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On April 30 (the day before May Day), at 6:30am, one of the NYPD warrant squads broke into the apartment I share with Joe Crow Ryan and a few others, and roused us all out of bed. They claimed they were there because Joe Crow had an outstanding open-alcohol-container ticket from 5+ years ago. It became obvious however that this was just an opportunity to interrogate one of my other roommates who had been previously arrested at an Occupy-related party about his potential involvement in May Day activities.

I could go into more details, but there are already 3 fairly thorough news stories posted about it online (the last being a mostly accurate interview with me):

http://gawker.com/5906500/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/nyregion/warrant-squads-spied-on-wall-...
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/912131/what_it%27s_like_whe...

Joe wrote a song about the experience called "My Arrest," based on "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?," an old gospel tune made famous by The Carter Family. He invited a number of familiar faces to collaborate with him.

Here is a link to a music video, of the song being recorded: http://www.youtube.com... Read more »

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For the first time since our recent move to the Midwest, Schwervon! returns to the the East coast. After a little break from our virgin Midwestern tour, tomorrow we'll be heading back towards our old home town of NYC. Our return route will take us back through the steamy South, where we'll have a chance to revisit areas we discovered on last summer's recording adventure in Memphis, TN. The original inspiration for this tour was our friend Steven asking us to play the Beacon Riverfest. Thanks Steven. We're especially looking forward to playing in Ohio for the first time. Nan managed to line up 3 shows in Cincinnati, Toledo, and Akron. We're looking forward to seeing old friends and making some new ones. Stay tuned to ye old Schwervon! website and FB page (we're also on the G+ now) for up to date info and reports from the road. See you at the show!

June 21 - Columbia, MO - Roxy's (w/ Diggy & The Bad Decisions + We Live in Public)
June 22 - St. Louis, MO - El Lenador (w/ Dinofight + Ultraviolents + Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes)June 23 - Cincinatti, OH - Comet (w/ Homemade Drugs)
June 24 - Toledo, OH - Ottawa Tavern
June 25 - Akron, OH - Annabell's (w/ Danny Myers)
June 26 - Buffalo, NY - The Vault (w/ Jack Toft + Settlers)
June 27 - Rochester, NY - Meddlesome Lab (w/ Windsor Folk Family + Seth Faergolzia & the 23 Psaegz)
June 28 - Kingston, NY - BSP Lounge (w/ Dirty River + The Revue w/ John Burdick Group)
June 29 - Brooklyn, NY - Big Snow Buffalo Lodge (w/ Berth Control +Supercute +mc'ed by Freddie Fox &Trixie Rose)
June 30 - Beacon, NY - BEACON RIVERFEST
July 01 - Brooklyn, NY - Goodbye Blue Monday “Schwervon! Side Project Show” Major Matt Mason USA + Nan & The One Night Stands (w/ Heavy Birds + Gold)
July 03 - Philadelphia, PA - TBA
July 04 - Baltimore, MD - Private “BBQ” House Show (RSVP) - (w/ Silence Kid + The Degenerettes)
July 05 - Roanoke, VA - Bazaar Consignments (w/ The Bastards of Fate)
July 06 - Charlottesville, VA - Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar (w/ L’Ecole Pour Minous)
July 08 - Chapel Hill, NC - The Cave (w/ Angwish)
July 09 - Asheville, NC - The Get Down
July 10 - Johnson City, TN - Acoustic Coffeehouse (w/ Donna Frost)
July 12 - Chattanooga, TN - JJ’s Bohemia
July 13.- Memphis, TN - The Buccaneer (w/ The Bombay Alleys + Albatross Party)
July 14 - Springfield, MO - The Danger Room (w/ Flawless) Read more »

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Dashan Coram, 1981-2012, NYC
(The following text was taken from Bandcamp Scrobbler liner notes from the album Beebles by Secret Salamander)

"dashan > is also a capricorn > enjoys being alone as much as he likes being around others > hates using or hearing the word awesome > used to read comic books > almost never reads the end of novels > likes riding the train and hates airports > knows the difference between friends and aquaintences > can't spell very well > hates to use spell check > has never eaten flesh of any kind > has eaten hufu(human flavored tofu)as well as many other meat wanna be products > used to obsess over radiohead but can't listen to them anymore > used to listen to tevin campbell a lot and wishes that he had some of his music now > watches too much tv when he has cable > likes rooms that don't have a tv set but do have record players > can play other instruments than guitar better than it seams but is slow at learning songs on them > loves berlin but doesn't really like being in germany > is sick of seth rogan and that little dude from mac adverts > likes to talk shit about england and france > has never lived in a place that wasn't in the big city > doesn't trust the internet > may very well be a manic depressant > has at least four personality's > has way too many siblings > is the oldest of them all > went to art high school > never went to college > only drinks coffee socially >doesn't like to shower every day > is unemployed >"

I was in Des Moines, Iowa the morning I got the news that Dashan had passed away. My band Schwervon! had just played a show the night before for about 10 people. After the show, the door person speechlessly handed us a five dollar bill (our cut for the evening's performance). We managed to sell a couple of CD's and a T-shirt so the night wasn't a total, financial, loss. Nan and I were feeling good about the show itself. Later that night we shared a vegan taco pizza with our host Christopher (Christopher the Conquered) and his girlfriend Avalan. We felt like we had made some new good friends in Iowa. The next morning, there was a text on my phone from two separate people, in NYC, saying that they had some bad news. When you get a message like that a lot things run through your head. The first thing is: Someone died. The second is a flurry of people and accompanied scenarios. Was it an accident? An overdose? A fire? Was someone murdered? Was it more than one person? When I got the news the next morning that it was Dasahn who had died in his sleep the night before I'm sad to say that his name was one that rolled through my head when I first got that text. Read more »

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5-1-2012

Recently some friends put together a night of performances and asked me to be a part of it.
I agreed to do it and showed up early to see the performer before me.
I played and then I watched the performer after me.
Then I watched the woman who was having her cd release show for about two songs and left.
I didn't see my other friends that played after that, which includes the people that invited me to perform.
Why did I leave?

There are some reasons---all conceivably lame.
One is I was hungry---quite hungry--and I have pretty unique ways of eating.
Nothing on the menu where I was at do I eat and though I had brought cashews and apples I was still interested in going home and making something.
Two is I am really into spending time alone and reading books.
Three is I have seen these folks numerous times and it was not as if it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity---though every show is unique and no minute ever repeats itself (and of course you never know how much longer you have to live--or how much longer they have).

Some people go to shows to be supportive, even if they would really rather be somehwere else.
I do this, but hardly ever. Read more »