Miami Music Blog

​Hello everyone! We've been traveling the country for about two weeks now
and here it is summed up:

The fall is starting to settle, the leaves are changing and the cold weather is kicking!!!  Layers are very essential at this point. The lowest temperature we've hit so far has been 33 degrees. But, neither of us have gotten sick yet so that's always good.

We've played in Georgia, North Carolina, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. Clubs, bars, coffee shops and basements. Been on mountain tops and driven through mountain caves. See lots of deer, eagles, vultures snacking on road kill, gofers, wild turkeys, birds, cows (that we couldn't help petting_, horses, etc. Driven through many corn fields, in which we've recently found out that most corn grown in the U.S. is not human corn, it's for livestock. Good thing we didn't camp out in a cornfield and have corn for breakfast. Slept in an attic, on a farm, in a haunted house and in the van only to wake up surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains.

​To read past installments of Jacobs Ladder's tour diary, click here. This is the final installment, by bassist Sammy Gonzalez. Now that the band is back home, you can stay updated on their shows and releases by checking out the Jacobs Ladder MySpace page. 

Driving home from Tampa at 12:30 a.m. I took a long time to reflect on this tour: all the different people I met, cities I played in, floors I slept on. The drive back home from tour is always a strange feeling. While I'm gone I miss my family, friends, and girlfriend, but the closer I get to Miami, the more I feel like I'm leaving something behind. As long as we're home working our other jobs, I feel like I'm just wasting time.

As I think back, I realize that this was the most rewarding tour we've ever been on. We hadn't finished the mixing for our new EP before we left, so we had to take care of that on the road, listening online and sending notes back and forth. Then we had to talk to our cover artist (see the album cover above!) and all the other people behind the project. But once the EP was finally done, was really cool to see everything we've been working for over the last few months appear before our eyes in physical form.

Otto von Schirach & Notorious Nastie - Gogbot Festival, Enschede, The Netherlands

​I don't know about you, but when I was in high school I would sit in class and daydream, often whisking myself away to a magical place in my mind. Sometimes I would imagine myself less fat and awkward. Other times I'd see myself flying all over the world meeting midgets and eating waffles in Belgium. I could also easily imagine Otto daydreaming as well. Russian chicks dancing naked to his music, a robot that plays Black Sabbath, and people feeling the Triangle of Bass. Who would ever imagine that what we were actually envisioning in our heads was the Gogbot Festival, a three day Multi Media Arts Mega Fest in Enschede, The Netherlands with our favorite superhero of sound, Otto von Schirach, headlining. This year's festival featured futuristic art that literally blew our minds.

​Jacobs Ladder is almost at the end of their national tour. Click here and here to read past installments of the band's tour diary -- and to hear their music, check out their MySpace page. These installments were penned by the band's bassist, Sammy Gonzalez.

Wednesday, September 2: General Thoughts on the Austin Music Scene

Walking down Sixth Street I was amazed to see so many venues, tattoo parlors, and pizza shops. Easily over 100 bands were performing within a 12-block radius that night alone. I now see why SXSW is held here. It was a breath of fresh air coming from Miami, where DJs are held in great acclaim and bands are seen as runts. Sadly the only legit venue in Miami is Churchill's. Other establishments will try to throw a single band in between DJ sets, which ends up being extremely awkward due to the fact that most of these sceney kids dress the part but don't know a thing about music and couldn't care less.

But in Austin, people go to the bar to listen to music. It seems like its the only thing to do here. Though overwhelming and awesome, the over-saturation of talent is great for the consumer, but I'm not too sure what it does for all those bands. We were lucky to play for 40 people on a Wednesday night at an amazing venue, but I noticed some bands were way more fortunate and some way less. I think there might have been more people in bands on the strip then actual audience members hanging out. But I have to say it made me pretty happy. I feel like the people in Austin are even smarter here since they actually appreciate the arts; it's very, very cool. Austin: Two thumbs up.

Otto von Schirach in Berlin

​ The year is 1945 and Berlin falls to the allied troops as World War II comes to an end. Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun have one last glass of apple juice as they depart for the big ol' Deutschland in the sky. I wonder what our old Führer would make of his dear beloved city, Berlin. How much different would it be from the visions of a secular Aryan race that where dancing around in his head? As our tour manager Gee slowed off the Autobahn and passed the sign marked Ausfahrt, I knew I would soon see that present day reality with my own eyes.

It was a sunny afternoon as we drove into Berlin on our way to sound check at Berghain Kantine. Street after street, mile after mile, graffiti-plagued buildings lined the city and came together reminding me of an old tattooed sailor. Each tattoo was a memory of the pleasures past and for Berlin, each piece of graffiti a testament to individual expression and freedom. I stared out my window in the back seat of our Å koda automobile, shocked and amazed, as I gazed upon a cornucopia of freaks, punks, goths, IDM heads, and weirdos of all kinds packing the sidewalks.

Billboards for shows cluttered this urban canvas, offering an endless supply of first-rate avant garde entertainment. That was the moment that all the pieces to the Otto puzzle began to come together more clearly than ever before. Berlin loves Otto von Schirach. Not surprising, with a town of full-fledged maniacs and social deviants, it's a counter-culture mecca. Proof of that love and admiration lined the streets in the form of posters, depicting a caricature of our Laptop Conquistador of Bass, along with the date, venue, and support acts.

The Earth's moon was full as we arrived at the medieval castle for the OpenFields Festival, in the Belgium village of Rêves.The Bermuda Triangle's Flamingo prince, Otto von Schirach, instinctually quenched the crowd's thirst for his signature style of alien beats, playing for close to two hours.

As Otto performed under that blistering moon, which he credits as being fuel for madness, something unearthly began to happen. I stared out at the enormous crowd and it seemed to me that people were in the process of losing their minds.  Proof of that madness was evident all around us as people began to believe themselves to be from another planet, a planet of my friends, inhabited by a race of Mongolian Bass people. It was utter mayhem and pure pandemonium within that sea of thousands, nestled between that moon and this towering black metal castle in Belgium.

Once Otto began to perform his final track, "Chango," it was clear he had channeled that full moon's energy, infectiously spreading madness through the crowd. Maybe it was the 500-year-old castle, jet lag, or the kief, but I seem to remember aliens there to witness Otto von Schirach, Miami's own Triangular Disciple of Bass.

Your boy,
The Notorious Nastie

Otto von Schirach & Nastie - Budapest, 2008

​Greetings to all my friends in the Bermuda Triangle, this is your boy, The Notorious Nastie. I am very excited to announce that this special New Times blog has been established to document the Otto von Schirach Speakermelt Tour. We will be spreading the power of Bass to many countries in Europe, on this planet Earth.

Otto and I arrive at our first city on the tour at 8 a.m., which works out perfectly because Belgium really does have the best waffles. The second stop on Bass Train Express is Paris. Otto keeps talking about going down into the catacombs with DJ Urine and it scares me.  Last time Otto was in Paris, we played an old underground bunker and the show was ridiculous.  This time, along with Paris, we are playing Strasbourg, which Otto describes as a "black, metal, medieval city with rivers running through it and water traveling direct from the Bermuda triangle." I asked him how are we getting to the first show and he said unicorns bro, unicorns.

​To read the previous installment of Jacobs Ladder's tour diary, click here. These are the on-the-road chronicles of Miami band Jacobs Ladder as it completes its ninth national tour, brought to you by bassist Sammy Gonzalez.

Bands, if you're heading out on the road and want to share your own tour diary, email us.

Monday, August 24: 1982 Bar, Gainesville

I have this cold and it was killing me. I can't stop coughing, and this day, I was afraid I was going to lose my voice. If I would stop drinking at night I'm sure it would go away, but I'm too much of an asshole to do that.

So Monday, I walked into 1982 Bar and they were hosting free video game night. Old Super Mario and boxing were being played on multiple screens while the only four college kids in the bar talked shit about their first day of class. It was a typical scene at load in -- nobody at the venue but you and the other bands, and you wonder what it's going to be like that night.

I sat down and ordered a $1 PBR and indulged in the pretzel bowl while playing Mario Kart. I coughed into my hand and then reached for another pretzeI, and realized that I was that person who spreads their germs into these food bowls at bars.

​When the guys in Miami trio Jacobs Ladder told us they were leaving on their second national tour of the summer (and their ninth national tour to date), we asked them to send us some recaps of their time on the road. Local musicians, if you're going on tour -- even a long weekend in Orlando or somewhere counts! -- and you want to send in a tour diary to share here, e-mail us here. 

Jacob's Ladder Tour Diary, Days One, Two, and Three -- From Bassist Sammy Gonzalez

Friday, August 21: Churchill's, Miami

Finally, last Friday was the kickoff for our Obey Your Mastour kick-off with Your Best Friend, from Saginaw, Michigan. We love our tour mates and had been looking forward to this. Upon arriving to Churchill's, our frontman Oren and I did a quick sound check, and THANK GOD FOR THAT -- after playing two notes, the tuning peg on my bass broke off! Damn, that sucked. But luckily my good friend Marty went to his shop a little early for me and repaired it before we played. Thank you very much, Marty!