We have spent the last few days at John Henry’s, making sure we were ready for the gigs that are ahead of us!

These songs are songs I heard over and over again, of which I know the lyrics by heart, and that I can recognize with the first notes, whatever they are. They all have their stories, some complete and crystal clear, some to which only fragments remain. For some, I clearly remember the moments when I first heard them. For others, I remember the studio sessions we’ve had, discussions about the songs, reactions after a certain riff was found, difficulties the band members had to touch exactly what they wanted to convey the way they wanted to. I have a very particular relationship with each and every one of them, a love-hate relationship, they’ve been through ups and downs with me.

At times they are the reflection of my own self-inflicted miseries, describing better than I could ever have what I was feeling. At times they are the trigger to a profound let go. At times they are a source of joy, their melodies being enough to lift me up. At times I want to listen to them over and over again, to escape. At times they are my favorite songs and I could listen to them over and over again. But they all have something in common. The more I listen to them, the more I understand them. And the more I understand them, the more I understand myself. Some of these songs I heard back in 2006, 2007… Like “Midnight’s Crashing”. That’s one of the song I remember hearing for the very first time. I was still living at my parents’ at that time, going to university. And I received an email, it was hotmail back in the days, from Alex, with only a few words and an attached file. High speed wasn’t exactly what it is today, so it took me around 20 minutes to download the song, on that old desktop computer, the old beige one, on which the screens were as big as the computer themselves, and on which you could still use floppy disks. Those 20 minutes seemed to last forever. But the file was finally ready. I opened it using Winamp player, and listened to it one first time. Then a second time. And then a third. And over and over again until my mother called me for dinner. But I couldn’t care less about it at the moment. I was living an experience. The song has brought me into a different world, where the only thing that mattered was the song and myself. Nothing else around me existed. And today, as I listened to the band rehearse at John Henry’s studios, I felt exactly the same! The song is different. It has evolved a lot since I first heard it, as the band members grew, discovered new sides of what freedom was about, what letting go meant in different ways as well, both on and offstage. This is what amazes me the most with music. It changes as you change, it grows as you grow, but a song once meaningful is forever meaningful. And the more honest you are, the more meaningful it becomes with every time you listen to it, on cd or live…

“Don’t forget the songs that made you cry, and the songs that saved your lives”…
And I can say, without a doubt, that these songs have saved my life today, and that they will save my life once again, every night they will be played.

– Stephanie

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Very first morning in Cannes! And it’s sunny today! 🙂 The little apartment we have doesn’t allow much sun in, but it’s enough to know the sky isn’t gray outside anymore! We started our morning as any usual morning… on our computers, sharing and catching up with you all! That’s also the last thing we’ve done last night before going to bed! We’ve had a Skype with the people at the HQ, sharing with them the adventures we’ve had so far, and then read all the blogs that had been posted all together. I think it’s the first time we do something like this… I mean, we read all the blogs/posts that each and every one of us post, but to read them out loud… that was a first! And hopefully something that we will do again! 🙂

So we’re here gathered around the table, sitting on the couch, on the chairs, and on suitcases before we leave and head for our rehearsal studio in Nice.

Jeff: When are we leaving?
Band: As soon as we’ve had breakfast
Jeff: When are we having breakfast? Not that this is a way to have breakfast now… I just wanted to know… But I am horribly hungry! I could have breakfast right now!

Now guess which breakfast was Jeff’s one, and which was Alex’s… Easy? 😉

We ate, loaded the van, and then we were on our way to a rehearsal studio in Nice! Knowing we had a 45-minute ride ahead of us, we decided we would watch the second DVD of Julien Temple’s Glastonbury documentary. The screen in the back still didn’t work, but we were accompanied by Nick Cave, Kaiser Chiefs, Radiohead, Pulp…

We had one stop to make downtown Cannes, at Orange, for the problems we still had with our wifi connextion (or should I say non connextion!). It was the first time for each and every one of us to be in Cannes, except for Jeff, who previously came twice! He was super excited to show us around the places he knew, his favorite spots and streets. “And just around that corner is the McDonald’s!” Thank you, Jeff, for making our experience such a cultural one!

Then Matt wanted to please us, so we stopped at a Starbucks in Nice. But try and ask for directions in Nice… Nobody’s from Nice! “Ah non, désolé, je ne suis pas de Nice.” This is what we kept hearing over and over again! We finally decided to go to a nearby McDonald’s to ask for directions… There’s no way an American corporation wouldn’t know about another one! And we were right! They directed us exactly where we needed to go!

A few more minutes driving and we arrived at Nice Sound Studio! And what a wonderful place it was! The people who welcomed us over there welcomed us as family, making sure everything was perfect for us to rehearse, that we were comfortable and felt like home! And then the rehearsal began! And it was a memorable moment! It amazes me every time to see how much a rehearsal is similar to a real concert – by its intensity, its passion, and the amount of sweat that drips through their pores! I really feel privileged to be with them in studio. I am not a musician myself, but every time they play music, there is no such difference anymore. It doesn’t matter who’s playing or not anymore, as what is going on is a pure communion of hearts. You’re not in the band, you’re not a member of the crew, you’re not a fan. But together, we are. And at that very moment, it is the only thing that really matters. We are alive. And free.

Those 3 meaningful hours of rehearsal ended with an incredible conversation with the owner of the studio, Olivier, who built everything by himself, in order to give a little place to music here on the Côte d’Azur.

We then went to the oceanside, where we walked a little bit, remembering the different emotions we lived during the rehearsal… A simple moment, looking at the lights reflecting in the ocean, some very close to us, others very far away in the distance… A little bit like us. We’ve all been very close, and at times very far. But that fire inside of us never stopped burning… Even though this light is something we have stopped believing in, even though it is at times something that we cannot see anymore… Before we can even notice it, we find this fire alive and well… we find each other again.

We are now back home, after a stop at the Morisson’s Irish Pub, where we will be playing tomorrow night! We are on stage at midnight sharp, and the gig is free! Bring your friends!

– Stephanie

PS: Miss nothing, and follow the band absolutely everywhere! That’s an experience you definitely won’t regret!

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Today was dedicated to rehearsal! We left the house around 2, and did a short stop by the grocery store. Well, it was supposed to be a short stop. But it turned out being a lot longer than only a few minutes! The guys decided it was time for some communion. When we are back home, the communion is made with cookies. But here in Australia, it was an apple tea cake. In the car, no utensils, everybody shared a piece of the cake. Yes, you can imagine the mess it created. Not only in the car, but also in the guys’ beards and hair… 😉

Then Jeff followed with a communion of his own, the “Fat-Man-inion”, that consisted of sausage rolls. Their characteristic? Heavy! It’s on these words that the special communion was consumed:
“May we be those who like to share beyond measure, because infinite is not a limit”.

Alex closed this communion on a very special note, soulfully singing 
“C’est une belle histoire qu’est la nôtre, une histoire d’amour comme il ne s’en fait plus.”
Kitsch, I agree, but true nonetheless! 

We finally made it to the rehearsing studio after this very interesting ride! A place that was very small, but just large enough for the band and all the equipment to fit in! We rehearsed from 3 to 8… 5 hours non-stop of songs one after the other. And the band members are just as intense when they rehearse as when they’re on stage! For them, it’s not about the place where you play, but about the music itself and the moments it creates! 

We hung out our Giants flag in the rehearsal studio! Jeff was wearing his Tim Lincecum tshirt as he was the pitcher in today’s game, Moose was also wearing a Giants tshirt, on which we however found a very particular mistake. Yes, a mistake on a tshirt. Shit happens! 

The rehearsal ended much later than we imagined… We did a quick stop at the Wheel of Brisbane where we grabbed a bite as well. Perfect way to end our last day in Brisbane, as we are leaving at 6am tomorrow morning!

We’ve safely landed in Sydney, after the longest flight we’ve had so far! But to be honest, it didn’t feel that long for any of us. Well, that may be due to the fact that none of us had slept on the 2 days prior to our departure, so we enjoyed a little bit of sleep on our way down under! It’s been a good flight for almost everyone, despite the fact we weren’t sitting together. This was bad news for us, but good news for the other passengers… The unlucky one however, has been Alex. He was just in front of Sef. And Sef spent the 23 hours of flight snoring. And I mean snoring… Oh, and we’ve been sprayed by some weird stuff before getting out of the plane. But it was nontoxic they said, so that can’t explain why Sef is acting so weird at the moment… But with the exception of this, this very long flight has been a good one, as nothing has been lost nor broken! And as usual, we took the time to toast to what we’re living and to what’s ahead of us.

We’re having 1 very big van for the 11 of us, which is a good change from the UK, where we needed to split in 2 vans. The happiest? Matt and YB, the 2 drivers! For them, it means they can co-drive and get a little bit of rest! We were welcome in the van by what we think are typical australian snacks… Minties have been a favorite for everyone 😉

First stop? Oh come on, you know us better than this… Starbucks, of course! After a very enthusiastic request from the whole crew, the driver gave up on the “tight schedule”, and we went to the Starbucks. That we never found. A food fight, a few hideous spiders, some human-eye-eating birds and a human-killer crocodile after (we didn’t go close to the beach, so we haven’t seen any sharkagaroos), we reached the official first stop of our tour, a gear renting place that had a very suspicious “General Pants Group” written on the building… Followed a second renting place, and then we made a little detour for a Starbucks thoug. It was much appreciated by everyone of us, let me tell you! 

We then had a 30 minutes ride to a place where we rehearsed! And on that ride, YB stayed faithful to his touring habit of having snacks on the road by taking out a bag of licorice he had purposefully brought with him from Canada!

The guys are right now rehearsing, before we head to Brisbane a little later tonight! Pictures will follow 🙂

– Stephanie

We are about to leave for Paris… Had our last day in London, and spent it rehearsing from early this morning to now… We’re always welcoming the unexpected, but today, it came in a grand way… We were rehearsing at the same time and place as Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds… Yes, the man himself! Some of the band members had the opportunity of talking with them, and took a picture to commemorate that first encounter… Do I need to say it somehow felt surreal? Alex was really happy to be able to meet him, though, as Nick Cave is a pure and genuine artist, like we so rarely find nowadays, the only artist that truly matters… Definitely

We’re leaving now, got to go!!! We’ll be taking the ferry, and we’re all looking forward to it!!! Paris, à bientôt!

-Stephanie