Spatch

2008-01-28T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well its been awhile since my last blog but I figure im do for another entry. I'll just fill you in on whats been going on with me this past month! We took a couple weeks off for the holidays and started the new year on a good note playing a show with our long time friends Shortwave and our new friends The Giant Baby @ a very busy El Mocambo. The crowd was electric and we rocked our first show of 2008 with a bang! Over the past couple weeks The Dunes have been in writing mode for the upcoming album. The process has been very good thus far and the four of us are clicking very well together. Im getting really excited to hit the studio again and try my new axe out! On other notes my car acted up this past week putting me in the whole for $1000. A mans got to make it to practice though! I also purchased an orange tree this past friday with my lady and that was pretty cool. It produces Red Naval oranges which are apparently sweeter than regular oranges, can't wait! Saw The Bucket list last week and pretty much cried through most of it. It definately hits home pretty hard. Heavy but really really good. It does send out a very important message as well, which is live for today and go for your dreams now cause you might not be here in 6 months!

Rock N Roll
Hoochie-Coo!

Happy December!

2007-12-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has been enjoying this joyous month of December thus far. One of my favourite months of the year for sure! Two days to go for The Dunes Holiday bash at The El MoCambo which is pretty exciting. What a great way to spread the cheer and be with friends at this highly anticipated event! It will also mark the last show of the year for The Dunes. I love this time of the year. Besides everybody being so stressed out from shopping and christmas coming, everyone always seems to be in a pretty good mood. And here's a little confession. I like christmas music! There......I said it. Its out! And I don't care. Maybe also because im not always bombarded with it! Oh well. So I've been to two Maple Leaf games in last two weeks which was pretty wild for me let me tell you! We lost to the habs 5-4 in a shootout and beat the lightning 6-1. Love the leafs! Anyways take care and hopefully we see lots of people out this friday night! Over and out!

Bass Jumper!

2007-11-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

Hey folks. Just coming off another fine weekend. We rocked another show at The ElMoCambo supporting our new friends Fiction Plane. What a show it was! We came out firing on all cylinders and took that stage by storm. Fast paced high energy rock extravaganza! Amazing light show as well. Thank you Axl! I love playing the ElMo. We just seem to embrace the vibes there! I thought all the guys from Fiction Plane were great guys and good musicians all around! There show was high energy as well and that drew me too it right away. I didn't get a chance to listen to a lot of there music before the show so I wasn't sure how it would have sounded but it was great. A pleasant suprise! Got to have a few beers with them after the show too! I hope to again play with Fiction Plane sometime in the near future hopefully in UK! I love exclamation marks don't I? anyways....... Had a great night all around! Goodnight!
Spatch

The Dunes on fire!!!

2007-10-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. It's been a while but im back! I hope everyone has enjoyed there summer cause i definately have! I just moved into my new place with my girlfriend and am loving it and appreciating how much work she is doing when im not around cause of the band. Quick lesson: Hold on to your woman when she takes good care of you and shows you the love you need! It can bring you back up real fast when you're feeling down. You should really start to appreciate the little things in life and the special people in you're life cause they could be taken away from you faster than you know!
Well on Dunes notes..... We just came off 4 consecutive weekends where The Dunes have been real busy. We did a radio show, a show in Kitchener(my hometown), an incredible Dunes show at The El MoCambo, and this past weekend will go down in the books. We headed up to little Goderich, Ontario where we started the magical journey called The Dunes 2nd and upcoming album. My first as a Dune! I have been in studio's before and have recorded with other bands and engineers but this weekend was truly magical! We worked with a super nice and very talented engineer named Siegfried Meier. He welcomed us from the get go and made us feel very comfortable, which I believe can put you into a very nice pocket for you're recording session. We got serious stuff laid down for the start of the new album. We completed 2 songs(Let It Go, What will Be)and have the rough mixes for them. It has been 24 hours and I haven't stopped listening to them. HOLY S__T! Amazing stuff. I haven't been this excited since the Leafs last made the playoffs!
Anyways Im doing good and really enjoying life right now!
Cheers,
~John~

Total inspiration!!!

2007-07-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's friday at lunch and im still trying to get down from this high im on. WOW! I was at one of the best concerts I've ever seen last night in Toronto. I went to see Travis at the Koolhaus, and man let me tell you......INCREDIBLE! Song after song they were great. In a lot of ways playing in The Dunes reminds me of Travis. Very energetic, everyone on stage is loving it, total crowd participation! Very cool to be a part of it from the audience and not always on stage. But on that note it has totally re-inspired me to keep rockin and living my dream! I am soooo pumped for tonight's show at The Rivoli. Can't wait to get back up there and do our thing! Cheers and we'll see you tonight.
Peace out,
John

First UK tour is complete!

2007-07-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well what can I say? The Dunes rocked the crowds across the pond! We played 8 shows in 14 days including a radio interview on the BBC and a photo shoot as well. I never knew what to expect being on tour in the UK but I did expect there would be lots of drinking. And believe me there was! We were so busy everyday with the travelling and constant lugging of our gear it made it very tire some for us at times but at the end of the day when I stepped on that stage with my fellow Dunes it made it all worth it! We experienced the vibes around London when there were the bomb scares going on. Kind of an unsettling feeling when you're there. We experienced missed flights and eaten bank cards in machines and spebt loads of money.
Our short time in Edinborough was an incredible experince for me. Everyone in England said the weather would be worse but it actually was quite nice. Sunny and warm days. We played a show in downtown Edinborough at a popular venue called Whistle Binkies where just a few years back Travis themselves graced the stage. Pretty cool let me tell ya! So many stories in such a short time that I don't even no where to start. One thing I do know for sure is that The Dunes are stronger, tighter, and are better friends now than they ever were. Not to blow our own whistles but if you come to see us July 20th at The Rivoli in Toronto, you are in for a real treat!!!! Looking forward to the next show. Over and out!
Peace,
John Boy

UK Shananigans!

2007-06-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. So England has been really really excititng so far. We played 2 shows and last nights show at The Barfly in Camden was incredible! A proper English crowd indeed! Fist pumping chaos all for us! Not to mention there was a lineup wrapped around the building! We also played our first with our new backdrop behind us. Really nice touch! The weather has been hilarious so far. It rains 50 times a day with sunshine. Weird! Our days have been long and nights have been longer! We are taking full advantage of our stay here. Tomorrow we are off to play our thurd show in Birmingham which should be exciting! Another long day ahead of us. Its pretty crazy with all the car bomb scares and shit going on over here. We are really close to it all too which is kind of an unsettling feeling at times! But we're ok and continue to move on! Anyways just want to say hello to all my friends and family. I miss you! And to my lovely girl Nikki. I miss you and love you. See ya soon!
Cheers,
Spatch

Off to the UK!

2007-06-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I am really excited on the eve of our first tour across the pond. Running around like a mad man and trying to get everything done for trip. One thing that really sucks for me is that I have to fly solo and the other three Dunes will fly together. I will be arriving only a few hours after them! This was because they booked they're flights a few hours before me and when I tried to book, that plane was sold out!! BOOO!!! For me! Anyways will keep you posted on our doings in the mighty UK.

Cheers,

Spatch