where is my mind?

all over the place

hello freakos,

i’ve been calling loved ones and those i don’t quite love “freakos” lately. i have no idea where it came from, but i feel like a freako so i can’t help but imagine we might all feel like a freako in our own special way. anywho.

it has been a minute since i first wrote to you. since that time i went on a very long solo 6 week tour across america and canada opening for ray (ray) lamontagne. my cousin melody accompanied me. i was to teach her how to tour manage/be a merch seller.

melody, just last year, started a tape label which is pretty sick. she was the one who put me onto a lot of indie music back when i was i dunno, 13 or so. i’d go visit her in atlanta a time or two each year and let her load her entire iTunes library on my ipod nano. we’ve been pretty tight ever since. writing letters back and forth, making each other mix cds, collages, and carefully crafted stationary. needless to say, it was special and strange to share the odd, tiring, yet generally fulfilling thing that is tour with her.

i flew out and we met up in atlanta where mel is based, which was convenient, as the tour started in atlanta. from there, we traveled in a little rental volkswagen tiguan. mel had tm’d (tour managed) one diy punk tour a week or so before our ran began. it is a lot to learn all at once and there is always more to learn, for me as well. but i shared some knowledge? i hope? we both took turns driving and choosing music to listen to. never once listened to a podcast. the nts app was our lord and savior. i want a radio show. if i was not a musician i would want to be a a little radio show host. i still get excited when i am driving in the middle of nowhere america at night and hear delilah on the radio. maybe nts will sense my love for them and let me have a show. (please?) mm. anyway. music !

the shows were mostly in large, beautiful, seated theaters. aside from the now infamous to me and maybe some of you wolf trap, which was outdoors. hilarious name for a venue with predatory merch practices tbh. that show was hardly half way into the tour and it created quite a stir around the music world and especially the very uninformed commenters of the nova reddit page. it made me nauseous for about 6 days straight. unable to hardly eat or keep anything down (and no time to rest / exercise / remove myself from my phone as i am tour managing and managing myself) i eventually realized that many people enjoy making other people feel like shit for no reason other than that brings them some demented form of joy. sometimes realizing there is nothing you can say, no matter how eloquent or true, people will find reasons to hate you. especially if you are a ~wOMEN in mUsiC~. so you just kinda gotta let it go and move on. i love using the block button when i find the person to be unreasonable or creepy! if you harass me, you will be blocked. and that is ok! reasonable even.

all that to say. my small act of defiance helped continue an important conversation and i would and will happily do it again.

so yeah. tour happened. it went well. only one speeding ticket. the prairie wind only blew the shell of the right side mirror off 5 times before i forcefully snapped it back into place. i did not get sick and i converted ray and the whole team to wellness formula. a great success.

i did promptly get sick two days after returning home to new york from tour. i’ve been in a perpetual state of unwell since then, but this too shall pass.

i am heartbroken over our evil empire’s funding of genocide in gaza. i desire liberation for all. i feel crazy having to post about shows and merch, when an entire people are being wiped out. gotta say, really upsetting to see so. many. of my peers Completely ignore what is happening. no one is perfect and i am by no means saying i am! i am not! but i do feel we all have a responsibility to speak up for people who need amplification of their voices. to clearly say, our country funding a genocide is wrong. no one can share every post! it is unreasonable to be so attached to our phones. but we can continue to share our grief and anger. we can continue to participate in direct actions and protests. i never want to stop caring. i hope you don’t either. i was sick so i missed the DC march, but it brought tears to my little eyes to see so many people show up for the people of Palestine.

i guess i was going to write more, but i feel my brain is just small pile of scrambled eggs at this current moment, but next time i will share about meeting nick cave on the beach in minneapolis. as i promised before on my silly little instagram.

speaking of instagram, i did share this info there but i will share it here as well.

the last tomberlin show of the year will be on dec 2nd at murmrr gallery in brooklyn, ny. tickets are now on sale here. i am excited as it will be the biggest headline show i have played in brooklyn at a very special space where i have haven’t played. bjork has though. nick cave also. bill callahan plays the day after me. all good signs. i will have some new additional instrumentation joining the band and we are going to try to play as many songs as we can for you. dear nora will be opening! which is reason enough to come. they are one of my favorite people making music and they’ve been at it much longer than me. katy has cool wise owl vibes and catchy warm tunes. simply can’t wait to play and to hear them play. i am also working on new merch specifically for this show. including hoodies, which i have never made before. fun! should be a very special show and i would love to see you there.

alright.

the time has come for me to re-read this before hitting the scary “publish” button.

thanks for reading.

x

tomberlin

ps.

here are somethings i have been reading / listening / watching

• more evil news from spot*fy

• this book of poems

• going through a big isabelle huppert moment rn just watched this and wowie. lots of similar crossover with parasite.

• i love going to the movies, just so ya know. melody and i got to go see passages and HOLY FUCK i thought it was such a perfect film. incredible cast. incredible story telling. cinematography. ends with a freeze frame which is very j’adore. favorite movie from 2023 i’ve seen this year.

• honestly, bumping the new james blake record a good bit. he’s gone back to his house music roots. thank god.

• this horse jumper of love record is a perfect autumn record

• tirzah supremacy. mica levi & tirzah are my favorite collaborative pair.

• this mike record that just came out last month is a new classic for me. he is also a fellow new york resident

ok bye for real!