Charles the Osprey

We’ve been thinking a lot about where we are and where we want to be, which is always a conversation in any band. Most bands these days, especially when you get to our ages, have a hard time imagining that they’ll ever “make it” – in fact, I don’t think the “make it” thing really exists anymore, unless you find yourself on America’s Got Talent or some shit like that.

I was having this conversation with my mother, and I believe her exact words were “you can do whatever you want in life.” I think that could be true if you wanted to own your own bar, but if your dream is to be in a band, touring the country and playing with some of the best bands in the world, call me a jaded asshole, but I believe that ship has sailed. Much more important things came along that I chose to pursue for happiness or simply survival. I could certainly leave my wife, give up my house, quit my job, move to Portland or LA or Omaha or some hotbed of indie nonsense, starve for a long time, maybe get noticed, and maybe sell a couple records.

Raf always makes fun of me for being the grumpy old man in the band, but I think I’m more just the honest pessimist and he’s the hopeful optimist. It’s a great balance, and it keeps us grounded in what our goals are for the band. I know we’ll never be able to do what La Dispute does, and I’m okay with that.

So with that, I’ve been setting small goals, trying to figure out how to navigate this new landscape filled with millions of bands and their constant oversaturation on MySpace and Facebook and whatever, trying to convince people that the term “Local Band” doesn’t have to mean “Shitty Band”. Our first goal was to open for some of our influences, Russian Circles and the Life and Times. I was somehow able to pull it off, and I hope that’s a big step. We’ve also had some cool things just happen to us, like our great friends in Shores getting us on No Idea’s famed FEST 9.

Our next goal is to get on the infamous and awesomely original Daytrotter, which I suppose is not out of the question, but seems to be a difficult task. I emailed them about it, since I always start with the most simple idea, and they emailed me back within a matter of hours. I love it when seemingly untouchable groups have a personality and a consideration for people contacting them. There was no auto response giving me instructions on how to properly submit, or that they might never email me back, there was just a dude, Sean, that said he’d listen to it, and to get back with him in a week. Obviously we might still not get on there, but hell, at least someone is paying attention. The reason I say it’s not out of the question is because I’ve seen huge acts get on there, but there’s also groups like Child Bite and The Hard Lessons from Detroit that I’ve seen in small venues around Michigan, Maps & Atlases from Chicago who we met at the DAAC a few years back, and even my cousin, Luke Winslow-King who lives in New Orleans, all who’ve landed spots on Daytrotter.

Enough rambling. To sum up, the rock n roll dream, having some label scout notice your band at some battle of the bands, is dead. You now have to get on America’s Got Talent, sell your music to a car commercial and collect a few checks, live broke and touring, or settle somewhere in the middle, working hard, building relationships, staying patient, but still maintaining a life outside of the music, and hope that someday your hard work will slowly work you up to where you want to be. I’m talkin’ goals here people. GOALS.