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It's been a while..

So many things have happened since this has last been updated. It's funny how life takes you by the hand and doesn't let you even get a word in edge wise, and before you know it your sitting in your basement, trapped inside by a snow storm, thinking about all the crazy things you did in the past year.

Since this last blog post, the effort ran the gambit of things bands usually do over the entire course of their life, within one year. We toured for three straight months in the summer which included our first trip into Canada(Hey Buddy!), a full US tour, and 6 weeks with all our good friends in 'urope. That had to be the longest tour ever, and though it was great fun and probably the best experience we have ever had, it came with a price.

By the end of the summer, The Effort was left with only three member; Tony, James, and Jordan. Tim and Eddie grew apart from the band, and needed to find their own way through life. There really isn't much more to say on that matter. At this point, The Effort could have called it quits right there, but we just had so much more to say, do, and accomplish.

And that is where Christian and Ryan came into the picture.




Christian we met on the interwebs(where all great friendships start), and everything seemed to just click. He is only a quarter japanese, but we figured that would do. He makes the other 75% up with dedication, sick beats, and helping me with my Japanese homework.



Ryan has been around for a while, at least in my life. We met officially back when the Effort played at the Barn in Middletown, RI, an insanely awesome place that no longer does shows(typical for hardcore), but housed some of the best memories of this band. This venue was responsible for cementing our marriage with our brother band Outrage and allowing us to share the space with awesome bands such as Soul Control.

Anyway, Ryan is an amazing musician who plays not just hardcore, and predominately remains outside the mold of most hardcore band guitar players. I wouldn't even call myself a musician, just a kid who picked up a bass and knows how to keep time, but Ryan is the real deal. He brings a style to the effort that was previously never even thought to be possible, with weird time changes and fast finger picking, giving us a whole new sort of sound, while remaining core to our roots. Not only that, but he has to be the cutest 24 year old boy I have ever seen. That helps, too.




Since we got our lineup locked down again, we were now ready to get back onto the paved paradise. After getting the big red van back into shape, and adding a trailer to our home on the road, we were off down the east coast headed straight for the tip of Florida. Cold seemed to seep into every crevice it could find on our rush down to warmth, which made the trip down so much faster. Touring in the Winter is so much different than the summer, where you can stop and jump in the water, or be comfortable just sleeping outside. In December you don't want to ever leave your sleeping bag, unless the reason is to play to 40 kids in a basement or inhale vegan meals.






But after 6 days of what seemed like no sun, we finally made it to Gainesville where we met up with Battle, Dave Pratka, and other friends from the area. They treated us like kings, and let us stay in their home, and play to their friends, all before sending us off to the airport where we made it safely to Guatemala.






Yeah, this past winter we toured Central America, but maybe I'll save that for another blog post. All I can say right now is that James was right when he said after landing back in America a week and a half later: "I feel like that was just a dream, and i'm just now waking up." Safe to say, it was a pretty surreal, yet an incredible experience.










Barreling back up the East Coast, to homes, and jobs, and school, and girlfriends, we let "the white line in the middle of the highway unroll and hug our left front tire as if glued to our groove," something Kerouac once said that reverberates in me every time we pull onto pavement. Unfortunately, that groove got shaken out of us by the clutches of real life.

Tony flew back home to St. Louis, James got dropped off in Fitchburg(with classes literally the day after we got back!), Christian reunited with Elena, Ryan saw all 65 of his highschool kids, and me, I crawled back into my basement with poetry books and Videogames, holding out until summer.

Today, February 10th, 2010, two days from my 23rd birthday, pre-orders for The Effort's new 7inch, "Demo Sessions" are up on the Panic Records website. I have been playing in this band for a little over 4 years now, and I, and the rest of The Effort, don't plan on stopping anytime soon. We will be playing a weekend of shows spanning from NY to Vermont, with everything in between, in a few weeks to support the release of the 7inch. Check out the dates posted on our myspace HERE. Our new full length will be out in June, when we will take the summer by storm and not stop until every inch of the US has been touched by our tires.

We still have so much to say, so many friends to make, and so much energy to release. It is sad to see some of the best hardcore bands of our generation break up so recently, but our time is not now, and the torch of hardcore needs to be carried. These are trying times, so don't sleep on the bands that are pouring their hearts and minds and money(the very little we all have)into this. Bands such as Dangers, Unrestrained, Expire, Nothing to Nothing, Make Do and Mend, Hostage Calm, Outrage, Soul Control, among many others. Don't let the torch flicker and fade, I know we won't. - Jordan

Marseilles, France

"There is no way out of this city"

Day from hell. Spent the whole day trying to push the vans through the slush that poured down. Marseilles was not ready for this weather, they hadn't had a storm like that in at least 30 years we were told. No plowed roads, no one can drive in this.

In defeat we retreated back to the hostel and paid for another night, we found out our show in Italy had been canceled anyways.

We almost got kicked out for the snowball fight that occurred in the hostel haha

We'll try again tomorrow.

Winterthur to Marseilles, France

"Abe Lincoln fought for mail order brides"

Woke up to Sci-Fi creepy alarm. Quick breakfast, long drive.....

We almost die, Thomas falls asleep while driving over the speed limit, scary as fuck. Pascal steps in and does the driving. Drive through mountains, tunnels, bridges that are hundreds of feet about valleys. Insane!

Restlessness breaks out, food fight in van. Smells like shit.

Marseilles is a sketchy city, we actually had to completely empty the van when parking it. The venue actually keeps it's doors bolted shut haha. Kind of bummed we had to be cooped up in the venue the whole time.

After the show we went to our hostel, really cool place. Everyone gets showers again!

Paris to Winterthur, Switzerland

We woke up to snow falling in Paris. Drove around for 1.5 hours trying to find the place we were supposed to go to get breakfast. Cold feet, everyone's shoes have holes, snow everywhere. We never found the place.

Drove to the Eiffel Tower, it's huge. Took some pictures, soldiers with machine guns, and we're off!

Jordan moshes to Slipnot. Justin drinks so much Coke. So many tunnels....

Arrived at the squat and it started to snow some more. Tony and James found enough ingredients to show Europeans what guacamole is.

Played the show, everywhere is so cold! Sleep upstairs, we all cuddle and listen to music as we fall asleep

Duisburg to Paris

"I don't like it when dogs yell"

Woke up in Paris, thanks to our drivers. Tony was gimping around and becoming very frustrated. We walk to Notre Dame, it was breath taking. George hates churches so he refused to go in. There was a gift shop inside the church haha. Then we went and got delicious falafel.

Walked back to the venue and met this dude who looked like Vin Diesel haha, he called the promoter for us and let us relax at his apartment until the show started.

Eventually we got back to the venue and played our set. Tony decided to not do it on crutches, the adrenaline didn't make it hurt he said. Went back to the apartment and were allowed to call the US!

Explore Paris all night, there is no other city like this

Bremmen to Duisburg

"You friend is very strange"

Woke up late, short drive. So many fresh baked rolls for all the bands. Scrambles, tofu and onion and tomatoes and cucumbers, SO GOOD.

Mike IS baby gorilla.

Got to the venue, lame venue. Show tonight is a festival with Killing the Dream and The Carrier, same show as New Years Eve. Tony fucked up his ankle real bad during the set, and had to go to the hospital. Came up with a scheme to pretend Tony was Tom, and Tom was Tony. All Tony had to do was not talk and Tom would do all the talking for him. In and out of hospital in 1 hour, and who said universal health care couldn't work?

They gave him these crutches that were useless, and they couldn't steal a wheelchair.

Show was very weird, lots of tension. Decided to drive all night to Paris for redemption.