Morgan – perhaps my oldest friend in the world from back in pre kindergarten – has also been riding with us on this tour, making his movie about the road trip and the run-up to super rock stardom (we hope, anyway). Despite living in philadelphia, he’s been increasingly involved in the FS crew, mixing a few songs on our recent albums and recording an as-yet-unreleased acoustic album. We drifted apart during our college years but what a trip it’s been getting so closely acquainted again. He had his ‘wild’ years in the end of high school and in college whereas one might say that these are my version of the ‘wild years.’ It’s funny to be hanging with him as a true adult and it makes me reflect on the fact that I’m right in the middle of adulthood too. I’m so used to being around my band mates who are mostly quite a bit younger than me and so on this tour there has been the natural gravitation along age lines. Huge props to him for totally breaking out of his comfort zone and going on this road trip – I think he mentions how much he misses his wife and also her cooking about every ten minutes. It’s also been funny to see him struggle through the challenges of low-budget touring, particularly since he’s one picky dude! But just wait until you see his movie. . .

And we can't forget Brett, Morgan's side-kick former film student who hesitated about 2 seconds when Morgan invited him to come on this trip to shoot footage. he's just that kinda guy. Tweny-one years old with crazy dreadlocks and Nike hi-tops that put mine to shame. He eats bread-on-bread sandwiches and hates veggies. He tagged along with me on a morning run and despite not having run for months, kept up and busted it out. He also bartered with Hoagman for a switch in sleeping partners: a 6-pack of beer for Hoag to sleep with Morgan and Bret to sleep with me. he punched me in his sleep all night that first night but we worked it out afterwards. rumor is he's getting a FS tattoo when we get to Austin. that is bad ass.

Otherwise, it’s a fun, somewhat odd time to be me. I’ve been living outside of my comfort zone to the MAX on this tour as well, talking to and meeting so many people, intentionally putting myself on the somewhat wrong side of the law, dealing with police on a daily basis, and trying to stay healthy on the road. Smelly and I have had some trouble relating well on this tour but I think we worked it out after the takeover last night, just a result of the proximity and length of this tour I think. Hoagman is a freakin’ rock on the road these days, and Twink too. I’ve got a feeling that after this trip ends in a few days, there will be a similar let-down as after I ran the last marathon. Ya train so much for it, think about it and plan it and DO it and then it’s a success, it’s done, and inevitably it’s on to the next project that’ll hopefully be bigger and better. But for a while at least, I know I’ll be missing the TAKEOVER TOUR 2008.

July 8, 2008 -

I'm on the plane heading to Philadelphia for the start of the TAKEOVER TOUR. Though you may be thinking “holy crap, FS is so huge now that they fly to gig!” unfortunately that is not the truth. I’m just going up a bit early to visit with the parents and some friends in ‘illadelph before the tour begins in NYC on Saturday. I’m more than a little wary of leaving all the packing and driving to those other hooligans in the band, including our friends Pukey and Frankle Dankle D (aka the Scorpion of Love). Will they leave all the demos at home? Will Hoag run the Whale outta gas again? Will Smellman show up for the departure?! All fair questions. . .

Anyhow, every time I get set to write an update I’m distracted by a game of soccer, an unexpected guest, or general fatigue and spending so much time at my laptop emailing media types trying to get them to write about FS and the TAKEOVER. So i have a whole bunch of random things on my mind, in no particular order.

Strange things have been happening on my runs recently, two in particular. Yesterday I was cruising through a wooded trail when a real live armadillo darted out right in front of me, slowed to my pace, and trotted along just next to my right foot for at least 40 yards. Now, I’m a Philly boy by birth and have never seen a live armadillo before, so it was quite shocking, though for some reason he seemed totally oblivious to me as any kind of danger (and I felt the same about him). It was also depressing to realize that even as I pride myself as being a pretty swift runner, this little armor-plated dude with the surprisingly hairy legs was effortlessly breezing along with me. amazing. If ‘dillos are so fast, why are they always getting whalloped on the highway? Anyway, he casually looked up at me finally and, as if realizing the oddness of our little workout partnership, promptly leapt off the trail and into the undergrowth. Crazy.

The morning run before that featured a much less enjoyable experience, though equally perplexing. Just about six minutes into the run I’m cruising through one of the neighborhoods near my house with THE BRONX playing in my headphones when I hear somebody yelling behind me. It’s 7am, mind you. I turn around while still running forward to find a dude, probably in his late 20’s, bent over mooning me HARDCORE, then turning around and flashing double middle fingers and cackling like the freakin’ Joker. It was maniacal! The encounter begs so many questions, I don’t even know where to begin, but seeing some dude’s white ass and balls is not a way I EVER want to start my day or run ever again. South Austin is loco. . .

Anyhow, on to other thing. Many of y’all have already heard that though the prospect of making this FULL SERVICE TAKEOVER TOUR MOVIE seemed extremely bleak as I struggled to raise $25k to make it happen, somehow good fortune found me and the crew in the form of my OLD buddy from Philly named Morgan aka Gtori aka Professor Anderson. A professor of audio and video engineering and an uber-talented music and film maker to boot, he has mixed some of our best FS recordings (the entire “Good Question” EP, as well as “Aimee in Arizona” “Legs” and “Alpine” from our “Recess” album). With all of the access to the equipment we would need to make the film, the creative flair to make an amazing documentary, and the balls to jump in the Whale with the band for three weeks, my boy Morgan is on BOARD. He flew down to Austin last weekend to document the Flamingo Cantina show, conduct in-depth interview with each band member, and catch some ‘around Austin’ footage. Our TX heat was his enemy all weekend (well, that and the thought of running into a cockroach - you southerners can’t quite appreciate the fear those little cocks instill in us cold-weather and cockroach-less yankees), but it was a great start to the filming project. Our friend and music-producer CCGrady conducted the band interviews and really knew how to push our buttons. Apparently Smellman said some pretty deep stuff, prompting Grady to celebrate his answers as ‘best,’ which of course was immediately refuted by Hoagman. (silly Grady – everybody knows that Hoagman is the best at EVERYTHING. . . at least according to him!).

Working title of the movie: “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Platinum!”

Hoagie came up with the title. Whenever something happens or becomes clear as a reason Full Service hasn’t broke big yet, we’ll make special note in the film. For example:

“We’re not big because Hoagman’s drum gear breaks in the middle of ever set”

or

“We’re not platinum because all the close-minded labels think we need a frontman.”

Or

“Full Service isn’t huge yet because we don’t wear skinny ties and tight Euro jeans and play dance pop.”

You get the idea. Feel free to submit your own reasons Full Service ain’t platinum by emailing me and I’ll start a little thread on the website. See, if I was smart I would just put a comment or message board right here into this blog where you can add the comment instantly, but I’m sucky at writing HTML. So I have another one to add:

“Full Service isn’t platinum because Bonesaw sucks at HTML.”

Now ya get the idea.

More soon. . .

BONESAW

May 19, 2008 -

I need to raise $25,000.

By July 1st.

That’s only something like 41 days.

Crap!

Ya see, we’ve got this whole ‘TAKEOVER TOUR” thing planned for all of July. Not sure what I mean? Well bump over to the “shows” page after you read this and check it out. But anyway, we’re doing this crazy tour and we have two great friends – Frankle Dankle D and Lil’ Pukey – coming with us to help. Its almost 4 weeks long and it’s guaranteed to be an adventure, a great story, a potential disaster, and a possible breakthrough for the band. We’ve toured before, but there’s never been such risk involved.

Anyway, we were kicking around ideas about how to best maximize the effectiveness of the tour and exposure for the band and somebody said, “why don’t we talk to Curtis (the film maker who also happened to produce our “Blueberry Farm” video) and see if he wants to make a MOVIE about the tour?!” Obviously that’s an awesome idea! Having a camera following our every move, every successful show, every awkward encounter with the cops, all of the surprised reactions from the new fans we’ll meet, and all the super late nights and then making it into a full length documentary movie. . . well who else has done THAT (without any label or manager or agent)? So we called up Curtis and, no surprise, he’s all about it because he’s just that bad ass. So we scheduled a business meeting at Maria’s Taco Express last weekend. He would crunch some numbers, make a plan, and we’d see if it was feasible.

Going into the meeting, I anticipated the biggest expense would be the need to rent and use a trailer, maybe $1,000. Boy was I wrong!

Curtis came super prepared and made his case. “It’s gotta be all shot in HD if we want to have it on the big screen,” was his first argument, “and we’ll need at least three cameras, so a crew of three, and a support vehicle.” Woah. So much for the trailer! Apparently HD tapes are more valuable than gold as Curtis mapped out his ‘low’ budget projections: $3,000 just for the tapes! Total estimated cost of making the movie? $25,000. yikes!

But the thing is, I can’t put the idea to rest, can’t quite close it outta my mind. There’s no QUESTION that the movie, should it be made, would be amazing. I don’t know what it will be, but I can guarantee that a great story is going to emerge outta this TAKEOVER TOUR and if the end goal is to advance the band’s popularity and reach, well I think releasing a freakin MOVIE would help that along. What if it got into some film festivals? Maybe the first time we ‘officially’ get into the SXSW festival it would be for the FILM festival? The possibilities are endless.

I just need to raise $25,000 in a month and a half.

Got any ideas?

May 7, 2008 - I got a really funny and insightful email from one fansaw / friend that i just had to post up here, in response to my entry yesterday. i thought it was hilarious!

"Hey Bonesaw,

I just read your “blog” on FSMUSIC.com (by the way I love that you are now calling it a blog rather than a diary, although it is a bit cuter as a diary, haha.) and it immediately made me think if this cool analogy. By the way this analogy pertains to your quandary with having too much material. Well, let me relate it to the wine business, wine making to be precise. When a winemaker wants to have the best bottling he possibly can he becomes very very choosy in which fruit he wants in his wine. We will have the fruit in wine be your “material.” He will grow plenty of grapes in his vineyard, but when it comes down to picking the grapes he wants to use in his wine, he will choose the best and either sell off or discard the rest. When it comes down to the final product, in your case an album or a performance, he will use only his best fruit. The rest he will discard and maybe make some less expensive bottlings or sell to other wineries (this might be a “b-sides” album for later or some stuff you post on the site for fansaw enjoyment). The point is this: he doesn’t worry that he has too much fruit, but he just takes the best stuff and makes his premier bottling. The rest he still puts to use either by selling off or making secondary bottlings. A ton of material is never a bad thing. You guys had a ton of material for the dig and you made a pretty sweet album although I would have definitely left the solo in Do it Again. Just keep putting it all together and writing albums. David Bowie has done like 40 albums and that dude rocks even if he is a bit of a fag. I don’t know if that analogy helped at all. I think the most creative times should be taken advantage of because you are guaranteed to have sometimes where you cant write a damn thing.

I want you to know that I have written this while sitting on the john. My left leg has fallen asleep. Peace!"

MAY 6, 2008 - Every time I sit down to write a new BONESAW diary entry I get distracted by something else. A show that need to be booked, a jam starting, friends coming by for a soccer game (not that I mind any of these things. . . of course). But I’ve had lots to update on and much of it has come and gone, unfortunately.

One thing that has been on my mind recently revolves around ‘access.’ More specifically, I wonder how much of FS our fans wanna see and hear. We make recordings every week of new songs, new ideas, jam room videos, silly stories, custom t-shirts Hoagman makes, takeover plans, etc etc etc and I often wonder how much y’all want to see and hear? And what is the best way to get it out to you? do fans mind if we put up a rough rough recording from the jam room (does the lower quality matter)? Should we just feature our studio recordings and professional videos and pictures? How much is too much? Hopefully there can never be enough! I guess y’all just gotta let me know what ya want to see. Lyrics from our albums? Jam room recordings? Email me and let me know.

Another big theme recently for me has been the problem of ‘too much material.’ It’s a frustrating situation. The band is on the way there, but hasn’t nearly achieved the size or reach or amount of exposure that I’m dreaming of. Because of that, so much of my time and energy and mind is focused on how to make that happen. Couple that with the insanely prolific volume of song writing that Hoagman and I do, and it creates quite a problem. SO MANY NEW SONGS! How will we ever get them out there? should I be focusing on writing and writing and writing more or on managing, promoting, booking, all that? It actually happens frequently where I don’t let myself go into the jam room to just riff and record because then I get overwhelmed with a bummed-out feeling or worry that it’ll never get recorded. Hoagman has the same problem, I know (though he’s a lot better about ignoring it and just writing and recording. He has some bad ASS new songs, by the way). Nevertheless, there is a lot of new material coming out, as well as songs that we wrote while doing THE DIG that haven’t been heard yet. Maybe we’ll just post them up here as is anyway. Hoagie made a fun little video yesterday from me just jamming.

There’s a girl at this coffee shop I’m typing in who has not stopped talking for at least 90 minutes. STRAIGHT. About nothing. It’s an amazing display.

I also wanted to call attention to a troubling development: two of our longest, most hardcore fans – AshSaw and MandySaw – who have been best friends for a LONG time, are in a rather large feud. I’m not sure why it is, but from messages from both of them, not even FS has been able to bring them to peace again. So I wanted to make a quick plea to them – the FS universe cannot be in harmony while y’all are in this battle. Make peace! Life is too fleeting, and rockin’ is too much fun. . .

I gotta go. A quick list before:

READING: “Rise to Rebellion” by Jeff Shaara (loving it)

WRITING: lots and lots of emails all day, reconnecting with old friends with written words.

(she’s still talking)

LISTENING: some local talent Three Fantastic and Paris Green, also Incubus “S.C.I.E.N.C.E” on loan from Twinky-P and as always, MASTODON.

PLAYING: workin on making any note – ANY note – sound good in context.

Love

BONESAW

March 2, 2008 - Ninety more miles to go to get home to Austin. It’s Sunday afternoon and my three mates and I have been cruising in this White Whale so much these past three weeks that there is a (seemingly) permanent ache in my left hip. It must have something to do with the way I sit here with the computer on my lap. We’ve all got that giddy anticipation now that we’re so close to home, ready to see our friends and pets and able to eat our favorite foods and all that. and though this has been our most challenging tour in many ways since our big west coast adventure in Jan of 2006, I already miss being out on the road. If you know me it’s not hard to see that I’ve always thrived on being part of a team, and when it’s just Hoagman, Smelly, Twink and I out on our own, there’s a great feeling of camaraderie and ‘us against the world’ that I love. Adventure abounds every day, while at the same time we’re faced with the most mundane challenges (where to get spoons at 3am so that we can have post-show cereal chow down). My favorite parts, I think, are the takeovers on college campuses where we all just roll up with posters, guitars, percussion, demos, and our banner and just see what happens. We get to meet SO many new people, and it’s really good for getting me out of my comfort zone. Luckily Hoagman and Smellman have no fear at all of talking to new people (last night they walked into a crowded restaurant and handed out flyers to people at every table, barely escaping a forced exit) cause they always push me.

One somewhat confusing and distressing development this tour was that Twink announced that he doesn’t enjoy playing sports with us and that he, more often than not, would rather hang out alone in the van or in the hotel room than do stuff with the rest of us three. It’s a complicated matter, and one that reveals a lot about Twinkman’s personality. We noticed that he really wasn’t participating in any of our activities – movies, sports games, etc – and finally we all had it out yesterday. He explained that he is just not used to or comfortable spending so much time with other people (esp. the same people) and has always been that way. In one way, it showed me how much he’s put himself out there by going against his nature these past three years in doing stuff with us all the time, but Smell and Hoag and I all feel a little bummed out about it. But it’s weird, before he met us he didn’t exercise, hadn’t played soccer since early high school, and we got him back into it. Now he’s on a local team and is all about soccer. But he said he won’t play with us anymore (he only enjoys playing against strangers). So yes, we’re all bummed, nobody more than me as now I have no teammate for our daily sporting matches and backyard soccer. So now I need a new teammate. Luckily, though, there ain’t no better teammate on stage and we remain as solid as can be on there.

In other matters, it was cool to see fans (who are now friends) on this tour in all these different places. I really feel like we’ve got little pockets of people looking out for us, spreading the word, and most importantly just making us feel welcome whenever we’re out so far from home. Our man Alan Schwartz hooked us UP with a last minute show in Mobile, AL. that was the highlight. Mobile, AL in general is just bad ass.

The roof of the Whale is really the coolest thing to come out of all our tours. It’s probably been signed by 200 people by now, maybe more. Funny messages, phone numbers, pictures, stickers, all that.

I ran almost every morning on this tour and the best memory from all the runs was a shockingly colorful bluebird I saw in Goodwater, Alabama. Swooped right onto a branch in front of me. Unfortunately I was being chased by two akida dogs at the time (they don’t have electric fences in Alabama, apparently) so I only got a quick glimpse.

I was pretty down about our show in Gainesville, FL getting cancelled, but as we headed West instead of east to try to find a show in Mobile, AL to make it up, I got a call from a fan who found my number on our website. She was at UF in Gainesville and was even more bummed than me that it got cancelled. She had a roomful of people who were planning on coming and she even put me on speaker phone so I could explain to everyone. I was really sorry to disappoint them, but I felt a lot better after that call.

I really hope John Pont does a Full Service internship this summer as he’s planning.

I only slept on the floor one night this whole tour. I was freezing and uncomfortable.

Spending my birthday at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, even for only a few hours, was awesome. It’s nice to have a brother like Hoagman who will suggest we play a game even though I know he didn’t particularly want to play just because it was my birthday and he knows that nothing makes me happier than playing games. He also kicked my ass.

Playing a show where there are zero people in the crowd (except the bar staff) is incredibly humbling. It has only happened twice (Albuquerque, NM in 2006 and Atlanta on Feb 24th).

The Gluten Free Tour DietSaw:
Corn Flakes
Banana
Raisins
Almonds
Eggs
Milk
Peanut Butter
Apple
Lara bar
Tortilla Chips
Chocolate
Uncle Ben’s microwave-in-bag brown rice
Pre-cooked chicken
Hotel coffee
Two oranges
And a microwave-able Snapware container

Cover bands suck. We were on with a band in Alabama. We were playing first. When we met them they all had cool Irish accents and said that they were from Dublin and moved to the USA to do a band full time. I was really excited to hear them jam. Until the started their set and didn’t play one original tune the whole night. L-A-M-E.

Full Service rules.

January 13, 2008 -

Winter?

bilingual soccer games * couples flying kites * warm sun * light breeze * remote controlled airplanes * downtown skyline * fathers, sons, and footballs * model rocket launches * tourists * acoustic guitars * volleyball * kids building sandcastles * picnics on blankets * people gathering pecans * kites kites and more kites * bikes * Zilker Zephyr train rides * a first date * a divorced couple’s kid exchange * car doors open, music playing * naptime * pickup ultimate Frisbee * running * and me.

June 26, 2007 -

Panama City, FL –
Been too long since I last wrote. You would think that there would be all KINDS of time on tour to do things like write songs, write updates, make phone calls, etc. but surprisingly not. It’s always too loud in the van with the windows open to talk on the phone and there’s generally not a lot of ‘solo’ time for privacy as far as practicing guitar or writing songs. But I ain’t complaining! This tour – with the exception of one show – has been awesome all the way. As my girl aimee pointed out, we go to the beach more than anybody she knows, and that’s by design. The first major highlight of the trip was the KILLER surf and wave riding in Navarre Beach, FL before our show last Tuesday night. Smell and I were in the water for like 2 hours straight taking long rides in on the rough surf (there were lifeguards, momsaw). When we all finally left the beach, we realized that we had neon green highlights in our hair. At first it was like “sweet!” until we realized that all that seaweed was going to be pretty tough to get out. There is STILL some in hoag and smell’s hair (it’s as nasty as it sounds). . . another unexpected highlight was our two day stay in Guntersville, AL. As Hoagman said in his update, the hick in Birmingham, AL were warning us about the hicks in Guntersville, so we didn’t really know what to expect. But the town is BEAUTIFUL and the people incredibly cool. I did some research online and found this great park right on the huge lake in Guntersville where we ended up having two days of soccer and swimming and reading and playing on either side of a great show. The games were intense – Twink and I lost 12-10 in the first game (Hoagman and smell went on a vicious 5 goal run with 8 minutes to go in the game to put it away) but Twink and I bounced back in the second game to win a one goal game on a beautiful give and go with 22 seconds to go. Hoag contended that he ‘didn’t get beat, you just caught me guessing the wrong way – I was going for the win’ (which is define as – you got outsmarted and beat!). though twink refused to swim in the lake, Hoag and Smell and I had the perfect cool down swim in the lake and played a ‘how many times can we hit the inflatable grocery store ball without it hitting the water’ game (we got to 245). Even better was the family of HUGE Alabama brother swimming near us. I mean, these guys were as hick as you can get and it was hilarious. the massive older brother (Dwayne) kept throwing his little brother in the deep water and trying to get him to swim – “put me down Dwayne! You know I cain’t but swim worth a crap!” – to which the even larger mama on the shore (getting really burned in the sun) unleashed a booming “DWAYNE!” to get him to stop. He didn’t. . .

I think my favorite way to pass the time in the van is to just lay on one of the back seats and look up at the ceiling of the Whale where we’ve been collecting signatures from FanSaws all over the country for the last three tours. The rule is that anybody who rides in the van must sign, and it’s the perfect scrapbook of sorts. We just taped the ‘free game’ coupon that Smell won during put-put golf yesterday (getting him ‘immunity’ from the having dish duty as the loser of the game, passing that duty on to twink). There are new signatures from Smell’s Granddaddy, aunt Jan, Mama Wadene, and cousin Danielle. Eric “Birdman” Erdman from the Ugli Stick just made an awesome entry about his time spent ‘plundering with the band of Pirates in FULL SERVICE.” I love seeing C-Whit and Whit, CabSaw Baby!, C2 from Mobile, AL, Buggy from LSU, Sarah from LaVale, MD, Aubrey from Gainesville, FL. . . good memories. . .

It’s so hot here in Panama City, FL – our booking agent Kathy says it’s “Africa Hot” here. She’s right.

Today we’re back to the beach for another round of intense Nukem matches. We switched up the teams so it’s me and Hoagman vs. Twink and Smell. We’re 5-0.

Hoagman bought us all little white sand dollars at a store the other day. I thought that was cool.

I’m reading “Catch-22” which was a loaner from my friend Jamie back in ATX. Really crazy book. Youssarian!

No beach, no matter how clear the water is, how nice the waves are, will ever compare with Nantucket.

Gotta go!

- BONESAW

MAY 20, 2007 -You’d think that after achieving something you’ve been working really really hard for that you’d feel incredibly awesome and inspired and extra motivated for a long period of time but the truth is that once it’s over and the initial excitement wears off, there’s a little bit of a let-down. You get that ‘now what?’ feeling. I’ve been experiencing that since I finished that marathon about two months ago. Not that my runs have been bad or anything, and I’ve definitely enjoyed getting back into other sports again too, but it’s just not as cool as when you’re chasing the goal. I think back pretty fondly now about being dead tired at mile 14 of a 18 mile training run and having to find something to make myself keep going, figuring out what I’ve got inside me for guts. I mean, when I’m out on a run now, I’m thinking “THANK GOD I don’t have to do 10 more,’ but in a way I kinda wish I was.

I wonder if that’s what it’ll be like with this whole rock star band dream thing. I really hate when everybody who is in the business talks about how ‘hard’ it is as if playing music isn’t like the most fun thing in the world and escaping the trappings of a 9-5 job doesn’t make you feel victorious every day. Basically I just don’t like the complaining. But it IS hard stuff. hard physically – staying up and out so late, loading the van in the rain after a show at 2:45am, driving long shifts in the van, pretty much constant physical fatigue, etc. It’s hard on your health – finding healthy places to eat and never settling for fast food, no kitchen to cook in, dealing with an annoying allergy to wheat, etc. It’s hardest on the mind, for me at least, as the one who is the Ahab - sending hundreds of emails to agents and clubs knowing that 90% won’t respond (not out of rejection, but just because they are too busy or too jaded), figuring out the right moves, where to tour, how to promote, how to market, who to trust, etc. But I wonder if it’s this part of the journey – where it’s all uncertain and small time. where the money is small and the smell in the van is thick, where it’s just four guys and a ton of gear in a long white van making it up as we go – that will be the best part in the end. When we’re big famous rock stars, I wonder if we’ll feel a bit let down that these times are over. Then again, I don’t know. Every year I feel like is more fun than the year before it. maybe that’s just short term memory, or maybe I’m just having a ton of fun. Either way, when it’s raining and cold in new England and I haven’t had a hot meal for three days, it does kinda get to ya. . .

But!

Just when you’re feelin a lull in the eternal drive and optimism about the great dream chase, I run into some old friends like Whit, Pont, Maciej, Wilde, Y-Dubb, etc. They drive far in the rain to come see us jam all over the place. We all bunk up in their houses and pluck guitars in the morning and sneak onto soccer fields or basketball gym for some three on three. And in their enthusiasm for the full our rockin’ of the music and the thrill of the chase, I feel like there ain’t NOTHING that could stop us. In Rhode Island I said to Whit – “Man, I hope this show isn’t a stinker. I hope there are some people out,” to which he said “Who care’s, you’re still gonna rock, right?”

Fuck yea.

That’s a good enough rant for now. I’m gonna go home and re-write the FS business plan, work out what we want to do for the next few months, figure out some new ways to promote the Saw lifestyle and music, and do some SERIOUS jammin’ in the basement. I got the greatest job in the world. And I’m going to enjoy the struggle and worry about what happens when we succeed when it comes to that. WHEN it comes to that.

Peace –

BONESAW

Reading: Steinbeck “East of Eden”

Listening: Hoag sing “On the Wings of Love”

Playing: workin on a few new songs in the key of G, and a song for my girl aimee.

APRIL 1, 2007 -Well the rain is falling HARD here in Mobile, AL, which is not exactly what we had hoped for on our two days off after a wild three-day run here. We were lookin for two days of beach time all the way! But alas, I think it might be movie double feature day. . . we had three hour sets three nights in a row – one at Fabacher’s and two at Grand Central in downtown Mobile – both awesome bars with great people. we reconnected with Wes and Bacon, the managers of both bars, and these guys are just the most supportive, awesome guys. They both tend bar too and are the life of the crowd the whole night – jamming away to the music, dancing behind there, spinnin’ drink after drink. Then there is Bobby who runs insanely good sound. . . no bullshit, no feedback or anything. Just perfect sound. And loud. Then we got Howard and Alan, two security guys who, when we’re rich and famous, will be the first guys I try to hire to come with us on the road. And did I mention that all of these dudes are NFL-sized huge?! What the hell do they eat in Mobile, AL?

We did have two great days at the beach, Dauphin Island, on Friday and Saturday. the water here is so clear and warm and there are no shells in the sand at all. . . ideal for football and whatnot (if only we could play as hoag and I are still injured). I did some exploring and found some cool side-moving crabs that are about as fast as a cheetah, or so it seems. Saw one dude catch a HUGE fish, reel it in, throw it in his cooler, pack up immediately and say “I got my dinner” and take off. I thought that was hilarious. Hoag forgot the video camera charger and we lost our digital camera battery pack sooooooo…. Not much happening on the pictures / video front for this tour. Crap!

Anyway, I’ve been up until 3am and after 4am three nights in a row and my brain ain’t workin so well, so I’m gonna sign off with a quick list:

Reading: “Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” (Smell is reading “The Illiad,” Hoag is reading “The Life of Pi” and Twink is reading “Memoir of an LA Gangster.”

Listening: “Son of a Bush” by Public Enemy

Exercise: still can only run – one more week until I’m cleared for all sports! Doing lots of hill sprints

Guitar: trying to steal Brent Hinds’ finger picking solo technique. Without much success!

- BONESAW

FEBRUARY 21, 2007 -

“running faster than I ever have…” – Mastodon

Sunday I ran in the Austin Marathon here in Austin, TX and it’s three days later and I’m still walking like a centenarian. i had run a marathon before – in 2003, before FS had put out any albums, before Smell or Twink were in the band, basically before anything had happened for us here in Austin – and I ended up getting really injured in training (partially tore both Achilles). I did the marathon then, but with a disappointing finish (an excruciating 3:55). The idea to get into another marathon hit me this past summer when we were on vacation in Nantucket and the air was so fresh and salty and I felt rested and running was effortless. Could I do it without getting hurt? While being on the road on tour? Could I race it rather than run it? I decided to go for it and began my training 4.5 months before the race. I found an intermediate program in Runner’s World and started checking off the days as the runs went by. I had so many amazing runs over those few months in so many different places. A few or my favorites and memories. . . covering every inch of the Barton Creek Greenbelt here in Austin TX with nothing but shoes, shorts, socks and a few candy canes to get me the whole way; running there with my friend Gonzo too (though not as long); finally discovering where the legendary “hill of life” is hidden in that greenbelt (and running up it); 8 miles in the pouring rain along the water in Ft Walton Beach, FL on tour; 17 miles on the hilly roads where I grew up in Philadelphia suburbs the week of Christmas; the Trail of Lights 5K here in Austin with my friend and neighbor Daniel; the 20 miler two days before leaving for Toursaw around Town Lake; getting up on 3 hours sleep in Hattiesburg, MS and finding a super long trail through the woods that had once been a railroad line (and having to stop and #2 in the woods!); 14 miles on the morning of my 10 year high school reunion in philly; the hardest workout of them all: 2 miles / 4 sets of 2 mile tempo repeats / 3 miles; my go-to route through the St. Edwards campus and around the Blunn Creek nature preserve (and being amazed at all the kids skipping school at Travis high and smoking weed in the woods there); my other go-to route down East Side Drive down to Riverside avenue and back; my run with Beaux in Mobile, AL to a big park, doing 10-100 yard dashes, and racing him back; another run in Mobile, AL where I got (intentionally) lost for 2 hours in the woods and had to jump over a 3 foot long snake across the trail; sneaking into the 10 story Holiday Inn in Baton Rouge and running up and down the stairwell at 7am on 3 hours sleep because it was pouring rain outside; exploring the Univ of Florida campus on an hour and a half run, even finding myself on a wooden plank trail through a big ass swamp (no gators); freezing cold runs, sweaty hot runs, cuts on my face from branches and blood on my legs from the same, the track workout with my friend Rob and Hoagman when the Ultimate game didn’t come together, the crazy Russian lady who sold me the orthodics for my shoes, tripping and falling on Riverside drive, barely avoiding a car, and pushing myself farther than I ever had before.

Then of course, there was the race.

I rested as best I could the day before the race, but did a little 2 miler that morning. The day was PERFECT if a bit windy. I obviously was jittery all day but I did manage to get to sleep at a good time (11pm). I had that wake-up-at-1am-thinking-i-had-overslept-nightmare and was freakin out until I saw the clock. At 4:00am my alarm went off and I was awake as could be. Got up to go to the bathroom and noticed that Hoagman wasn’t even home yet from his night out. Awesome. He was my ride in 2 hours to the race. Had a half banana and read my book for a while, got my gear (including those skimpy racing shorts) together. It was COLD but clear outside and so I took the warmup that Joe Lopez (our friend Lopey’s dad in El Paso) had given me on our west coast tour and threw it on to keep warm before the race, knowing I would ditch it later and never see it again (but it served a great purpose). I chose to get Twink up instead and like a total mack he got up no problem and we rolled in the dark to Gonzo’s house. Homeboy was READY. . . gear on, bib pinned to his shirt, shoes tied, timing chip laced in his shoe, food packed and ready. I felt so unprepared when I saw him with my three packs of Gu and pockets full of candy canes, shoes untied (this was costly later). . . Twink dropped us off and there were 12,000 people swarming around downtown at 6am in the total dark. Gonzo and I huddled up inside the Ramada hotel by the start with a ton of other people and headed out to the starting area around 6:50 (7am race start). I loosely tied my shoes thinking I’d have a chance later. when we got to the Congress Bridge, it was PACKED with people and I immediately began to worry because I needed to get to my pace area (3:30) but soon realized that was going to be impossible. I was stuck way back with 4:30. shit shit shit. Gonzo and I gave a good luck hug and parted ways (“CALM LIKE A BOMB BABY!”) and then it was just me. The sun rose and fireworks went off and all of a sudden it was go time. When I finally got to the start line everybody’s chip on their shoes were beeping as we crossed, starting our own personal timers. The course started up heading south toward FS-HQ up a huge hill and I got jammed into a really slow group and couldn’t get out at all. Clocked my first mile in 9:30 – a full minute over where I wanted to be. Shit shit shit again. Also noticed that my shoes were loose. Crap crap crap. But I felt GREAT, the air was clear, no wind, could tell it was going to get warm and into the 60s. my plan was to run the first 13 and race the second 13, and I stuck to my plan. but I was having trouble mentally being 2:30 off my goal pace at every mile marker after I stopped to take a quick pee around mile 7 at Austin High. But I settled in and talked to a few other runners (one man was my dad’s age) and enjoyed the mostly country blues bands playing on the course. Popped a candy cane every 30 minutes and sucked down some of the horrible Gu things. Ugh. We buzzed through a small loop downtown and I began to get into a zone as we went east on Lake Austin Blvd, knowing that there were hills from mile 8 to mile 14 (gulp). My mind passed over what’s going on with our band in the near future (upcoming tours, the new attorney Cabbott we just began working with, the upcoming EP release, future rock stardom), what all that stuff means for my personal life (more touring and how that’ll effect my relationships here, my health, all that), what was going on with my girlfriend, constant check-ins with how my legs and body were feeling, when I should eat something, when I should stop and drink. The hills, when the finally came, came HARD and lived up to all the hype (I talked with one of the elite runners two days before the race and he said to expect to love 5-10 minutes off your normal marathon time because of the hills). They just NEVER stopped. At about mile 12 I came across all these signs decorated in pirate theme: “ahoy matey!” and the like. Soon a water stop pulled up where all the volunteers were decked out in pirate garb, eye patches, and sailor music playing. It was a great break and I thought of Gonzo back there because we had been talking about pirates just before we started (in regards to our new song “Hi Ho”). At mile 13 the half marathon runners broke off and things got really quite. This is when the real race happened. Not many spectators, no sound but the people around me pounding and breathing hard. This was my favorite part of the race. Just me and my steady breathing. . .

At mile 18 I was cruising and making up time (only 45 seconds off the 3:30 pace) when I ran into Kristin Armstrong and some of her friends. That’s Lance’s ex wife. She’s a contributor to Runner’s World and I read her stuff all the time. So this one spectator was freakin out when she saw her and Kristin just turned her hat low. She and her friend were ALL ABOUT the motivational talking – it was constant between them. just as I said hello I heard a loud bell and “GO BONESAW! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO!” It was Smell’s Mom! For some reason I yelled back “Gina! Fuck Yea!” as I passed and as Kristin and everyone else around laughed I was like “what am I doing?!”

At Mile 21 I saw aimee, Corinne, Olivia and Ramona. They had seen me at mile 17 when I was kickin ass by now at 21 I was suffering hard. The legs had totally seized up. left quad – GONE. Right Iliotibial Band (outside of knee) – SCREAMING. They were clearly kind of shocked at my condition as I was starting to tear up, but I gave them all high fives as I went by. Then I really started crying hard core. It was part pain / part exhaustion / partly being overwhelmed by seeing them / and I don’t know what else. But when I finally ran into Smell and Hoagman at mile 23, just before a MONSTER hill I knew was coming, I could only blurt out “I’m in SO MUCH PAIN!” and they were clearly shocked. I really don’t know what happened to me then or why I was hurting so bad, maybe I had just been pushing the pace too hard (7:45 pace for the last 5 or 6) but my legs felt like they were rigid pieces of wood. Still passing people, I wound around the UT football stadium and kept checking my watch. I knew I wasn’t going to make it then, but I wanted to go anyway. Coming up to the Capitol, it was all adrenaline and guts cause I had nothing in my legs or my muscles or my blood or my mind. On Congress I hear Twinky P yelling for me as I got into the final 100 yards. Looking to my left I could see him hopping up and down and running along behind all the crowd. It was awesome. Go Twink! 50 yard from the finish I pass my friend Gary who I hadn’t seen the whole race and we crossed just about the same time. Could hear that familiar ‘beep beep beep’ of people’s timing chips crossing the finish line. When I stopped, I stumbled and couldn’t even stand up. there were volunteers who were taking people’s chips off their shoes and I had to put my hand on the kids shoulder to balance. I put my head down on the metal fence and my new finisher’s medal was clanging against it. That’s when all the emotion really came out and I just lost it. . .

I remember seeing hoag and smell on the other side of the fence and they didn’t know what to do with me cause I was so happy but couldn’t even stand or talk or anything. The volunteers wrapped one of those space looking thermal things around me cause all of a sudden I was FREEZING. You can’t get out into the crowd but have to go into the finisher’s area where they had Gatorade and bananas and all that stuff. it took me at least 20 minutes to walk the 100 yards to the exit. I couldn’t believe that now I could barely walk and before was running so far. Twink, Shirley, Lynsy, Hoag and Smell were all there and we talked (as much as I could) before I wandered off by myself to wait for Gonzo. First I called my mom and dad told them that I finished! They said not to sweat missing the time by so little – it was just the slow packed start and the pee break. Ah well. When I went to find Gonzo, homeboy crossed before I could even get there to watch him and he limped up behind me – crossed in 4:15! What a freakin warrior. We met aimee and Corinne and Olivia and Ramona and gonzo’s parents. We sat and watched more finishers cross and stood in the sun trying to stay warm. . .

Maybe that was the most boring thing for anyone who reads this page to read, but for me, it was an awesome day.

Now back to the music. . .

JANUARY 22, 2007 - Well if Smell is going to write two updates in one week, I better catch up. having just turned over the computer to me, I am now sitting co-pilot in the Whale driving through the rainy panhandle of Florida en route to Gainesville. I have a pretty hard-core feeling of impending doom as Smell, Twink, and Beaux have spent large parts of the last three days puking everything they had and then some. Poor Beaux was virtually passed out in the bathroom when hoagman found him last night at 12:30am. What the HELL is going on? it’s definitely NOT food poisoning as we have all eaten different things, etc. whatever was hurting people in Austin (gonzo, Corinne, Ramona (yes, the Ramona from the song), Daniel, etc) is getting us now I guess.

But on a lighter note, the tour is going really well. As I have learned to be the case, the benefits and good things that come from touring are often gotten when we are off stage. Most recently it has been reconnecting with old friends like Justin Rogers and his mom down here in Florida. Haven’t seen Justin in probably 10 years, and it’s really his older brother Todd who was my closer friend, but he hooked us up with a great show on Saturday night, a wonderful place to stay in Ft Walton where mrs. Rogers had tons of food and good will for us. Then on Sunday we went to see Justin play in a big band concert from 2-4pm. Highlight was watching an 85 year old woman rockin as hard as any full service fan at our shows – pumping her fist, clapping her hands, raising her arms. . . she got her exercise for the week. And it didn’t even matter that she was completely off beat the whole time. I half expected her to start headbanging!

I just passed another Confederate flag waving on someone’s driveway entrance. . . that’s scary.

I’ve run in the pouring rain two days in a row. My boy Judge back in Philly would be proud.

I’m wearing aimee’s whale tail every day in the van for good travels.

I also got to hear G25’s rough cuts – finally – of the three song ‘Spooks’ demo we’ve been working on for a long time the other day and they are NASTY. A little bit different sound than you might be used to, but I think everyone will dig them. it’s a three song EP that we put together for our attorney and publicist to use to help us get the right record label to support us. It has “Imaginary Girl,” “Hi Ho,” and a new version of “Late January” and we’ll be releasing it on iTunes. I am also planning on making about 50 copies ONLY available on CD that we might have for sale in an auction format to help raise funds for our next tour. We’ll be using one of my cousin Becky Bennett’s paintings as the cover art (check her out: www.rebeccabennett.com). Hmmm I’m thinking it’ll be ready for release in March in time for SXSW. We’ll see. Also, it’s produced by our friend who we will call Mr. Ultimate as he prefers to stay in the background. But yeah, he’s the man. wait and hear. . .

As for Smellman’s claims that I wasn’t maintaining by trying to learn some John Mayer at Ashley’s place in Baton Rouge…. Well I was just trying to do something nice for our hosts, so eat it Smellman (but thanks for getting me that Activia at the grocery store this morning).

Reading: “Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrel” by Suzanna Clarke

Jamming: “Blood Mountain” by Mastodon (of course)

Running: about 45 miles a week with the taper for the marathon starting Feb 4. Race date is 2/18

Thinking: of getting my next tattoo (a harpoon / whale symbol from Nantucket) if I get my goal for the marathon (shooting for sub 3:30 for the 26.2 miles).

Excited: for the Super Bowl baby! My boy Peyton Manning all the way!

Shout Out: to my man Michael K back in Connecticut. . . keep dunking man! Uncle Hoag and I will be back for some knee football action in the spring!

- The SAW!

DECEMBER 3, 2006 -Last Friday night at the Flamingo Cantina we had a run-in with some emo-dudes that couldn’t have been more perfectly scripted. Basically this little Emo guy with tight clothes, a fluffy scarf, and a pencil mustache (Twink’s response to this pedophile-style dusting: “you call THAT a mustache? He obviously hasn’t seen ESCOBAR”) screwed up by telling the other band the wrong set time, tried to go behind our backs and change the set order all sneaky-style, then ran into a wall of BONE and HOAG that, of course, was going nowhere. I thought Hoagman was going to bite him. But it was all good as it gave me the perfect opportunity to make a very special dedication of our song “YOUR EMO BAND.” FS gets along with just about everybody, but not this douchebag. So on my morning run today, I started to think of our own version of ‘man laws,’ except that ours will be “LawSaws.” Here’s my first proposed law:

Unless you are Steven Tyler or Mick Jaggar, if you’re wearing a scarf on stage, you’re a douchbag. . . LAW-SAW!”

In other news, our friend KatSaw from Houston wrote an awesome poem for us. It is really ridiculously accurate. She is referring to how we always drive home to Austin after our shows in Houston rather than staying the night and partying. WE LOVE YOU KAT!

And finally, a joke from another FanSaw I overheard at the Flamingo last Friday:

What do you call a Full Service Puzzle? EMAIL me with the answer!

Love, BONESAW

November 16, 2006 -It’s a new website, so I’m going to start fresh here. Bonesaw, that’s me. I’m into a lot of different things, but I can break it down really simply for you. I’m obsessed with this band and making us mega huge and successful. A while back I read “Moby Dick” and have been listening to Mastodon maniacally so the person I most identify with these days is Captain Ahab. Hoag Smell and Twink are getting accustomed to me crackin the whip on them! if you’re looking to find me, you probably won’t get me on my cell phone, but you’re welcome to try (download “Bo Ding” on iTunes if you wanna get my number… it’s in that song). But not because I don’t answer, but because, as hoag says, we’re full time rockin, and it’s just too loud to hear the ring. Or I’m off on a long run through the ‘woods’ (as much as Texas has any woods) training for the ATX marathon. Up to 14 miles last Sunday and moving on up. . . I’m reading about Michaelangelo in a kick ass book called The Agony and the Ecstasy. Hoagmonster got me into the book, and our parents were just in Italy and saw his ‘David.’ That guy was SUCH a stud. When he was 15 he walked into the best sculpturer’s studio in Florence and asked to be one of his apprentices. Now apprentices always had to pay the master for this privilege, but young M just went up in there and said: ‘you’re going to have me, and you’re going to pay ME to do it!’ and of course, it worked. So I’m trying to learn from it. . .

Yesterday was so weird. We were playing soccer in the backyard like we do everyday. This was a 1 on 1 on 1 game with me and hoag and twink. The games are always rough, but this one was clean so far. Hoag was up 7-4(me)-1(twink) and we were rushing to get a free ball when all of a sudden hoag just BUCKLED and twisted down to the ground, yelling in pain. AND he landed in a pile of dog shit! So there he is just freakin out and it was so bizarre because we’ve played sports with and against each other every day since we were born and he’s never once gone down with an injury. I’ve broken my nose, collar bone, a rib, torn my rotator cuff and partially torn both Achilles, had shin splints, illiotibial band syndrome, patella tendonitis, broken finger, two badly sprained ankles, a slightly fractured ocular bone, and a million other things. But hoagman, only a broken thumb playing lacrosse in high school. . . but of course, x-rays were negative and it’s just a bad sprain. Lucky for him I wrapped that shit and iced it right away so the swelling ain’t too bad. But who am I gonna play soccer with now?!


read old updates. . .