hello everyone,

we just wanted to remind you that your last chance to see dirt jake replicas live is this thursday august 7th at hawthorne theatre in portland.

we have decided to move on to other projects but would love to play one more show for all of you.

hopefully we will see you on the 7th!!!
thank you!!!
sleep well
dirt jake replicas

june 30th
That Ain't Working. That's The Way You Do It.
(day 14)

MTV!
MANCHESTER!
Somehow someone thought that we were special enough to be on one of the largest music television programs in England!
This has easily been one the days I have been most excited about. Well…sort of. What is supposed to go down keeps changing. Initially it was supposed to be an interview and a live performance and then it changed to playing to a BACKING TRACK! What are we Ashley Simpson? Nope…so then they said we would be doing a music video instead or acoustic….pffff…..and well. We were not really sure what to expect when we pulled up to the most incredibly strange…but still cool building on earth.
Honestly it took us forever to get inside the thing! We had no clue where the door was because it is all glass. I pressed the intercom button and the guy gave me directions to get in but I couldn't hear him….and not wanting to ask again I just so "oh okay!" well…that didn't work. We still didn't know where to go. So I had to go back to the intercom again. Dumbass.
When we actually made it up to the studio it became a race to get us the hell out!
Apparently there will be no interview at all….and Adam, Julius and I will not even be mentioned at all….instead it is going to be only Dakota and Ashley performing to our cd….at least they actually had to sing( the vocals were cut off the cd. It was actually great to just relax on the comfy couches and watch them perform. But the race was on. The sound man basically came in and set everything up in seconds and was out of the room. It seemed as though within a minute the track was playing and they were off. Ashley and Dakota KICKED ASS! It was really awesome. For being so early the just went off and it was nice to see them blast it out. The track ended and they let out the dogs.
We were escorted out of the building…given a nice big fake smile and bammm…out on the street.
It was awesome!!!!
The coolest part for me was watching this group of kids stare in through the windows at us. They were totally intrigued.
One thing I have noticed about this tour. It is really easy for people to think that you are famous or rich or I guess well known? You know how rappers where tons of bling bling? And spend way too much on stupid shit to act like they have money? And some people fall for it and actually think that are kick ass because of their getup? I finally realized that it is easy to "fool" people. NOT that we were trying to do that at all…it just sort of happened that people were drawn to us because of some of the things we were doing or because of where we are from.
It was really cool having the little kids watching us. It made me feel like what we were doing was actually important….being able to see them so interested was a nice change from what we are used to.

See the thing about todays show is that there is none!
The freakin venue burnt to the ground…wait…my mistake that was the other venue. This venue just closed and we were unable to find another venue to let us in (big surprise.)
But the cool thing is that it gave us a night to be with Brian and Jane and Isobel!
We asked them out on a date (sex?…fingers crossed!)!!!!!

This night was the BEST night.
We went to a restaurant that they had picked out and sat in the back corner.
We started the night off with drinks of course….hobgoblin I believe the name was….nice nice nice indeed! Highlights highlights ‡Ashley will most likely hate me forever for mentioning it but she accidentally spilled her drink all over herself right away….so she was soaked the whole night long. And then Dakota pulled the emergency cord in the handicap bathroom because he thought it was a light switch and the alarm was going off FOREVER!!! Fucking hilarious…and we were seated right next to it so it was blasting in our ears! Brian said that we had been "prank calling" or "pocket dialing" them at all hours of the morning! And then had said that Jane had answered and scremed " YOU CUNTS!" not knowing that it was us….later she said she still would have said it even if she knew it was us! Hahaha. The food came and apparently Ashley was just having a bummer of a day and the pepper shaker opened up on her food L. We gave the family and autographed guitar as a present for letting us stay at the house which was nice…but the coolest part of dinner was when we were discussing movies and we were talking about the Blair Witch Project. Brian was describing the ending and then he held up his arm and honest to god all the hair was standing straight up!!!! It was soooooo kick ass!!!!!
After food there were more drinks and then we decided to head back to Brians homestead for a few more. They took us through the backroads, which were basically one lane roads…through huge fields and under sweet bridges. We had no clue where we were going and I think even the GPS was lost but it was one of the coolest roads we went on the whole tour.
When we arrived we opened up a bottle of whine and had warm Stella and watched the sunset from the backyard. For a minute I forgot we were on tour. Again it was like hanging out with one of our good friends…just having drinks and enjoying ourselves. I really STILL cannot get over how great that is. The friendships we have made while on tour made it totally worth every second of effort and money that we put into it.
We climbed over the couches in the livingroom….spreadout…buzzed….relaxed…and watched some TV shows together. There were some of the most comfortable moments of silence at this point.
When we left, it was actually sad.
Anyone reading this…I have never been the kind of person to care about traveling around the world sight seeing and doing all of that stuff. It just has never interested me. But now…if I could suggest one thing. It would be:
Start a band (preferably a kick ass band)
Then go on tour.
And talk to AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE.
I swear that you will not regret it in any way. Even the strange, or angry, and crazy ones are great.
This is becoming less and less about music and more and more about relationships and friendships and all of the cheesy stuff.
Its cool when things in your life change right before your eyes and your are able to see it happen and sit back and enjoy.
Sleep well.
Joshua of dirt jake replicas

june 29th
Meeting People Is Easy
(day 13)

Aye aye!
As odd as it is to say it…dirt jake replicas playing in a pirate bar is really not a big surprise to me. It really almost fits us…not that we are pirates, or even huge fans of pirates (to me the only reason to watch pirates of the caribbean is because of how hot keira knightly is.) It fits because it is probably the most odd situation possible. Odd as hell. And for some reason, ODD follows us…maybe even hunts us?
Hark to Towler is the name of this pirate venue.
And our soundman/ booker/ promoter/ real pirate host is Jon. He is AMAZING! So cheerful. It is obvious that he has just found his way out of bed at 4 pm…a long night partying with a deep purple cover band. I get the vibe that he loves his job and music and also just people in general.
There is a dart board in the back room which is also said to be haunted!!! That's right…we have officially become obsessed! We have been asking everyone for as many ghost stories as possible!!! Now that I think about it….i just realized that ODD doesn't follow us…nor hunt us….i think we unintentionally hunt odd.
Back to darts. It has been so long since I have played. Probably…shit….12 years? It is kick ass though! I love friendly competition…games….DARTS!
The bartenders name is Matt and he is just a younger guy, also full of smiles and not anxious at all. We hook him up with some gear and I decide it is time for a drink. I wanted to try something different something that is not in the states…I ask for something nonalcoholic and he gives me the worst tasting drink EVER! I took one sip and that was the end of it. I pass it along to everyone….even matt cringes!!!! But leave it to Julius to take the beer on! He takes a swig and shakes a little bit…"it tastes like toast!" but then keeps on drinking! Hahahhaa
Some time passes and i am on the edge of falling asleep…I actually think Julius is asleep. Dakota and Ashley come bursting in "GET YOUR SHIT! WE MUST GO NOW!!!!"we get up and follow them….not really sure what adventure we are going on…its not really important to know. Just go. We take off out the back of the building and down the street and cross through this small park and then a bocce field.

My face hurts from smiling and I think a small tear glides down my cheek. This is what we have been waiting for. THE FUCKING BEST PLAYGROUND IN THE WORLD!
A GIGANTIC ROCK WALL…CRAZY QUICK SPINNY THING….AND THE WINNER FOR BEST RIDE ON EARTH…..TWO MAN SPIN IN THE AIR KDJFBIAURGFIUAERGB THING!!!!!!
Like five year olds we drop our bags and cameras and drinks and spread out towards all the exciting toys ahead of us….i race for the same one as Dakota and get caught behind him slightly…."oh my god get out of my way!!!" one shoulder and then the other….a race!
There is only one thing to do….A VIDEO BLOG! Please check the video section of our site…we did a killer blog on the play ground!!! The end is priceless!
When we arrived back at the venue…aye aye!! We were full of dirt, sweat, and blisters!
WANG!
The show was fun for me because I broke a string for the first time on stage and had to replace it as fast as possible…and a few other things went wrong that normally would cause us to get really bent out of shape. I think since being on tour we have really learn to not sweat the small stuff. And to be honest, it has really helped our show because we are getting more and more relaxed. You can sense the comfort level increasing with each performance.
Although the show was fun for me….i think the overall opinion of the show was pretty poor from our point of view. I am not speaking for everyone….but I really felt like we were all a little disappointed at the end of the show. But at least they had a fog machine!!!
The crowd really loved us though. It was cool. We met some really great people and chatted for a while.
The coolest thing for me was after the show because Andy and Dani (andys daughter) came AGAIN! Their third show!!!! By the end of the night it is obvious they are now a part of our family. We talked for hours…mostly about music…but a little bit about girth brooks as well! I really can't stress it enough…how great it was to just meet so many positive people on tour. Andy and Dani are two of the greatest people I've ever met. They go to concerts all the time together…which I think is so cool. And there was never even a second of awkwardness. When they came in they walked right over and it was as if we had made a plan to meet them out at the bar for drinks. "Hey guys! Pull up a chair!"
I really don't mean to go on and on about an encounter that might not be super exciting for all of you…but it is really hard to deny the fact that there are great interesting people around you at all times that you never get the chance or get enough courage to start a conversation with…and you could be missing out on so many killer stories and adventures.
Hmmm…this kind of feels like a Walt Disney Movie.
I'm a little uncomfortable now. Hey have a good night everyone. If you ever get a chance to go to a pirate bar….do it.
Sleep well
Joshua of dirt jake replicas

p.s. watch the video blog on our myspace site!

june 28th
Zombie. Zombie.
(day 12)

Why do people love cover bands? I can't think of even one person I know that has ever said to me that they love a cover band or a tribute band. But somehow shows are always PACKED when one is playing.
This happened today.
But unfortunately the "packed" venue was connected to our venue and our crowd was less than last nights show! After our set was complete we could hear over a hundred people screaming and clapping…but only because the band on the other stage had just finished playing a Cranberries cover.
This is something that, I would think, gets a lot of original bands bummed out. I've grown to laugh at it more than get upset by it lately but today it is really odd. We even talked to half the crowd before we went in to setup our gear and gave them free cds and fliers and let them know we were on tour from the states and not a single person came in. As for the musicians in these style bands…I totally understand that some people just want to play and have fun and are not out to "change things". And some people play instruments for 20 years and never attempt to write their own song. I know this happens and if that is what someone wants to do then great…..whatever makes you happy. But I guess it would be great if the FANS were more open to new music. There are so many great bands out there that could blow you away if you gave them the chance. This has happened so many times…even on this tour. EVEN AT THIS SHOW! A band called kill it kid just knocked me down and kicked my face in. I am a fan for life.
To all of the people out there that do give musicians creating original music a chance…..thank you. It is the greatest feeling going into a room full of strangers and playing a show for them and not seeing anyone leave. Or hearing people clap. It makes all the hours spent everyday working on our art worth every second.
Today was really just another day in the "normal" tour grind. We played in Norwich, which was a MASSIVE drive. We continued to speak to as many people as possible and pass out tons of merch. Ashley showed me a place to get some wicked hummus which was awesome. But the best part of the morning was remembering that we had the football! We tossed it around the parking lot for a while and then Andy Slade pulled in!
Andy Slade is a promoter/ pit-viper label owner.
He was not at all what I pictured him to look like. I like when that happens. This man is incredible. Full of positive energy and excitement. He actually worked his ass off to get us in town at the last minute because a venue that we had previously booked had burnt down. He worked nonstop during the night. Running back and forth to take pictures and video tape then to cheer and right back to the door to check and see if anyone wanted in….nope~
The stage was really cool and the sound man Jake was great too. The whole night went perfectly and again it was exciting playing to just a few people…and people that really enjoyed what we are doing.
After the show we spoke to Andy for a little while. Just relaxed and laughed at all the people missing out on the three great original bands that had played tonight. When we pulled out of the parking lot, it was as if we were again leaving a great friend behind. It is great when you can become so attached to someone after just a few hours of time spent together.
The drive home was pretty rough today. Very long again, and having to keep my eyes out for the millions of rabbits that were on the side of the road eating! Maybe I only saw 8 or 9…but that is still a ton!
Oh I also had a freaking owl swoop down right inn front of the van and fly in front of us for a little stretch of the backs roads! That was cool….probably not for the bunnies though. The road we were traveling had signs along it declaring the amount of people that had been killed on it in the past year. Great news.
At one point there was a semi that had begun to swerve just as I was about to pass it. The whole back end came whipping into the lane I was in and then slammed back in line with his land only to fling its ass out once more towards us. It freaked me out because it stopped as far as the center of our lane!!! Not just a drifter here. All in all it woke me up a little bit and helped me make it home. "woke me up" might be a slight understatement.
Sleep well
Joshua of dirt jake replicas

June 26th
How Did It Start? Oh, I Don't Know
(day 10)

Trash music venue.
I have been looking forward to this show since the moment I booked it. I don't know why but I just felt like todays show was going to be amazing. The bands, the venue, the town, the night of the week, I was looking forward to all of it!
But it was cancelled.
Just kidding. He he he. It wasn't cancelled at all!
This was actually the first show we were able to play with our normal light setup (bright backlights). We ran to Wickes, the UK answer to Home Depot, and picked up a few lights that we will return before we go home. Super excited about being able to use lights!!!
Calming down now, we snagged Brian for this show and he was going off the whole trip to Leeds! Flipping people off as we past them because we were able to go in the carpool lane and they had to sit in traffic!!!! It was awesome!!!!!
Oh…and to flip people off in the UK you have to give them the peace sign backwards…which is something I normally do in the US as I say goodbye….and I unfortunately did it a few times to certain people that had been helping us out sooooo much. I felt like a total ass. "THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!" while I flip them off.
Pfffff. Idiot.
The venue was great. It is located in a shopping center, There were tons of people to promote to even though it was pissing down rain. I loved promoting here. I was running up and down the street like a fool. I met tons of people.
Ashley, Dakota and I went to repark the van and we found a spot right next to where a wedding was taking place. Which later on that day Dakota was screaming out the window to the bride and groom that since they are married they have to do anal. And he also yelled it at the brides maids. This didn't go over very well………
mmm….end of that story.
Man so many kick ass things happened this show. I will just give you highlights.
Anola Gray, Hub, and Immune all had kick ass sets, I gave some guy a wedgie and he didn't kick my ass, we PLASTERED the bathroom in stickers, had a photographer meet us and take photos and offer coming to our TV gig, passed out SOOO much merch to everyone in the venue, got totally wrecked, got Brian totally wrecked, were given free drinks, gained awesome new fans, watched Adam do jumping jacks to wake up, had all of our merch taken from the table (good thing), I peed in some guys front lawn, and had the best show of My life.
I loved this show. I think because I was thinking so positively about it the whole time there was nothing that could get in my way of having a good show.
I was just so excited when I got onstage. I felt like everyone played really well and the crowd loved us. For the first time this tour I really FELT like I was one tour.
I felt great.
After the show I was soaked in sweat and I went to the back on the room and it was one of the first times someone came up to me and said they thought I did well. That never happens to me, it always happens to everyone else in the band, so it was a really big thing for me. I remember sitting back with a pint (by the way pints are bigger in the UK!!) in the back of the venue and just sipping my drink and thinking that I could tour no problem for a long long time.
I feel as though each member of our band had this moment on the tour where they have become comfortable…most likely not the same time or show….but I see how much everyone puts in and to do nothing but play is the ultimate payoff.
Well…nothing but play and work your ass off!
I spoke to a lot of people at this venue…but at the end of the night I found myself at the front of the stage watching the show with Julius and chatting with him in between songs.
It was nice to take it all in.
When it was time to leave I realized that I was WAY too drunk. Not to the point of being sick but to the point of pissing off a lot of the members in our band. I had a hard time caring because I didn't want this night to end. And I definitely did not want to feel bad for having one of the most fun nights of my life. I was being pretty selfish by being out of my head like that and I paid for it by causing a fight and looking like a dumbass. Considering it was the only fight we had so far on tour I would say that is pretty good!!! But the bad part is that it could have easily been avoided. It is easy to forget the fact that we are all out here on our own with no time to get away from each other and still weeks to go and forced to give up all of our little comforts and trying our hardest to keep everyone else happy but still making sure that our goal is being taken care of, I will definitely try my hardest to make this my only fuck up.
Sleep well…there are some apologies due in the morning.
Joshua of dirt jake replicas

june 25th
The Kids Aren't Alright
(day 9)

Shower? What is that?
Oh I remember!!! Yeah sure I will take one!
This is pretty much how it was so far on tour. I think this might be my first shower since we left??…maybe not. It might be my second??? I don't know. But I know that we have all had to kind of skip out on the wonderful feeling of being clean. The worst part is running out of clean clothes…there is an all-in-one washer dryer in the flat but we haven't even had time to try to figure it out. But we did through in a load the other night and for some reason they won't dry…instead they just begin to wash again and again and again. These clothes are fucking CLEAN!
But not dry. So we can't wear them and we end up draping them throughout the flat. Wet clothes everywhere.
The town of Warsop is also in the middle of nowhere…but it is really a cool little town.
Man…people said to be careful in Glasgow but I was FAR more afraid of the punk kids of Warsop! There were tons of early teenagers that had their bikes and attitudes to match. We tried to flier a few of them …whew….if looks could kill. I mean we are passing out FREE CDS!!! (little side note here…I just tried to begin this last sentence with the word "and" but misspelled it as "nad") hahahhahaahaha. Whew…I am sorry, I am a child.
Moving on. We are trying to pass out these cds and kids won't even acknowledge that we are there! It was funny. I guess I was a little badass as a kid too.
The venue was really cool. There was a massive theatre in the back that is supposed to be the venue but they have a problem with people not leaving the bar to check out the bands so they decided to set up the P.A. in the front room and have us play right in front of the bar. Kind of a waste for such a incredible spot but most likely the better idea.
All the groups were cool as hell. I really enjoyed the music throughout the whole night.
And the Stella Artois!
Something that is interesting about playing music for people is that when you first arrive most people don't say much. But after you play it is as though you had been friends for years and years! This really cool thing happens and suddenly it is a big party and everyone loves each other. After our set (we were the headlining band) we had such a kick ass time talking with everyone. I don't know if it is just because people are usually drunk by then or because they have something to associate you with.
We were outside behind the venue loading in the van and chatting when a member of one of the bands gave Girth a present! He gave him a PAIR! I think we were able to get some shots of it so we will surely show you.
While passing by I overheard a girl mention something about dares and my ears instantly perked up! Those of you that know me also know that I LOVE dares. So it is time to test her!
I dare her to walk outside and tap Julius on his junk and as him "where is Girth?" (sorry Jane…just wanted to get his reaction on tape!) and she didn't even ask me twice! She was right out the door and Julius was jumping back ten feet, hands in the air. "What the fuck!?!?!?!" hahahah
I love this kid. I remember the first time I heard him swear. I think it was a year after knowing him. We have corrupted this one for sure!
So obviously the next thing to do was race!
But she had no socks or shoes which means I had to strip down and bare all….from the ankle down. She said I cheated (which I didn't, I hate cheaters) as I was leaping over the wooden fence at the end of the parking lot and smashing into the grass on the other side.
So again we race…as she begins to count for the take off she starts to haul ass!!!! Freakin cheater. Just as she reaches the fence I am able to catch up and we smack face first into the ground at the same time. Or at least that is what she will tell you J
Perfect way to end out a night. With a big group of new friends and fans waving goodbye as we pull out the parking lot.
On the way home we all seem to be very chill. Finally getting the hang of this thing called tour. Happy to finally play a show. Happy to be on tour. Happy to be away from work and home. Happy to have the opportunity to do such a crazy thing. And happy to have friends and family and fans that chipped in to help us do it.
Today is Matt's birthday. Matt was the MC at our BBQ. I would say he is DJR's first fan and definitely one our biggest. Always there to help out and support us. He was also the one to teach us of the Anal car game.
Real quick explanation.
You take any model of car and put the word Anal in front of it and see what crazy things you can come up with.
Example. Anal focus (for the ford focus) Anal Probe( for the Ford Probe) and Anal Expedition starting to get it? On tour we began an Anal Log and ended up with over 100 vehicles that are not in the U.S. and oh my god they are amazing. If you start to play the game, get ahold of us and we will let you know the whole list!
So yeah…back to Matt's Birthday.
We called him.
That's about it!
Hahaha. But I think it was the first time we spoke to someone from back home….so it was nice to actually get in touch with someone else.
Definitely miss you all.
Sleep well
- Joshua of dirt jake replicas

june 24th
Going The Distance
(day 8)

In the past few days we have been warned by numerous people to "watch yourself in Glasgow", or "be careful up there", even " DO NOT PRONOUNCE GLASGOW WRONG!" basically all the people in southern England have tried to let us know that it may get a little crazy while we venture off to our only Scotland show! Adam was told that people will even go as far as slitting your lips open with a knife so you look like the joker!!! On a side note, I am pretty pumped to see heath ledger in the dark knight! July 18th!!
Okay…back to it…today, as you may have now guess, we are going the distance. Glasgow.
On the way up Dakota drove, which was nice because I was able to finish a book and also just relax and check out all the rolling hills on the way up. There is really very little between our flat and Glasgow. Just road and grass.
Glasgow is HUGE. It instantly reminds me of a big city, maybe Seattle, not as big as New York but a mini version for sure. The cool thing is that the buildings are sooooo old and they have so much class and beauty. Easily the most interesting and beautiful city I feel we have been to. I think maybe even the most beautiful city I have EVER been to. The venue is located in a tunnel! Which is really cool but seeing as though we have already been told to watch our backs, we actually kind of nervous about going out and seeing what the real situation is. Who knows if they really hate Americans?? Shit…Americans hate Americans! No one is at the venue and I NEED to get the new sigur ros cd. So regardless of the chance of death, it is time to walk around. Adam stays back to rest and watch the van and the four of us begin the search for a cd store.
If you ever go to the U.K. and you can only go to one city, I would suggest going to Glasgow far more than going to London. I loved walking around there. I now pictures won't do it justice, but I am sure when Ashley posts some, you will hopefully be able to get what I am talking about.
The only cd store in the area is a borders…and honestly I think it is the only open store in town!
I was able to snag one of the remaining copies of the sigur ros cd!!! Luckily I brought a change of underwear to the venue!
Ashley and I wait outside the store for a long ass time while Dakota and Julius search for books. Eventually we decide to just go on without them because Adam has been alone for a long time.
Back at the venue, no one has arrived STILL! And the show is supposed to begin in less than an hour.
Something is up.
There is a mcdonalds just around the corner so we grab the computer and race over.
No excuse, no apology, nothing in the email except "tonights show is cancelled"
TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW!!!
The worst part is that we spent $200 driving up here just to find out.
This can't happen.
Dakota and I start running from venue to venue in the city. We were carrying the GPS in hand and finding every possible place that might be able to let us jump in and do a show on the fly. "sorry…we can't" is all we heard. Which makes sense. I guess we are asking a lot. But we had to try. It was cool though because we got to see a lot more of Glasgow and we saw the Barfly venue and also KING TUT'S!!! This was one of the places I tried so hard to book. This is one of the venues the mars volta played when they did their first tour. It would have been kick ass to have a chance to play there. The people there were actually really nice and tried to get us in but the match up of other bands just wouldn't really fit. I had a blast trying to get another show. Running around in the rain. Sort of like a game….or trying to sell yourself. Pick a destination and run there as fast as possible through all the people because time was running out.
Time did run out. It became too late to get on a bill and we had to just give up.
I think everyone was afraid that the rest of the tour would be filled with cancelled shows.
Shit happens you know? And sometimes two days in a row. All in all it was a good time in the tour to not be stressed about playing. It worked out really well. I drove home and it took us FOREVER to get out of the city! All the on ramps for the highway were closed!!!! Once we hit the highway everyone crashed out. A few hours later I heard Adam playing his DS and he checked on me to make sure I wasn't going to fall asleep and cruise the van off of a cliff. Sending us smashed and burning the whole way down.
"Nope…I am fine. Thanks." Hahaha. He probably wishes he hadn't said anything at all because then we started to chat about movies. When Adam and I get together and discuss movies it always ends up being a LOOOOOOOOOOONG conversation. What is good about it is that we have pretty similar taste in movies and the certain parts of movies so we get WAY TOO excited about it!
Then Dakota woke up and joined in and we spent the last two hours of the trip trying to convince each other what the best scary movie of all time is.
Finally parking the van in our spot I checked out the clock and saw it was 2am! Damn. Imagine if we did play the show!!! We would not have been home until maybe 5 in the morning. THANK GOD IT WAS CANCELLED!
And in reality I think everyone said the same thing….even though we spent a lot of money and time getting up there. We were glad that we didn't find out about the show until after we were already there because we would have missed out on such a killer city.
Everything happens for a reason.
Sleep well
Joshua of dirt jake replicas

p.s. !!!!!! I FORGOT! THE NEW SIGUR ROS CD IS AMAZING!!!! GET IT!

june 23rd
You've Got Yourself A Broken Tomb.
day (7)

"OPEN YOUR EYES AND GET UUUUUUUP!"
god damn it was so hard to get up this morning. I thought about throwing a tantrum like a five year old would do….or at least I felt like it. I just wanted to sleep. And by the looks of it I think Ashley and Julius may have felt the same way. The three of us got up after basically no sleep to go and get the tire switch and then put back on the van this morning. It's important….that's what I kept telling myself. We have a lot of driving to do today.
A ton of funny things happened at the tire center (tyre center) but honestly I was just so grumpy and ready to pass back out that I am trying to block this part of the day out of my mind! Oh and Julius awoke and drove with us only to use the internet, which we did not do…so he got up for nothing! Sorry again man.
Whew…and now we drive. Drive drive drive back down the same road we traveled on twice yesterday to only five minutes from the venue we played at. (we tried to find a hotel but it didn't pan out.) We are on our way to the radio station Rock 94.7 because for THREE HOURS we will take over and play all the music and do a huge interview!
The DJ was Steve Payne, super nice guy that just loves his job…excited to talk and meet people. He LOVES girth brooks also! I think we spent more time discussing the story behind our band mascot than anything else.
It was really fun just taking the morning off to joke and listen to music (well something besides a perfect circle….which is great music but it has been the only cd we have listened to while driving….EVERYDAY.) and the funny thing is that the first song we picked was an a perfect circle song.
It was three hours of madness.
We talked about the new burger king burger that cost $185, The Daily Sport which is a newpaper that is full of nude girls and grannies looking for some action, driving in the UK , and of course the tour. The coolest part was that we had a total of 12,200 listeners!!!!!
Amazing! And then we also called FOX 12 in Portland and the broadcast a little segment about us and our tour on the air! Thanks to our favorite band bitch Dan!!! Seriously though. Thank you Dan.
And we made sure to mention and PLAY our favorite Portland bands at the same time! That's right…there of course was the Catfight! and Amara and geez….TONS of bands we tried to speak of and direct to their sites.
After the interview ended we met up with Simon the manager of the station…he seemed so excited about the show….he loved our music and was just genuine about everything. It really made me feel great about what we were doing. It was sad to say goodbye (especially for Steve and Girth) but we had a show to go to in leeds so we must move on.
AGAIN down the long roady road….around and around the roundabouts.
Leeds is my favorite town so far. There is something here for me. I guess in a way it is similar to Portland. Lots of young people…big music town….really laidback. Whew….feels good to be home.
Welllllll at least for the first fifteen minutes. Then we find out the show has been cancelled! Hahahaha….horrible.
And for the worst reason. Because one of the door handles broke in the venue!
HAHAHHA so we spent soooo much time and effort and money to play the show and it is cancelled over a door handle. Kind of like the movie garden state " its amazing to think how much of my life has been determined by a three inch piece of plastic."
Dakota is really beat up on the situation because he booked the show and spent a lot of time trying to find the bands. Obviously not his fault though, we go back and try to talk it over with the venue and decide to find another venue to jump on. This lasts for over and hour…maybe closer to two and during this process we meet this cool guy that built a house out of stone….he carried the stone by hand and he could only get around five stones out each day. It took him seven years to do it! Awesome.
Eventually we find ourselves in a open mic bar. Pretty much the only thing open on a Monday. After talking to regular there we discuss the pros and cons of doing a show here…after a raise of hands we figured it is more trouble than it is worth and make the long walk back to the car to go home and actually rest one night! Valiant effort though.
But you have heard this story before….do we rest?
Of course not.
Instead we stop and get some beer and get trashed and make an ouija board out of a cardboard box that was made for a guitar.
Lights out, Candles strewn throughout the flat, a half empty bottle of some stella artois rip off on my crossed legs. Julius to my left, then Ashley, and finally Dakota completing the circle on my right. We add a few extra words on the board. Our band name along with everyones names along the side. Adam had already crashed out so there was just enough room for our fingers to cram onto the homemade marker. This is something all of us are equally fascinated by but have never openly discussed any of this with each other. Trust is normally an issue you would have while playing, or I guess "exploring" with this device. But that is probably the last thing on our minds. Trust is first thing we needed to have for each other when we met, being five complete strangers and all.
We begin.
Keep in mind that this is an old Victorian hospital that we are staying in. already a creepy place. It gets far worse.
You know….i take that back. It gets far better!
For well over and hour we watch as the marker zooms across the board…spelling out exact answers without missing a single letter. Back and forth, yes and no, this and that. My arms cramped in pain…I couldn't stop…not until the marker basically blasted itself off the board. A sure sign to us that is was time to stop.
I feel that what happened that night was really personal and I guess if you are really interested then we will most likely let you know what was said and what strange events took place…but I must say they were super intense, Girth Brooks was not involved, and it shocked the hell out of all of us.
Try to sleep well
-joshua of dirt jake replicas

june 22nd
I watched you change
(day 6)

It was bound to happen.
And it did.
Vehicle problems!
We woke up this morning and Julius pointed out that our rear American drivers side tire was pregnant. A massive bubble, the size of a fist, was poking out of the sidewall of our tire and we were supposed to already be on the road.
Dakota chatted with the rental people and they said they could have someone out to fix it in over an hour so we decide to find a tire center.
Apparently we were not the only people that had tire problems today! Hahaha they were completely booked today.
Another stupid decision had to be made.
Just shut up and drive! That's right…although the chances of the tire exploding and the van rolling, flipping, and bursting into flames, killing us all and probably three other car loads of people going to their jobs as though do every morning, we really really good. We felt it was the only option to make the gig on time.

After hours of driving around four million roundabouts we pulling into the bikers pub.
Cool thing about renting a car is they can send someone ANYWHERE. Good for us. We called and a super cool guy came out to put on the donut…which we could have done on our own but we thought he was going to change the tire.
So now we must drive home again…hours again with millions of roundabouts…..with a wheel that is half the size of a normal wheel. Pretty cool especially since the van is mega packet with gear in the back end!

Always an adventure.
A ton of cool things happened today, played with great bands, ran some red lights, the GPS almost ran out of battery life leaving us screwed, a drunk girl loaded into our van after falling face first on the ground, and well soooo much more. But two stories really stuck out amongst the others.
First one is that Ashley and myself drive around coalville in search of a pay phone to call Denise, our lovely PR friend that has done such a kickin' job, we find the phone and as I am talking to her, finding out the super cool news for the day, I see a kid hiding in the phone booth next to us. I assume he is just relaxing, getting out of the wind or something. But Ashley has her eyes on him and listens in to what he is doing instead of my phone conversation. The kid apparently was super paranoid and searching around and around. He had a backpack. I would guess that he was in his teens, thin, and he sported a dirty blonde buzz cut. After a few minutes the kid burst out of the phone booth running at full speed down the street. Ashley said that he was talking with someone and obviously running from someone which he eventually revealed that is was the cops. I don't recall all of the details, and looking at this blog it really doesn't convey how strange and kick ass it was. But trust me. Bangin'.
Moving on to the super cool part about today.
When I was on the phone with Denise she gave me the news that Metro newpaper did a Feature on our tour! It goes out to the whole country and has over 156,000 readers!
This is the largest scale of promotion we have had so far! And the article is incredible. Well, at least I think so. I feel as though it is the first time someone actually understood what we were trying to do but also gave us some credit for trying as hard as we do to get the work done. So for the rest of the blog I have actually received a downloaded copy of the article and if you get the chance, please open our picture section on our myspace site and look in the Uk Tour folder and you will be able to read the article they did for us!
Truly hope you enjoy it.
Oh…and the funny thing is that the get Ashley and Dakota mixed up! But the article is still such a compliment that this detail is easily overlooked.
Sleep well
Joshua of dirt jake replicas

p.s. here is the link!
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.editAlbumPhoto&albumID=2274653&imageID=32835470&MyToken=075b207e-320c-44d3-836a-4745d754a916