9 months into touring. 11 months of being homeless. Friends I don’t see regularly anymore ask me how it is, how I’m doing, and I have a really difficult time summarizing my life right now. It’s hard for me to keep a regularly updated journal of day-to-day reality, because life moves so quickly on the road. 4 lives in 1 day. So a usual day in the life consists of waking up at someone’s house after a small amount of sleep. Depending on how little sleep determines whether or not the daily jog/yoga commences….less than 4 hours usually means nix on the former. Then a shower. Then eating. Then into the ol’ van with a 5-8 hour drive to a club. We load-in, during which I get ready…warm up my voice, meander about to take in the aspect of the city we’re in that I can….and then ….. PLAY! Every show is different….small, large, in-between…crowds that move, crowds that stare, something to learn every time about yourself, about people. The songs take on new meaning every time for me. Sometimes I sing a song that isn’t necessarily about what I originally wrote it about…it’s about the present moment. The performance part of the tour is many entries in and of itself. Afterward, we meet so many interesting people. So many wonderful, caring, good-hearted people…it warms me just thinking about how many of them are out there. Then we fall asleep, usually at a kind friend’s house, and do it all over again. On the days off on the road, we attempt to rest, book more shows, do online orders, promote, and catch up with loved ones.

On the way, I’ve found joy in discovering different nuances in gas stations across the US. There’s always some type of snack (like boiled peanuts and sweet tea in the south…this is my latest addiction) or fun pen or toy to be discovered. The guys especially derive pleasure in scandalous bumper stickers. We seem to run into a plethora of these in the southwest. Not to mention the interesting locals and accents you discover in gas stations. We’ve been in Texas, my home state, for the past few days, so I find comfort in hearing the familiar Texan accent wafting across said gas stations…I’m home….but then again, I’ve found home is wherever I am. Being disconnected from worldly possessions, privacy, any sense of ownership, really makes you realize that. My private moments come when I have a moment to change before a show or warm up my voice in the van. Being an only child, this was a major adjustment for me, as I generally thrive off of my cave time. But then, again, I’ve found that home is wherever I am and that privacy and stillness can be found even in groups of people.

I woke up one day in North Dakota and had no idea where I was. I knew I was on the couch in a living room with the guys close by. But I couldn’t honestly remember what city I was in. And I was ok with this. I knew I was safe. And healthy. And happy….

I reach out and connect with people as often as I’m able to, in between shows, travel, and phone reception/wifi access. They tell me their stories of where they are in their lives. It always makes me so happy when I hear how well people are doing and on the flipside sad when I hear otherwise….

Tonight I am an insomniac at my parents’ house. There’s always a strange sense of anticipation when you’re days away from a break. Plus I hear Gordon in the other room playing the ukulele.

I’m quite content with life right now, as strange and chaotic, as unknown as each day is. I’ve found that the unknown is actually quite comfortable. There’s a constant in life, no matter how many rituals you may put in it, no matter how much you adhere to a schedule or attempt to control your day, and that is that no 2 days are alike. There will always be elements of chaos, elements of environment and people that sweep in and change everything. If you trust in this chaos, know that it will happen, you never really have to fear it.

I walked around in a park tonight. This was one of my all-time FAVORITE childhood activities…playing in parks. The night air in the summer is so amazing. You see stars at night here…something you can take for granted but never really see too much of in LA. I feel the warm summer breeze, the stings of mosquitoes, the familiar tug of fatigue at my head, and feel life fully.

There’s no real point to this entry…just wanted to share the random thoughts that swirl around.

~tash

Gordon and his Ukelele

I want to thank everyone for all the love they've been sending our way over the past several days. For those that didn't know, our van was hit and totalled by a drunk driver after our Flagstaff show this past weekend. Figures, as it was our very last show of this leg, and we were hours away from being back in LA. The fellow tried to drive away,. but thanks to some very helpful bystanders and the police, they were able to arrest him within the hour. During this whole debacle, we were surrounded by our amazing friends in Anadies, Ikonoklast, Hardwire, and Regicide (and the awesome Erika :D ) I feel so lucky to have made friends throughout our tours, and here was a great example of bands from 3 different states who have been supporters of each other for years. These wonderful people helped us clear out our van, transported us, made phone calls, and most importantly were there for us emotionally as we were naturally quite frazzled.

As most of you know, we are a DIY band, and an accident like this is pretty devestating to us financially. We don't know how long it will take to be recompensated for our vehicle or for that matter, if we will be compensated at all (we have yet to find out definitively about the guys' insurance situation). In the meantime, we have shows this weekend in which we'll have to rent a van....and 6 weeks worth of shows the week after that. So we'll have to purchase a new van within these next few weeks. If anyone is interested in helping out, you can
send a donation by copying and pasting the following link into your web browser:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=contact%40mkio%2ecom&item_name=MKIO%20Van%20Relief%20Fund&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8

I want to personally thank each one of you for always being so supportive and caring. I've had so many messages of concern, and I want to let you all know I'm ok. I've been taking it easy these past few days, as I ripped some muscles in my ribcage from all the coughing (been sick for a while now). Ironically, we were on the way to the hospital when the guy smashed into us and were literally half a mile away when he did.

We've had so many mishaps on this tour...illnesses, injuries, accidents...these challenges have really tested us and made our band closer. Sometimes when you're scaling what seems like mountains, what makes it all bearable is the friends around you that keep you laughing, tell you not to stop, and that they love you.

Thank you, my friends....I love you all

~tash

Current Mood: sleepy

At our last show in Flagstaff, AZ, our van got hit by a drunk driver who ran a red light after we finished the show. As you can see in the picture below, the van is essentially un-drivable. Luckily, nobody was hurt, though Natasha was taken to the hospital from the scene. (She is okay though!!) Fortunately, the driver who crashed into us was caught, as he tried to run away from the crash site (hit and run).

We had to figure out how to get from Flagstaff to LA without working transportation; in doing so we spent more money than we have to rent both a Uhaul and a car. Now, we have to purchase a new tour van (which will eventually be reimbursed by restitution from the driver) so we can get to our shows next weekend and continue this tour.

The band itself has really come together to get through this. Each and every member worked together to arrange transportation, call insurance agencies, talked to police officers, etc so we can figure this all out. We have seen in this situation that we have such an amazing network of friends that have helped us get through this situation. We would like to thank everyone who was there last night who stood by our side to help us. Anadies, Ikonoklast, Hardwire, Regicide and all the people who were in Flagstaff when this all went down…THANKS. We love you, and we wouldn’t have been able to get through this without your help and support.



(not the best picture in the world, but you can see half of the damage)

We'll post more new soon about what happened soon... What a night.

In the meantime, we are putting up a donation link. Any little bit will help us out in this situation.

Also, we are playing two shows this weekend: One in Vegas, and one in Phoenix/Tempe. Here is the info for those shows:

Apr 18 2008 11:00P The Cheyenne Saloon (late show..we go on around 12:30) Las Vegas
Apr 19 2008 8:00P The Big Fish Pub, at Chocolate Velvet Tempe, Arizona

To donate, please follow the following link:

Click here to donate

Thanks so much for all the love and support,
-MKIO

So on the very first day of this leg of the tour I got sick. Not just the sniffles, I-have-a-cold sick...no. It had to be the absolute worst thing a vocalist could get, laryngitis. Well, it was more like a bronchial-infection-with several feverish, coughy days that left me with...laryngitis. I tried to sing for a week through it and finally lost my voice altogether at our show in Springfield, Missouri. Every show during this time has been an absolute teetering act...trying to be as conscious as possible not to push too hard, not to put too much strain...and nursing it every night with a lot of falsettos and warm-downs, as it's been inevitably shot. In between shows, I haven't been able to talk at all. I think this is one of the most difficult parts for me. I meet these wonderful people at shows and would love to chat with them, but all I can really offer is a smile and some universal hand gestures. Everyone's been so wonderful and understanding at the shows. Especially these last two where Gordon had to do all the singing...more on that later. The guys have been amazing...being protective brothers as always, making sure I'm fed and watered and nourished and loved...aside from the teasing (I swear they get a kick out of being able to tease me without getting an earful in return...just wait til I get my voice back!) The hardest part for me is the not talking bit...I've spent the last week in silence, and I've realized how truly my voice is my medium for expression. Not just when I sing, but also in the way I speak and interact. I've spent many lonely, cold nights in the van during shows. Most clubs outside of California allow smoking, which absolutely kills my throat...makes the coughing so much worse. So I've had to spend most of the time at clubs, bundled in the van. I'm normally introverted and love alone time, but for some reason I felt like I was a misbehaved child that wasn't allowed to have fun inside with everyone else. The other hard part for me has been the fear...the fear that my voice won't come back...that this silence is permanent, that the voice I've come to know and feel at home with is gone. What a strange thought.

Since the beginning of the band, car troubles aside, I've never personally had to cancel a show. Not for strep, not for pulling out my back, not for any kind of illness. So Gordon sang at the last 2 shows. And I had the weirdest experience, watching my own band perform these songs without me. I was so proud of them...they pulled it off so beautifully. Gordon sounded amazing, and Scott and Brian came together to sing a lot as well. I felt like a proud parent (even have video footage I'll have to share of this). I was really glad that they were able to still play the shows. I would've felt so bad for the fans that came to see us if we had had to cancel altogether. I still felt bad that I wasn't able to give anything more than a smile, but I'm looking forward to coming back to these places and really making it up.

So after 2 days of complete vocal rest, I'm going to test it out tomorrow. We have a show in Dallas, and fingers crossed, it's healed enough to make some music.

~tash

Current Mood: hopeful

Well, not really: a fan custom coded our song, "Still Right Here", into Guitar Hero. It's really neat.

Hello Fellow MKIO Fans and Family:

2008 has come and passed; in it’s wake is the successful execution of over 80 live performances of our music, sprawling all across the country. We went from the hot, arid deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, to the snow capped mountains of the Colorado Rockies, up into the Pacific Northwest, then made our way east into Montana then Iowa, playing to a full house in Goose Lake/Clinton… And on and on into many endless days and sleepless nights, many states, and numerous cities (to tell you the truth, it’s a bit of a haze to remember all the shows and all the cities). We faced the blizzards of the North East, and the rain storms and tornados of the south. Which now brings us into 2008. We are bringing things up to another gear for the new year. Check out our schedule below or information on our upcoming shows.

In the meantime…

Are you interested in being in a music video (for those of you that live in Phoenix, AZ)?

If so, email hail_legion@yahoo.com or browse to http://www.myspace.com/holy_handgrenade to contact Tim, from Phoenix, AZ with the following information:

Your Name:
Age:
Number of People You will be bringing:
Contact info: (Email, Myspace, Phone if you want to give that)

He is looking for about 50-100 extras to fill up the bar where we will shoot the music video at.

Free Beer will be provided for extras. Non-Alcoholic refreshments available for those that don’t want to drink beer.

Due to the location I can only accept 21+ ages.

Details:

Location: Chasers Nightclub in Scottsdale (SE Corner of Roosevelt and Hayden)
Date: This Saturday January 26th
Time: 9:30 AM Check-in
Duration: I am planning on having things wrapped up by 1pm but *may* go over slightly. I have to finish all filming by 2pm at the latest.

The music video will be shot to “Picking at the Scab” on Trapped Inside.

Please repost to spread the word.


MKIO Trailer Relief Fund

Thanks to everyone who has donated $$ to our fund to save our trailer that got wrecked in the late December blizzards of the north east. For those of you who weren’t aware, we got caught in a blizzard on our way home for the holidays in late December and our trailer suffered a fatal blow; thus we had to purchase a new one. If anyone would still like to contribute, please click the following link:

DONATE NOW – MKIO Trailer Relief Fund

And of course, the best way to support us is to go to our online store and buy music directly from the source.


Winter/Early Spring tour schedule

Jan 24 8:00P The Princess Theater Columbus, Mississippi
Jan 25 8:00P The Darkroom Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 26 8:00P Atomix San Antonio, Texas
Jan 27 8:00P Cine El Rey McAllen, Texas
Jan 30 7:00P Sal’s Pizza "ALL AGES SHOW" Laredo, Texas
Jan 31 8:00P Brick House "all ages" El Paso
Feb 1 8:00P The Rock "All Ages show" Tucson, Arizona
Feb 2 9:00P The Joint Flagstaff, Arizona
Feb 8 8:00P Hot Monkey Love Cafe San Diego, California
Feb 9 10:00 Bar Sinister Hollywood, California
Feb 28 8:00P The Bunkhouse Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb 29 6:00P Cultural Arts Building, Page High School (ALL AGES) Page, Arizona
Mar 1 5:30P Kayenta Community Center(Old Field House) Kayenta, Arizona
Mar 2 8:00P Ecks Saloon Lakewood, Colorado
Mar 5 8:00P TBA Wichita, Kansas
Mar 7 8:00P The Dark Room Fayetteville, Arkansas
Mar 8 8:00P Big Papa’s Poor House Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mar 9 8:00P TBA Lubbock, Texas
Mar 15 8:00P OmegaCon Birmingham, Alabama
Mar 18 8:00P Trifektid @ Mickey Finn’s Pub Toledo, Ohio
Mar 21 8:00P The High Dive (19+ show)(starts and ends early) Champaign, Illinois
Mar 22 8:00P The Venue "all ages show" Terre Haute, Indiana
Mar 24 10:00 Dante’s St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 25 8:00P TBA Joplin, Missouri
Mar 26 8:00P Flipside "all ages" Ottumwa, Iowa
Mar 27 8:00P The House of Bricks Des Moines, Iowa
Mar 28 8:00P Podunk Palace "all ages show" Goose Lake, Iowa
Mar 30 8:00P The Miramar Theater Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Apr 4 7:00P The Red Raven Fargo, North Dakota
Apr 5 6:00P The Post "all ages show" Mandan, North Dakota
Apr 9 8:00P Iliff Park Saloon "all ages show" Aurora, Colorado
Apr 10 7:00P Carson Auditorium "Adams State College" Alamosa, Colorado
Apr 11 8:00P The Totah Theater Farmington, New Mexico
Apr 12 8:00P The Joint Flagstaff, Arizona
Apr 15 1:00P Palomar College "early show" San Marcos, California
Apr 19 8:00P The Big Fish Pub "Chocolate Velvet" Tempe, Arizona

We are very happy to announce that the new website and new cd are done!!! Done, done, done...doing the happy done dance!! We still have some updates to make to the website, but you can now listen to all the tracks on the new cd. Just go to www.mkio.com, and you'll be able to check it all out and place orders. We have also started our tour...tonight we played in Salt Lake City with Redemption and Tragic Black, which rocked! Tragic Black was awesome and Redemption was amazing as usual...I really love their new line-up! We will continue to post updates to our myspace and websites. Stay tuned!

3 songs left to mix....and I'm soaking in the very last juicy bits of this experience. I love, love, love being here and know I'm going to miss the people and the place. How many of you saw the lunar eclipse last night? Went up a hill with the boys and saw shooting stars and the eclipse. Came back to the studio and had mint chocoloate hot chocolate..mmmm. Back to the tracks!!

Current Mood: chipper

Well, we're officially done tracking. What an experience that was! A beautiful room was set up for me to track in...fully equipped with candles, incense, and Christmas lights...I felt so at home with the exception of the absence of my kitties. They tried all sorts of mics on me, fancy ones that cost tens of thousands of dollars, ones that came from the 30's, I even sang in the mic that Maynard sang out of when he tracked with Sylvia. But the mic that ended up the best for my voice was the good ol' Shure SM-58...$89 mic. Sylvia says that Bono, Billie Corgan, and Henry Rollins all do the same, so I guess I don't feel as bad for having a meat and potatoes kind of voice when it's offered caviar ;) I had so many amazing moments as I was tracking...really learned about myself on this one, as it tends to happen in the studio. What I love about Jim and Sylvia is that they're listening for the soul you put in your performances...not how technically perfect it sounds...and so I tried as best I could to put myself fully in each take. It's hard to believe that we're on the home stretch now...listening to the mixes for the first song as we speak, "Troubled Dreams," and I'm really blown away. It's so amazing to hear it come to life. I have so much admiration for the incredibly long hours that Jim's been putting in the studio with us. Endless hours of tweaking, listening, and tweaking all over again.

-natasha


I am sitting here in this huge studio after what seemed like an endless 6-8 months of pre-tour preparation, song writing and general madness that comes along with really putting in the hours to make creation and art a living reality. And I am sitting here in this huge studio listening to the final stages of "Troubled Dreams" getting mixed. All I can say is that this entire experience has been life changing in so many different ways. Working with the amazing Jim and Sylvia has been nothing short of amazing.. And hearing it all come together... I can't find the words to express how amazing it is to hear all of endless hours, sleepless nights and intensive expressions culminate at this point. You will have to hear it for yourselves. All in all.. living with the band has been a great learning experience as well. I will be forever changed from this experience.

-scott

And it's been amazingly awesome! First off, we pulled into Weed the night before we started everything. The band is living in a house, which is so awesome on so many levels. First, I get my own room, which I haven't had in over a year and a half....yay! The house is directly connected to one of the studios and rehearsal rooms, so we can practice at all hours of the night. I love this, because I'm naturally a night owl, and I'm able to practice a lot more than when I was back in LA. The air up here is clean...you can see the stars...everything in town is in walking distance...we go on walks every night...we're getting more sleep than we've gotten in a really long time. Everyone feels very vibrant, inspired, and happy. Everything still feels kind've surreal to me, as great as it is...it hasn't quite sunk in that we're here, we're doing this, and we're all so happy. The staff here is so welcoming. Sylvia herself is so positive and energetic...I already love working with her. The engineer on the project is Jim Wood, the keyboardist of Dishwalla. He has such a great ear for sound and some really cool ideas on what we're going to do on the album. The first day of work, we sat down and picked out the 10 songs that are going on the album. We pretty much agreed on all of them except for the last one....we ended up having to do a coin toss to pick which one, as we were evenly divided...I kid you not. In the main theater/studio, there's this really great kitchen that has tons of syrups for Italian sodas...I'm making it a personal goal of mine to sample all these before we head out. Today we track drums in the main studio. The whole band is playing along, though, so that we can have a live feel to it. One of the biggest suggestions I've heard from people about our past cds is that they'd like more of a live feel, and I'm thinking we're heading in that direction on this one. I'm off to adventure in the studio!

~tash

Here is the last week in pictures. Today, we start tracking drums in Studio A at Radiostar studios. It has been amazing working here so far. Here are the pictures; I'll let them speak for themselves.

It begins. Today marks the first day of our tour. All the endless, sleepless weeks of moving, planning, practicing, pre-touring is over. I'm officially homeless, jobless, a full-time musician, and freer than I think I've ever been. This month has been surreal...moving so fast...no time to pause and reflect, no time to look back, no time for for regrets. When you're in this mode, you just do. No thought, just do.

Right now we're stranded on the side of the road between LA and Vegas. We've been here for about 5 hours after blowing out our trailer tire and missed our first show in Vegas. I feel really bad for letting people down and hope that they understand. When you're in a situation like this, all you can do is make the best of things. And so we're enjoying the full moon tonight...it's really gorgeous out here. Desert, mountains, the stars. Just kind've taking things in now.

~tash


------------


You take a couple of days, a couple of weeks, a couple of months.. All thrown together in one endless blur in memories and present consciousness. Life is surreal, endless, ending. And we are here, stuck on the side of the road in the middle of fucking nowhere. I've been inspired by these endless nights, these never ending days. Out on the side of the road, inspired by the warm air of the desert, of dry nothingness coming into my system. We missed our first show, but I am happy to be here. These lessons can be hard, but they are real, and they will always be in my system.

-scott

Come introduce yourself on our forums. We would love to meet each and every one of you. Also, if you have any questions for the band, here is a perfect place to ask.

xxxooo
-MKIO

2007 has so far been one of the most challenging years yet for me as an individual, and for the band as a whole. So many things have changed. So many endings, and just as many beginnings. Things are moving so fast right now, faster than I've ever experienced until now. Within that, there is a steadiness; a slowness that is inherent within life when it moves this fast. It is like the description a professional sports player gives when describing the experience of a fast moving, high impact game like ice hockey, soccer, basketball, etc. When you are in the zone, no matter how fast everything is moving, things slow down to almost freeze frame; almost as if you can pick the ball right out of the air and gently nudge it into the goal. Time extends outwards, into infinity, and consciousness becomes obliterated and the pieces become infused into everything around you. I guess this is the matrix. Neo was right.

One month to go, and we embark on our voyage into the beyond. We start in a humble town located in the chair that Mt. Shasta sits upon: Weed, California. We will spend a month there working with veteran producer Sylvia Massy, and her Grammy award winning team of engineers and producers to kick out the next MKIO album. We come back to LA in early September, master and press the album, then step into our new life.

We are proud to announce that our lineup has been completed by Joe D'Ambra, master bassist and Cool Dude. So now we are a complete whole, once again. We are working on announcing his arrival in the band, so stay tuned for more news on that through our various channels of dissemination.

New album artwork has been done by Vincent Marcone of My Pet Skeleton productions. Here is a little preview:

Wow….it’s been almost 4 months since we’ve updated this. And what a 4 months it has been. MKIO is in the middle of some of the biggest transitions that we’ve ever been through…both as a band and individually. Being a part of this band has meant a lot of things for me. I’ve looked at each rehearsal, each show as a privilege to be able to play with some of the best friends I have in my life….who also happen to be musicians and artists that I look up to. So what we’ve been up to….writing for the new upcoming album. I believe the tentative release date is going to be some time in September. And after that, we’ve decided to tour extensively…for about a year. This is not an easy decision for some. You have to leave everything behind…jobs and security, friends, families, love in your life. For some this is a huge sacrifice….it’s not an easy life on the road….you eat a lot of ramen, sleep on people’s floors, dodge creditors looking for you to pay bills, and essentially live without any sense of personal space in a van with 5 other people during this time. You do this for shows. You do this for your band. You do this for music. But definitely not for money…and the shows are never guaranteed. Sometimes they’re amazing…you meet amazing people….magic is in the area, when everyone in the room feels the music you create. Sometimes they’re for the sound guy. Who’s the only person in the room. And yet this is not what I’ve discovered for myself what I look at when I think of touring. I think of freedom. How many of you have seen 300? “Freedom is not free…” And it’s true. You pay for your freedom. But freedom is why I left classical and decided to join the ranks of other rock artists, why I left my family and friends back in Texas, and why I have decided to tour full-time with MKIO. We have no label and yet have managed to be fortunate enough to be able to create what we have from love. Yes, we do this because we love it. For those that remain…. Gordon and Mark both have decided not to join us on this next stage in the band’s life. We just played one of our final shows with them this past weekend. There’s been a lot of tears going around…it’s so hard to look across at them when we play now, knowing that it’s the end...parting for us is never easy…we become a family. I feel sadness, even as I write this. It’s never the same, and I feel that for myself, I’m still recovering from the shock. But this is the inevitability of life….change. And something that I’ve learned is that change is hard but good. Change forces you to be strong and to really make you look at who you are and what you want. And all these changes further confirm that for myself, this is the life I truly want and am committed to. We love them, we’ll miss them, but we’ll continue. And so we’ve started looking for another bassist. This part is also difficult. You can never replace a person….and we’re not just looking for a hired gun bass player to fill a spot….we’re looking for a fellow dreamer, co-conspirator creator, artist, and friend.

So….onto the lighter side of this entry. We will be recording our next album in August with Sylvia Massy Shivy. She’s better known for having produced Tool, System of a Down, Johnny Cash, and Powerman 5000. It’s quite an exciting time for us. And also a little intimidating….I’ve seen pictures of her studio up in northern CA, and it’s incredible. And our songs are going to be recorded in this incredible studio by this incredible person. And so, I’m working really hard at trying to maintain some sense of center in all of this change and chaos….looking for that creative voice within that expresses truth. Nevermind the pressure of looming deadlines, nevermind that the world that you know it continues to shift….what is truly inside? What is something you find beautiful that’s worth saying? These are the thoughts that are currently swirling around. And in these thoughts, I feel so much love….I feel love toward this path, toward the awesome friends that continue to support us, toward how lucky I feel that we are fortunate enough to have this opportunity. I’m off now to create my day. Much love to all of you…


~tash

Current Mood: thoughtful