiful place. In order to get the most of our day there, we jumped in the van and again drove through the night.

Dysfuntional family picture he he. Turdus, Falling Blind and The Logan in Seattle.

Missoula MT @ The Badlander w/Black Velvet Elvis & The Logan
We had such a rad time last year playing the Palace. This year we were offered the bigger stage, and set up at the Badlander. Lots of people came to the show in I think we played our best show on the tour. It was wild. Paulo's cymbal chewed a bite off Carl's new guitar.
We stayed at Richelle's house, much appreciated! Carl and Conor sessioned the Edge of the World mini ramp (stoked!) and we got to hang and play with wonderful Olivia of The Black Velvet Elvis! We were kind of sad to be leaving Missoula, to be honest. But… Good things ahead…..

Missoula ROCKS!!!

Salt Lake City UT @ Burt's Tiki Lounge w/Underminer, Poetica & The Logan
Rolled straight to the venue, met our friends in Poetica right away. Cool! A couple of minutes later we heard some yelling from a distance, and suddenly the Coloradian van rolled onto the site….. UNDERMINER! Karl, Jeff, Freedom and Daze had arrived! We had so much fun together on our last tour and were super stoked to see them again. They'd be joining us for the remaining dates. Show went okay, and we slept at Karl's friends house outside SLC, waking up to a killer breakfast before rolling the 6-7 hours to Durango. A breathtaking scenery awaited…

Keeping traditions alive. UNDERMINER with Carl on guest vocal duties.

Durango, CO @ The Summit w/Underminer & The Logan
Durango is a small college town deep inside the Colorado mountains. Johnny Freedom of Underminer went to college there, and Reese used to live there some 15 years ago. The Logan went first and…. Well. I hadn't realized it on the trip from SLC, but supposedly one bottle of Seagram Seven was missing (as in empty). Conor!! CD!!! What can I say, their show was… Highly entertaining. Maybe not for all the people present, but at least to us. Haha, good times! Second on was Underminer. Tighter than ever before, they delivered a KICK ASS set, and the crowd was going wild. It was a true delight going .. them. We did our funnest show till now on the tour. It didn't stop until we were forced (Reese, anyone?) back on stage and yes forced into doing the classic Descendents tune "Everything Sucks". The crowd went wild, so did we! Awesome!!! We packed up, jumped in the van and drove even deeper into the mountains into this super remote house on top of a mountain. Johnny's buddy Scotty was hosting the coolest after party ever. Some people were playing b-ball in the full sized indoor bball court, others were drinking (well, I gues we were all drinking), Carl and Finn were jamming it out with Karl, Jeff was bitten by a spider while sleeping under the Coloradian sky and Conor was suffering from a near lethal altitude sickness/hungover-combo. Thanks Scotty for an epic night!!

DURANGO!!!!!!

Denver, CO @ 3 Kings Tavern w/Underminer, Boldtype & The Logan
Last show of the tour with The Logan. And Angel, The Logan's drummer's 22nd birthday. Back at 3 Kings Tavern, our favorite Denver rock club. Last time around circumstances way beyond our grasp (read: major league baseball) prevented Denver's finest punk rockers Boldtype from joining us, but this time around they were there and delivered a killer set. Thanks guys!! Hundreds of people came out to celebrate the ending of the tour, so much fun. Thanks to Jim, Jeff and the 3 Kings crew for once again having us. See you next time!!

Jeff Reese from Underminer backstage at 3 Kings Tavern.

Fort Collins, CO @ Surfside 7 w/Banner Pilot
Not technically a part of the tour. While recording in Blasting Room we took one night off to play a show at our favorite punk rock dive bar. Fun show indeed, cool to meet all our old and new friends of Fort Collins. Livermore "no shots for me" even came out. No shots, yeah right. Ended up at IHOP that night with Jason Allen, Jeff, Stacie and some weird tree hugging girl. Truly living the dream!!!

Livin large at IHOP after the Surfside show with Jason Allen, Jeff, Stacie and some weird tree hugging girl.

…..

So straight off from the tour we hit up Blasting Room Studios a.k.a. our favorite place on earth to finish up our new record. Now that's a story I'm gonna save for a separate blog. 10 days, 8 songs, tons of tomalies, gallons of coffee, broken sticks, broken strings, shattered vocal chords... Can't wait for you all to hear it.

So after picking up the new merch at Start The Press (thanks Cope!!!), Jeff Reese drove us down to Denver Airport and we flew back down to LAX. Travis was there to pick us up and we spent three fantastic days in HB, it all culminating the last day with a huge bye bye BBQ and skate bash at our good friend Jaimes' house with Trav, Kate, Double D, Janel, Dave, Kev, RJ and the whole HB crew. Perfect!!!

Now that's dream living right there. With Jaimes and Travis in HB, about to get the BBQ skate bash going!
..................

So that's it. Thanks to everyone who came out to our shows, played with us, partied with us, helped us, saved us…. You know who you are!!! See you next time!

Carl, Alex, Paulo, Finn AKA Turdicus Maximus

So we just parted ways with our friends in THE LOGAN (www.myspace.com/theloganrocks) after two intense weeks of hardcore joy and jubilation, running from Huntington Beach all the way up to Seattle and down thru the Rockies into Fort Collins Colorado. We were suppose to do a daily blog, but I don't know, it was just too many things happening to keep track. All we can say is that we're incredibly greatful towards all the people who came out to our shows, to all the fantastic new and old friends who helped us out in every possible way, all the venues and promoters that made our shows such a blast and all the bands we were honored playing with. It's been a wild ride.
Well the pictures speak way louder than words so head over to the photo diary and re-live the experience. We'll post some here too to get you all started!

We're in Blasting Room now, resuming our work on the fourthcoming album with Jason Livermore (Rise Against, Descendents). Stay tuned for updates from the studio! Oh, and a couple of more shows in the US before we head back after the studio. Keep posted!

All the best,

Carl, Alex, Paulo & Finchemeister General

Dear friends


We are sad to inform that Turdus and Halvard has decided to part ways.

We remain best friends and will most likely be seen and heard together

again in the near future both on and off stage.

Within the group we've known this for some time now, but we wanted to

feel it out first before we let all of you know.

The unity and brotherhood of the 5 of us remains as strong as ever.

With no plans of finding a new guitarist to take over Halvard's undefyable role

in the band as a person, friend and guitarist, the band continues as a four-piece

going into the upcoming tour.



Thank you for the ongoing support from all of us!


Alex, Halvard, Paulo, Finn & CC