pj bond

Upcoming shows

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:41:08 -0400

Hey all,
I’m still dealing with jetlag, which interestingly enough means I am on the same schedule as normal people. But, I’m jumping back into shows. Tonight I got added to the Banquets show at Teri’s in Philly, then we zip down south to join up with Death To False Hope Fest in Durham, NC tomorrow. Big drives. DTFH Fest rules, we will be playing with tons of great bands, including Arliss Nancy, J Kutchma, Austin Lucas and more.

Next week my best bud, Brian Carley, and I will be heading up to Montreal to play Pouzza Fest (Full Band!) and will be stopping in Albany along the way to play a fun show. After that I’ll be playing bass for Diamond Youth for a couple of weeks. So, I hope to see you out there. Big love!

Home safely

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:59:42 -0400

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, everyone who was part of this last tour.

I would hugely appreciate if you all checked out Marko Casso (http://marko.bandcamp.com/), who played guitar and sang with me, and generally made the tour wonderful. He’s an amazing talent and deserves a great listen. You will not be disappointed.

Remaining Europe shows

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 06:08:48 -0400

Europe has been a lot of fun, everyone in Germany and the Netherlands has been wonderful. Marko and I cannot wait to get to Belgium to see all of our great friends and get to the amazing festival that is Groezrock. Here are the dates we have left, and we hope to see you there!

28.04.2013 - Meerhout (BEL) @ Groezrock 2013
www.facebook.com/events/524459410901875
29.04.2013 - Venlo (NL) @ Queensday Warm Up
30.04.2013 - Leipzig (GER) @ Absturz (early show 7.30/8pm)
www.facebook.com/events/455738657839714
01.05.2013 - Hamburg (GER) @ Rock die Brücke Festival
www.facebook.com/events/144083879100439
02.05.2013 - Münster (GER) @ Uncle M Fest w/ Nothington, Apologies I Have None
www.facebook.com/events/209425549194336
03.05.2013 - Mainz (GER) @ Haus Mainusch w/ Masked Intruder
www.facebook.com/events/423058737773611
04.05.2013 - Kiel (GER) @ Klownhouse Fest w/ Nothington, FYP, Bangers, Apologies I Have None
www.facebook.com/events/482249858501797
05.05.2013 - Bielefeld (GER) @ Heimat+Hafen
www.facebook.com/events/468970446503567

Europe!

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:39:54 -0400

Well, I’m back and very excited. Thanks so much to Rick from Sweet Empire for taking such good care of us the last couple of days.

My great friend, Marko Casso, is playing guitar and singing with me, and it sounds great. Today we start in Rotterdam, and we can’t wait to see all of our buddies. Come hang out! Here’s where we will be this week:

I’m playing a FREE show with my good buddies, Austin...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:22:33 -0400

I’m playing a FREE show with my good buddies, Austin Lucas, Chumped, and more. Come hang out!

19.04.2013 - Rotterdam (NL) @ Rotterdam Riot Festival w/ Masked...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:46:00 -0400

19.04.2013 - Rotterdam (NL) @ Rotterdam Riot Festival w/ Masked Intruder, Mikey Erg, The Real Danger and many more
20.04.2013 - Nijmegen (NL) @ Heel Nijmegen Plat
21.04.2013 - Utrecht (NL) @ ACU w/ Smoke or Fire, Astpai
22.04.2013 - Hannover (GER) @ Bei Chez Heinz w/ Nothington, Authority Zero
23.04.2013 - Berlin (GER) @ Ramones Museum
24.04.2013 - Regensburg (GER) @ Plan 9
25.04.2013 - Würzburg (GER) @ Loma Bar
26.04.2013 - Essen (GER) @ Cafe Nova
27.04.2013 - Kaiserslautern (GER) @ Penthaus MBK
28.04.2013 - Meerhout (BEL) @ Groezrock 2013
29.04.2013 - Venlo (NL) @ Queensday Warm Up
30.04.2013 - free for booking
01.05.2013 - free for booking
02.05.2013 - Münster (GER) @ Uncle M Fest w/ Nothington, Apologies I Have None
03.05.2013 - Mainz (GER) @ Haus Mainusch w/ Masked Intruder
04.05.2013 - Kiel (GER) @ Klownhouse Fest w/ Nothington, FYP, Bangers, Apologies I Have None
05.05.2013 - to be announced April 15th

The tour will be presented by our buddies from:

In-Your-Face
Allschools
Fuze Magazine
Coffeebreath & Heartache Records
Fairtrade Merch
Black Numbers

There’s been some changes, specifically to the Philly...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:17:01 -0500

There’s been some changes, specifically to the Philly show, which has been moved to West Chester. Here are the dates:

Fri / Mar 01 - Richmond, Va - Kingdom

Sat / Mar 02 - West Chester, PA - The Note

Sun / Mar 03 - York, PA - New Grounds

Mon / Mar 04 - Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus

Tue / Mar 05 - Bethlehem, PA - Gallery U

Wed / Mar 06 - Buffalo, NY - Sound Lab

Thu / Mar 07 - Syracuse, NY - The Lost Horizon

Fri / Mar 08 - Cambridge, MA - The Democracy Center

Tue / Mar 12 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Loft

Wed / Mar 13 - Glen Cove, NY - Glen Cove Moose Lodge

Thu / Mar 14 - Danbury, CT - Heirloom Arts Theater

Fri / Mar 15 - Middlesex, NJ - Warehouse Motor Club

On this tour I’ll have a few copies of my European only release, 22 April: Vienna, Austria, as well as the American and German versions of my split, Brother Bones/Baby Bones.

I’ll also be clearing out some shirts from Australia, and am making deals to get rid of some old ones in various styles. All new stuff for this year after. I hope to see all my friends, I haven’t toured the US in a while, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone.

Big love,

As some of you may know, I had the amazing pleasure of touring...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:35:09 -0500

As some of you may know, I had the amazing pleasure of touring Australia recently. This is a picture that represents something that is so amazing about life, and how I feel so lucky to be part of the version that I am. What you’re looking at is my hanging out with a guy who is the same age as my parents, trading songs with him and his partner, who took this picture. She plays flute, and sings while playing guitar, he plays guitar and mandolin. He also makes instruments, and built the guitar I’m holding in the picture.

Some of my friends are in bands that play bigger shows, bigger tours, sell more merch, are more financially comfortable than I am, and may ever be, but I can tell you with full certainty that things like this don’t happen to everyone. Small, interesting, loving towns like Newstead welcome people like me in, and allow us to revel in their beauty. Kind folks like Kelly and Russ welcome me into their homes, share wonderful stories with me, ask me to sing, while we drink wine and beers and eat cheese and I laugh to myself thinking that so much time can be wasted in so many worse ways. Spending real time with good folks is a pretty amazing feeling, and while I’d love to be singing to as many people as possible, if my life is such that I end up singing to two of them at 4 in the morning, well, I think things are pretty great.

I hope you’re feeling uplifted and loved. I am, and it’s due to you. Thank you.

Writing songs

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:37:00 -0500

Sometimes when I sit down to write a song, it’s so obvious to me what I’m going to write about, but lately that’s happening less. In the earlier days, like most young writers with whom I share basic life traits, it was easy to lean on visions of whiskey, women, things that made life simultaneously easier and harder. As a white male in a first world country, I clearly don’t have many “real” problems to talk about, and so it becomes necessary to talk about things that make my mostly easy existence a bit trying at times. As I’ve grown as a songwriter I’ve struggled with these ideas a lot. I often find myself revisiting these topics, maybe from a slightly different perspective, or chastising myself for falling into the trap of cliches, and feeling like it’d be too easy to write on these ideas. I don’t know where I got this enlarged head, thinking I should somehow be writing about more lofty subjects, or be able to twist words into more interesting stories. A couple of times I’ve been successful with it, but in retrospect, most of my best songs are about women, at least in some form. That being said, the parts that make them the best are the parts that take you deeper, or further away from the standard surface view. That’s where the important stuff happens. You can write about drinking and drugs and women all you’d like, if there is something interesting happening there.

I’m talking about this for two reasons:

1. I’m currently working on a batch of new songs, which I hope to turn into an album. Upon looking through some notebooks last night I realized that I’ve written a lot of songs over the last few years, probably upwards of 75 completed ones, but for one reason or another scrapped most of them. Now I’m trying to make good ones happen, and I hope to share them with you before the year is out.

2. We should look at our lives more like we should be looking at our writing. There are universal things in life that we all know how to look at in simple ways, but the challenge is to look deeper, from other angles, and with greater effort. It is only then that we’ll be able to contribute something interesting to this world, and share the beauty of our individuality.

JAM Awards

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:14:00 -0500

Hey all,

I’ve been nominated for a JAM award, for Top New Male Act. If you’re into voting on these types of things, head over here and vote for me as Top New Male Act for Jersey Acoustic Music Awards.

Thank you to everyone who nominated me and to everyone who has supported me through this great adventure.

xo,

Lots of fun stuff coming up. It’s looking like...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:51:01 -0500

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....

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:54:42 -0500

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.

Arliss Nancy are heading to Europe/UK

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:57:30 -0500

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.

Australian Tour update 1

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:43:24 -0500

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,

Australia tour

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:19:00 -0500

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...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:33:00 -0500

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.

Terrible Things run cancelled

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:29:00 -0500

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,

Hello friends, it’s been too long. I have some big updates...

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:18:39 -0400

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.

Please do good things

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:17:36 -0400

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.

Tour starts tomorrow!

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:00:30 -0400

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.