Sorry for the prolonged silence upon the web blog front. I just moved into a new place here in Toronto and between painting the living room and recording a brand new song, things have been pretty insane. That said, the band JUST returned from an amazing weekend at Pop Montreal.

In addition to performing at a wicked awesome Out Of This Spark showcase, we were fortunate enough to see some really fantastic bands and eat some delicious food. Here’s a photo that our manager Remi took with his camera phone during a ridiculously amazing set by Sweden’s Fever Ray. So many LASERS!

So things are pretty great. We’re going to be hiding out for a bit and working on finishing our record, so don’t worry if we keep to ourselves for awhile. We’ll be back before you know it.

Love,

D’Urbs

Check out this awesome cake that was sitting around backstage at V Fest today. Holy geez. It tasted pretty average, but it’s not every day your band name gets to be on a cake. Here’s a run down of the rest of the day:

Pet Shop Boys = Modernist spectacle (in the best possible way)

Greg Santilly = 1/4 chicken, burger AND hot dog all for lunch

NIN = tattooed on some dude’s arm

Overall = tired and ready for bed

Talk soon, k?

JO

However, we do have extensive documentation of our most recent dinner, which was consumed at a Friendly’s restaurant somewhere off the highway in Connecticut en route to New York City where we’re meeting up with some industry types. If we’d seen what the waitresses had written on the seating chart on our way in we might not have stuck around.

Anyhow, we stayed and Tim decided to get a sundae for dessert. Here he is consulting the oversized full colour menu with Kyle.

He eventually settled on Kit Kat and Hot Fudge. Did I mention Tim is lactose intolerant? Courageous. Anyhow, he slept it off and I’m happy to report all is well. We made a video of him trying to finish the thing, so maybe if you email us nicely we’ll send you a link or something. It’s pretty great.

Speaking of great, we’re in Brooklyn right now and our hotel room has only one bed and there’s bullet proof glass at the check in desk, but we’re watching Jurassic Park on TV and somehow everything is working out fine.

See you soon,

JO

The compilation sounds awesome and is coming out in late August. Oh, and a new drink was invented during the folding party. Gatorbeer. One part Lemon Lime Gatorade, one part Stella Artois. Both parts amazing.

Catch you on the flipside,

John O

So we all made it back safe and sound from Montreal. We’re really excited with how well things went in the studio and can’t wait to play some of these new songs in a few weeks! Mega props to Drew Malamud for hooking everything up and treating us right.

I got the band to drop me off in Kingston on the way home and spent a few amazing days hanging out with Paul and Ben from my favourite band PS I Love You. They were consummate hosts – showing me around town and taking me out to see some great live music.

Ben and I also sat in for an interview with Kingston’s Apple Crisp Records founder and all round great guy Greg Tilson at CFRC 101.9 FM yesterday. Here’s a picture of the most handsome man about town as he collects his thoughts.

Anyhow, we had a great conversation with Greg that’ll be airing real soon as part of their coverage for the Wolfe Island Music Festival of which we’ll be a part.  More details to come on that one.  In the meantime, enjoy the sun and stay safe.

Kingston, you rule,

John O

Tonight’s the night. Our last evening of recording in Montreal is upon us.  It’s been a solid four days and we’re really excited with what we’ve accomplished. Kyle laid down some sweet bass grooves before leaving us for the Northwest Territories and the Folk On The Rocks Festival with our pals Forest City Lovers. He also took his camera with him, which explains the quality of the following photograph, taken on my laptop using a setting called “Thermal.”

It’s our engineer Drew Malamud and part of Tim’s guitar. Honestly, some of these camera settings are pretty cool in a sort of “we just discovered Photoshop and it’s 1995″ kind of way.

Anyways, it’s back to Ontario with us. We’re playing V Fest in Orillia this August and I’ve gotta start lifting weights if I’m going to stand a chance of beating Trent Reznor in an arm-wrestle backstage.

Au revoir,

John O

Recording is super fun. We even have a pinball machine here in the studio. Exploring the stars and the entire universe is something we’re all really big on right now. Check it.

Oh, and as it turns out, Kyle DID bring his camera on the trip, so that’s why this picture looks so damn awesome.  Thanks, KD.

Anyhow, in addition to chilling in outer space, we just finished adding organ and synth parts to a new jam called Junkpile. We doubled up the organ on this old Farfisa that our engineer Drew found in the garbage and fixed up. Some of the keys were sticking, but we greased them squeaky wheels until they rolled smooth. Nice.

We’re just about to start laying down drums and bass for another tune, so I gotta go, but…

Stay tuned,

John O

So the Pulp Fiction show at MOCCA was totally rad last night. You should really check it out if you’re in Toronto and like irreverent little doodly type drawings and funny videos.

Kudos to band manager Remi Arora for snapping this great pic. It’s from the cover from a zine made by Toronto artist Jason McLean that was on display at the show. Which D’Urberville do you think it most resembles?

(Hint: It’s not Tim, Greg, or myself)

Keep real,

John O

However, Greg, Tim and I just don’t take no for an answer, so we managed to kidnap the poor dude and drive him up north to my family cottage in the Kawarthas for a D’Urbervillean writing retreat this past weekend.

Once the blindfold came off, he grew accustomed to his surroundings relatively quickly. It probably helped that my folks left us a few bags of the best potato chips in the entire world to snack on. Kyle loves his chips.

We also took Kyle on a trip to nearby Peterborough, where we performed our first show in over a month alongside some great bands at the Gordon Best Theatre. As a special bonus, we got to eat free pizza and play a rousing game of frisbee with Evening Hymns and Shotgun Jimmie.

So yeah. Things were great. We’re working on a few new songs. One of them sounds like funk music but better. The other one switches between two different time signatures. It’s all part of a slow transition that will eventually see us evolve into a Funk/Math Rock group called Acutely Obtuse. OK, that last part is a lie. The group is actually going to be called Cosine Lawless. But whatever.

Here’s a picture that was snapped between calculations.

If you’re in Toronto we’ll be playing the Drake Hotel on June 17th for NXNE with our good pals Woodhands. Bring your abacus, sucka!

2+2=5,

John O

Until next time,

John O

John O