pj bond

Lots of fun stuff coming up.  It’s looking like it’ll be a busy year, which I’m really excited about.  

If you look at the bottom right, the last name, that’s me.  After years of working towards playing Groezrock, I am finally part of this amazing festival.  Thank you all for the support and to all of those men and women who helped me get on the bill.  I love you all.

Last night with Arliss Nancy was so much fun.  For all of my friends in the UK and Europe, they’re flying over tonight to your amazing piece of the world.   If you like great music made by wonderful people, go check it out.  For fans of Lucero, The Gaslight Anthem, good time Rock n Roll.  You can find their dates here.

Hello my friends,

I meant to write a daily or weekly entry about how things were going here, but instead I’ve just been running around this amazing country, trying to experience all the greatness it has to offer.  Today, however, we have a little time, and I have access to a real computer, so I figured I’d let you all know what I’ve been up to.  

After navigating the Australian immigration gauntlet, and hoping my bags and I got into the country safely, I exited the international terminal to find my good buddy, Austin Lucas, awaiting my arrival.  After big hugs, I met our trusty Tour Manager and host, Lachlan Hodgeson of Trusty Chords Records.  Lachlan took us back to his home in Bacchus Marsh, and quiet little suburb of Melbourne, where we relaxed and recharged for the day, ate meals with Lachlan’s lovely family and generally just felt great.  When I left NYC it was icy and cold, and when I landed I was in summer paradise.  

Day two found us running around taking care of merch, meeting folks who’d help us along the way, and picking up our tourmate, Jamie Hay.  Back to Bacchus Marsh for more relaxation before the tour.  

First show day required a six hour drive west to Adelaide, which I was not fully prepared for.  The heat got up to around 100 F, and it was like walking around in an oven every time we stopped to stretch our legs.  I loved the idea of leaving the winter behind, but I was not ready for a heat wave.  Some of the towns we passed through made even the most remote American areas look overpopulated, and I was still getting used to the prices, seeing as everything is about twice as expensive here.  $4 for a soda or a water, $20 for a six pack of beer.  Rough.  We eventually sweat our way into Adelaide, loaded in our gear and then left to go eat some of the best dumplings I’ve ever had in my life.  I’d heard that Australia has great Chinese food, and both Austin and I were anxious to sample it.  So far, things were looking good.  After our great meal we headed back to the venue, where I was curious to see how well our first show would go.  I have little to no presence in a lot of areas of Australia, and it’s my first time here, so I didn’t know what to expect.  As it turned out, the show was amazing, the room was packed out, the people were kind, welcoming and warm, they said nice things, drank beers with us, bought merch, and generally made us feel happy.  Success!

The next day we woke up feeling good, showered the sticky sweat off our bodies and climbed back into the air-conditioned car for our 7 hours back to Melbourne.  We again passed the Giant Koala (a silly tourist trap/zoo with a huge koala sculpture) and blazed into Melbourne to play the Reverence Hotel, which is the reincarnation of the Art House, a seminal punk/rock club in Melbourne that kept the scene alive for 20 years.  Not only was the Reverence show another great success, but I saw a bunch of old friends and semi-new ones I’d met in the states, so it felt like a reunion of sorts for me.  

Melbourne to Bacchus Marsh, just 45 short minutes, and a beautiful cafe where everyone was amazingly kind and quiet.  I ate a cheese plate meant for 3 people and probably clogged most of my arteries, but helped free them a bit by glugging down as many Coopers Pale Ales as I could (I’ve found a new love that is Coopers).  The close proximity of these shows spoiled us a bit, but also let us recover from the long hot drives, and we then headed off for Canberra, the country’s capital.  There we played another great little cafe, The Front, and I saw yet another friend I’d met in the states.  We were told we’d only get a couple of beers, so I went to the supermarket, bought some Coopers and snuck them in all night.  Turns out, the show went so well that the cafe was giving Jamie and Austin free drinks the whole time.  Oh well, my loss, I suppose.  

With so many great shows, something was bound to break.  As it turns out, for the next few days we’d be following another tour, similar sounds and all the same friends, and each night they’d be one city ahead of us.  So, for 4 days, we came into towns where all the people who’d be excited were home nursing hangovers and empty wallets.  Wollongong was a quiet, but fun show, and everyone was so nice it more than made up for the lack of folks.  We also got fed some of the best food of the tour by Jamie’s friends Maris and Liz, afternoon fresh fruits, late night nachos, early morning breakfast spread, complete with Brazilian cheese bread.  I’m starving now, thinking of it.  

I was just told we are heading out to go jump in a swimming hole, so I’ll leave this here for now, and we’ll catch up later.  I hope you are all awesome, and if I know you, I miss you.  

Big love,

PJ

Hey friends,

Austin Lucas and I made it over to Australia each on one piece, and are beyond excited to see this beautiful country.  Yesterday and today we’ve spent time hanging with our wonderful host, Lachlan, and his amazing family.  Even if I didn’t see another part of this country and had to go home now, I’d still consider the trip a success and worth it.  But, luckily I get to stick around and sing songs, which has me beyond excited.  If you’re interested in seeing us play, along with Jamie Hay, here’s where you can find us:

Thu Jan 3rd – Adelaide - The Grace Emily

Fri Jan 4th – Melbourne - The Reverence Hotel

Sat Jan 5th – Bacchus Marsh - Baby Black Espresso Bar 

Wed Jan 9th – Canberra - The Front Gallery Café 

Thu Jan 10th – Wollongong - Yours and Owls 

Fri Jan 11th – Sydney - The Roxbury 

Sat Jan 12th – Newcastle - Lasso Gowrie with Jen Buxton

Sun Jan 13th – Sydney - Blackwire Records all ages

Thu Jan 17th – Lismore - The Wasp Factory

Fri Jan 18th – Byron Bay - The Shed all ages

Sat Jan 19th – Brisbane - Crowbar 

Thu Jan 24th – Geelong - Beavs Bar with Nathan Seeckts

Fri - Sun Jan 25th, 26th, 27th – Newstead Live! Festival**Jamie Hay not playing.

If you do not see your city on here, or would like to host a garden/house show, please email me at pjbondmusic at gmail dot com, and we’ll see if we can make something work.  Thank you so much and I hope you are all wonderful.

Also, this is a video I did at Fest this year.  It’s fun to do songs like this, and it’s funny to see me all dirty and hung over.  I’m pretty sure I slept in a van the night before doing this.  Oh, Fest.  Big thanks to my buddies at Street Folk Sessions for always making beautiful videos for me.  

My friends,

I have to give you my apologies, but due to things out of my control the Terrible Things shows have been cancelled.  Everyone is safe and healthy, but we won’t be doing the shows.  I am sorry, and promise to come back soon.  

I hope this finds you all well and smiling.

Love,

PJ

Hello friends, it’s been too long. I have some big updates I’ll be listing this week, but for now I’m really excited to say that I’ll be heading out next month with some of my best friends in the band Banquets, as well as visiting some wonderful folks in some of my favorite cities. I hope to see you there.

I don’t often do this, but I would like to use this space and page to address a few things that have occurred in the last couple of days. To bring you up to speed, I’ve been on the road for four days with a band called Turnover, a pop/punk band from Virginia beach. The guys in the band are young but they are smart guys, with good hearts, and they work hard, which I appreciate. I’ve been having fun with them, but it’s definitely been a bit of a different world. Their scene leans a more toward the punk/hardcore style, with pile ons, stage dives, moshing and big sing-alongs.

Yesterday we played a festival on Long Island, and the room was packed with lots of young, vibrant kids who were obviously having a great time going off to equally energized bands. While its not always my thing anymore, I really enjoyed watching everyone have such a good time. Unfortunately, during all of this, I witnessed something that made me sick, sad and angry, all at once. While standing side stage I had full view of kids jumping up on stage so they could dive off, and at one point I watched a teenage boy climb up, and in the process reach over to the girl next to him and just plant his hand right on her chest. What the fuck?! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Now, I know these things happen all the time, but seeing it just landed a bit harder. Perhaps it’s just that I have just been playing in a slightly different scene for a while, or that when I was at more DIY shows they were based in quiet “emo” communities or political punk, I don’t know, but I hadn’t witnessed something like this in my recent memory. Of course, the fact that I don’t see this things doesn’t mean that they don’t exist, or that I’m unaware of it. And furthermore, I do fully understand that being a white male makes it all the easier to forget that these things happen all the time.

I couldn’t quite process what had just happened and I didn’t know what to do. If I could pick the kid out of the crowd I would’ve felt obligated to say something, exactly what, I don’t know. However, it all happened so quickly that I couldn’t tell you who it was. I looked at the girl with a sadness, for her, for all women, for all of us. She, on the other hand, didn’t seem phased, so I can only think it meant one of three things:
1. She didn’t want to react.
2. She unfortunately is used to this abuse.
3. I mis-saw what actually happened.

I suppose another possibility in all of this was that he really didn’t mean to and was honestly just trying to push himself up, and mistakingly made poor hand placement. For one, I doubt this highly, and for two, I think if you’re going to be at a show that supposedly part of a community, you need to be aware, look around, make sure you don’t fuck up and hurt people, so I’m not going to try to be apologetic for him.

As far as talking to the girl, well I really didn’t know what to do or what my place was. In retrospect, I could’ve maybe asked her how she was and if she knew who did it. But I don’t know what’s best. If you have thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

So, that happened and it kind of ruined my night and the show. Men often want to dismiss women’s stories of abuse, harassment and misogyny, but I saw one of what was probably many cases at this show yesterday, and it disgusted me and made me feel ashamed. Originally I saw some imbalance at the Fest, but also pretty great things. Punk Rock is so often a white boys club, but last night there were a lot of women (though none in bands, unfortunately) including a good amount working the Fest, as well as many more people of color than I’d expect. Outside, vendors were grilling and selling both meat and veg/vegan options. So, on some level things were cool. Men and women alike were all over the stage and in the pit snapping photos, women were up front singing along, not shying away or waiting in the wings. That ruled, and I applaud them all for having fun and owning their spaces. Well done. But seeing that grope just felt like it shattered everything and made me feel so many things from anger to confusion. Please let me reiterate that it’s not that I didn’t think this stuff happened, I’ve just not seen it in so long and I suppose I hoped that things had gotten a little better. I guess ignorance is bliss, though I hate to say I’ve become so complacent. But, if I have, good to shake me up. I just hate that something had to happen to an innocent person for me to be reminded so intensely.

After that I was still around a bunch of great friends and my negative feelings were tempered by being with good folks, though it didn’t fix what I saw. Then, this morning I woke up to see the comment made by congressman Akin and felt all the more like I had to write something. Akin proved in just a few short seconds not only how far removed from reality he is, and how insensitive he is, but also how there are still so many misguided, irrational people there are in our country. And, to make things worth, some of them are vying for power and control, which again saddens, angers and confuses me. Completely faulty science aside, why are we, a supposedly advanced nation arguing over any of these things. No one person has a say over anyone else’s body, specifically when the crux of the argument, actual life, is still so unclear. But, even if everyone agrees a zygote bares the same existence as a living human, that still does not give anyone a right to legislate over a woman’s body. That is to say, a rational, intrinsic right.

All of these arguments are also predicated on the fact that these people are attempting to legislate religious ideals, which is ridiculous. The US does not have an official religion, nor are we supposed to use any religion in legislation; so, why are any of these topics even being dignified with a response. I, for one, have my own beliefs and disbeliefs, but those don’t carry even one bit of weight in reference to others and their beliefs. So why do these folks feel their ideologies do? I realize all rational people know this already, and I’m mostly preaching to the choir (funny idiom to use, but seems apropro), but after last night and this morning I at least wanted to start what I hope will become a dialog. I’d love to hear any and all thoughts.

I do hope you are all taking care of yourselves and each other, and that we can cut this terrible way of thinking and living out of our beings. I send you all my love.

Friends, I hope you’re wonderful, as always.  I’m in VA Beach today, and just rehearsed with Turnover, with whom I’ll not only be traveling, but playing guitar for on the upcoming tour.  So, if you want to see me play electric guitar in a punk rock band, now’s the chance.  While I’ve been updating this here site and the other places I virtually exist, the oppressive sounds of pop radio wash over me and make me realize that, while I haven’t paid any money to use the internet at this clown-related-fast-food-hell, a perhaps soul based transaction seems to be occurring.  If you see me looking empty and forlorn next time we meet, you now know the reason.  

Anyway, if you want to hear my solo songs, as well as see me play rock music or just feel like checking my eyes for life, here’s where we’ll be:

August 

Fri/17 - York, PA - 1640 Basement

Sat/18 - Philly, PA - The Barbary info/tickets

Sun/19 - Garden City, NY - Ethical Humane Society info/tickets

Mon/20 - Allentown, PA - The Insrgnt Space info

Tue/21 - Montreal, QB - Casa Del Popolo info/tickets

Wed/22 - Ottawa, ON - Mavericks info

Thu/23 - Toronto, ON - Hard Luck info

Fri/24 - Rochester, NY - The Dubland Underground info/tickets

Sat/25 - Ashtabula, OH - The West End Art Space info

Sun/26 - Fort Wright, KY - Shimmer’s Backroom info

Mon/27 - TBA

Tue/28 - Blacksburg, VA - Elegy’s Movement

Also, if you haven’t checked out the free compilation I am on that is out for Shark Week, go grab it here.  It includes great music from buds Into It Over It, Koji, Mixtapes, Pentimento, Erik Pitluga, and many more.

Lastly, if you haven’t picked up my new records, please head over to the Black Numbers store to check out that as well as some amazing deals on other great bands and albums on BN.  

Thanks so much everyone!!!  Oh, and if you want to hear any specific songs, make sure you let me know.  Big love, see you out there.