Nearly two months have passed since we wrapped our 1 Second Film/Evangenitals 2007 Summer U.S. Tour and only now am I ready to iron out some of the mixed feelings I have by publishing some of my experiences and observations whilst on the road. What a journey! One that I will never, ever forget. If the following tales sound bitter or resentful, then they probably are. But there was a lot of beauty and good will that also took place on that endless road. And I realize that my reality is my own. At the end of the day, I like to subscribe to the old saying: It's not happening TO YOU, it's just happening. Read on players and drama freaks.






Hollywood, California. Our first day on the road the electrical catches fire and the bus needs to be towed. Already there are some leadership issues arising but I'm gonna lay low and try to be a team player. Still, the breakdown footage is pretty sweet and we're all pretty excited. Plus, Darth Vader is an electrician.







Las Vegas & Hoover Dam. Driving thru Vegas in the daytime isn't the same. Still trying to adjust to our various personalities. The dishes are a tense subject. Sarah wants to take turns cooking and cleaning dishes. My gut tell me this will be a problem later on. I prefer the "one cup & spoon per person" policy. Also painfully aware that if I'm not a part of the solution, I'm part of the problem. Oh boy.



Grand Canyon, Arizona. Breathtaking. Our first big natural landmark location. The 1 Second Crew managed to capture some killer footage...



...but I had to work hard to appreciate it because my sweltering, itchy black Dickies jumpsuit was slowly driving me apeshit.



Albuquerque, New Mexico. We arrived in this charming southwestern town at about 5AM. Nirvan's mother and sister made our visit so comfortable. The food was amazing but what I shall never forget is the image of George and I having our feet soaked in a saltwater detox solution. Poor George's clear foot bath had become a horrific green foamy goop! I guess he was especially toxic that day. Later on he complained of an awful headache which he attributed to the detox. Haha! That night we did our first full audio/visual presentation at the local art gallery Stove. A raffle with some KILLER prizes was being held but the draw was slim so everyone who bought a ticket won BIG. One fella actually bought five tickets and won five times! Still it was a great vibe and it was a good experience finally getting to spread our wings and work out the bugs. My favorite moment was actually an impromptu bit where The Evangenitals jammed up this lounge/blues riff for the auction. Whenever a winner was announced, George and I would fly off into these raging solos to accentuate the high times. The crowd loved it. It was the kind of freestyle shit that I wished we had done more of throughout the tour.



Roswell, New Mexico. So far no aliens but it smells like major dung throughout and, strangely, there is zero vibe here at all, just a bunch of poor farmers. For what seemed like the umpteenth time, We leaped out of the bus with the jumpsuits for an alien photo op. Of course in retrospect it was seriously small potatoes, but at the time, ugh.

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. This was the day my lovely girl Wanni called me with
the news that our super awesome cat Einstien had been struck by a car and died. Einstein was my very first pet ever and Wanni & I were, along with the entire block, madly in love with him. The Carlsbad Caves were magnificently beautiful. Truly a gift from the heavens. But my mind was on the memory of poor Einstien and getting back home to Wanni. The 1 Second team were just awesome and showered me with plenty of love. Once back on the surface, I found a little spot to be with myself, cried a little bit and then got on the bus headed for Austin.



Austin, Texas. There were plenty of reasons why Austin should have been a four star memory for me- It was a return to my old hometown back when I was a scrappy five year old, my Dad was coming to visit and see the band for the very first time, we were playing this charming eatery on a picturesque outdoor stage that stood under a beautiful tree. The weather was perfect that night. And it was friggin' AUSTIN. But it had been a rough couple of days. My beloved cat Einstien died, my girlfriend was stressing hard, the 1 Second Team was divided and lacking focus, my band was sucking eggs and I got into a loud match with Levi & Co. for arriving late again and parking the bus too far from the stage (making load in a real bitch). But, mixed feelings aside, it was still super fine to sit with my Dad for an hour over burgers & sodas which were DELICIOUS and comped by the friendly owners. I'm stoked that he finally got to see the band, even if we were only half-speed and I'm glad he got a copy of the new album which I'd worked so hard on. An he's now a producer of the 1 Second Film.



Houston, Texas. After the meltdown in Austin, everyone miraculously agreed to pull it together and give 110%. We were all assigned specific responsibilities and when we arrived at Lucky's Bar for it's grand opening, everyone jumped out of the bus and hustled like pros. Levi rocked the lighting, Lisa and Juli roadied the amps and tuned the guitars, George did the drums, I did the P.A., Sarah did the merch booth while Nirvan and Mike handled the video setup. In less than an hour, everything was ready to go. It was so beautifully executed, it was hard to believe it was the same motley crew from the day before. The show itself was a different bird altogether. The acoustics were awful. When the band rocked it's 2-song intro, out came a massive wall of room echo. Noone got it. Then Nirvan stepped up to do his presentation. Again the bad sound. Plus, folks just weren't down for an hour-long presentation- they just wanted to drink beer and party. For our encore Evangenitals set, I lowered our volume and leaned over to Juli and whispered "Everything about this show is going to shit. But my grandma's out there and I'm going totally balls out insane with or without you guys. Are you in?" And with that, we performed our best night of the tour! The sound was a little better. Juli was great. I was an enthusiastic foil. And our audience got nice and drunk. Believe it or not, Miss Texas even showed up and so we took some photos. But best of all was seeing my Grandma, cousin Mary and other relatives having a great time. Grandma even got up onstage and sang along with us and about 30 other new fans on a song called "Home". She had so much fun. Afterward, Nirvan's dad (who had set up the event) invited all of my family to eat in the VIP lounge. Everyone else remarked that Houston was our worst stop on the tour. But not me. I was so proud of the 1 Second Team for rising to the occasion, despite the shitty conditions. Also it gave me such great joy to see my family that, for me, the Houston gig gets the big thumbs up for its unexpected emotional rescue.



New Orleans. A heartbreakingly beautiful city where the music continues to leak from every crack of every wall in the French Quarter. God I love this town. I think this was everyone else's favorite stop. For me, it could have been momentous as it really is my one of my favorite places of all time. But, on this particular day, it was hot as fuck and Sarah was clamoring for black jumpsuits. I turned her down cold and I could tell she was pissed at me again. But I'd been at odds with the jumpsuits since Day 1 and now every cell in my brain and body was pleading for light clothing and with it, some mental health and peace of mind. Then I start catching serious heat from Juli about the suits and being a team player and yada yada yada. I fucking snapped inside. Those suits were like Chinese water torture to me and if I had to stay in one for too long I'd surely go nuts. I was terrified. Already I was this perceived rabble-rouser and now I was sure to make some big ugly stand before The Team and piss on their dream of black jumpsuits. The idea of yet another confrontation threw me into such a serious funk that it wasn't until we toured the Katrina ruins that I was able to settle down and get out of my head. That was a sobering visit and, thankfully, put everything back into proper perspective.



Florida. St. Petersburg is one of Juli's many hometowns. Juli's mom, Linda, got us a gig playing an assembly for "the good kids"- the one's with a "C" average or something. Naturally, they went ape-shit over the whole Andy Dick/Tom Green feud, especially when Andy started humping the couch. They loved Juli, too. I enjoyed this show alot. Perhaps because it was short. It was great having 50 or so kids get up and play "Home" with us.



Next up was the Tampa Skatepark. Still at odds with various forces within, but I loved winning over all those young punks onstage. It was a bit like "River's Edge" in that the area was a fucked up little wasteland town and the kids still had that defiant spirit you might expect from such a place.



But there was also an innocence and still some hope in every kid's face. They idolized Juli and it was so much fun playing the role of "old-skool-punk-guitar-guy-from-L.A."! Later that night we had tacos with some of the locals, including this huge 250lb black kid who everyone kept calling Oprah. That night, I bribed Sarah with $5 if she wore her red skate helmet onstage.



In Satellite Beach, we performed at another high school where Nirvan was once class president. We had arrived the night before and parked directly in front of the campus. It was particularly warm so I slept on the roof. The next morning, I snuck off and had an Egg McMuffin and an O.J. at McDonalds. That's right, McDonalds! Now, I hadn't darkened the door of any such establishment in probably 10 years, so you have a pretty good idea of how famished I was. Of course, I kept this little excursion top secret from the 'Move-On' mind police:) It seemed like everyone on board either ate vegan or simply didn't eat at all. This was not easy for dedicated omnivores like George or myself. More than a couple of times, we snuck out to find something a bit more hearty. But I wasn't a total eco-trainwreck. After all, I was the only cat on the bus who brought his own coffee mug. Almost everyone seemed content with disposables. So there you have the great hypocrisy. On my return from McD's, I witnessed a secret rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. Apparently, rockets are sent up all the time but nobody has a clue who, what, or where they're headed. Really bad for the environment.



We pit-stopped in Port Orange to shoot a quick music video for "Not Quite There" (featuring more young skaters) which was fun. Then off we went to our final Florida gig in Daytona Beach where we performed at a nursing home for thirty or so elderly veterans. Juli made a decision to play it safe and clean with our "family" setlist for most of the performance while the near-catatonic vets barely responded. Yet, close to the end, someone got a case of the "fuck-its" and suggested busting out "Gasoline" for these dirty old men. Who were they fooling anyway? How many drunken whores did they hump while off in Korea, anyhow?!?! And, right as those opening cowboy notes sprung from my guitar, sure enough something deep inside these once vital soldiers began to move and sway again. Tap, tap, tapping along to the dirty beat of an old hillbilly staple, smiling through the pain and dementia of injuries, old and new. Man, it was a sight.



And finally it seemed as though the 1 Second Film had found its heart. We were told, later on, that some of those old soldiers made genuine breakthroughs that odd early afternoon. That some who normally refuse to participate had miraculously chosen to do otherwise that day, and by doing so perhaps allowed themselves to maybe heal a little bit.



Savannah, Georgia. By far the sweatiest stop of the entire trip. But there was an intriguingly swampy "Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil" meets "Art Center" kind of vibe there. I liked it. And the change of scenery inspired me to try and see things with a new pair of glasses.




George and I somehow mustered up a shitload of "sales energy" that day and hawked credits in front of the bus and plugged our show that night at the Guitar Bar. We were team players extraordinaire. The Guitar Bar seemed like it was gonna be amazing. I even recall overhearing Juli remark that she absolutely LOVED IT afterwards. For George and I however, it was amateur night all over again.



When we showed up at the bar, my first impression was that it was a great spot for a show. Downstairs was for drinking and upstairs was for gigging. The owner was cooking up some chow and so, hungry as hell, I placed an order. I was slightly disappointed that there were no comps or even discounts for the band, but whatever. After supper, I had the daunting task of setting up the sound (P.A.) for the evening. For some reason, the lights were burned out upstairs and so I asked management for a light bulb. They seemed annoyed and replied, "OK!- just like we said earlier, we're busy, but we'll help you in five minutes!" Wha?!! Earlier?!?! Five minutes?!?! I had only asked once. But get this- they never did come back with that light bulb and so we struggled needlessly in bad light for nearly 2 hours trying to get the sound right. What was crystal clear, as the night wore on, was that these Guitar Bar cats were all style and no substance. We played the show, got a decent draw and a great response. Juli again brought down the house.

But as hard as I tried, I still couldn't get into it. This wasn't the Evangenitals. This was Evangina with an electric backing band. George and I felt pretty much useless having to hold back and respect the dynamics of an Evangina setlist. We could've been replaced by anyone and no one would have noticed. I was really missing Jason's killer bass and the broad catalog of songs that came with him. Moreover, Lisa was talking and playing guitar onstage more than ever, competing with Juli's bits. It seemed a bit selfish to me. We had talked about this in band meetings. It was agreed that, for the good of the band, she was going to reign it in a bit. But on this tour, just the opposite had occurred and it was now very clear to me that Lisa and I want different things. I had been pushing for growth. Learning our instruments. Singing in key. But Lisa prefers the simplicity of Evangina. There was no point in fighting her. For me, this revelation, which arrived at a most inconvenient time, was wholly disheartening.

At the end of the night, we carried our gear through the building and into the rain. Somehow during our set, the downstairs had transformed into the naughtiest of Britney-esque nightclubs with underage tarts and freckled frat boys grinding it out on the dancefloor. It was fairly surreal. The Guitar Bar must've made a ton of money that night. They paid the band $19.

Things started to gel a bit after Savannah. We trekked through the Carolinas and Virginia and made a few stops that you can read about here: Juli's Blog!



This was my first time visiting the great D.C. What struck me was the long drive that divides the North from the South. In between, it just seemed like a huge stretch of giant forest. I began to understand, through the geography, the cultural & historical divisions that exist between the two since before even the Civil War.





One minute you're in the wooded boonies and the next its all concrete and white paint. There was the Capitol, The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Memorial. Sadly, we didn't get to see the White House. The Powers That Be closed off all roads leading to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

But, one fabulous bonus was that we ran into the original Batmobile (from the 1966 TV show) which had been left unattended in a local public parking lot. It was the real deal for sure. All of the interior was pristine but clearly antique, including the muthafuggin' red Batphone!!!



Next up was the University of Baltimore. Now this is a town with some HISTORY. And some of the worst poverty I've ever seen firsthand. The kind of destitution that even the most diehard Rush Limbaugh fan would have a hard time dismissing. The sky was grey and things were beginning to cool down for jackets. We also visited an ancient graveyard that dated back to the city's origins. The show itself was charming, though seen by few. It was refreshing to have help from the university staff, even if its body seemed fairly disinterested in the arts and perhaps more interested in law. Did I mention this was a paid gig with accommodations?



Philadelphia, PA. While everyone else was eating broccoli and chicken, George and I snuck off and had a REAL Philly cheesesteak (minus the cheezewhiz). I could spend some serious time here. I really like the tempo of the people and it reminded me of San Francisco a little bit. Nirvan's friend Rebecca gave us a tour of the city which I really enjoyed.



Later that night, we performed at the renovated "Silk City Diner" which is a pretty hip place. The road had eased up on us a little bit and I was well rested and this made the poor scheduling of the Philly show somewhat more tolerable. We played. It was loud. The drunks had fun. End of story. The food however, was frigging AWESOME. Overall, good memories of Philly.



Brooklyn, NY. Wow. I'm so glad that Juli had such a great time at Vox Pop Cafe cuz, for me, by the end of that show, I was DONE. It was just more bad sound, more bad musicianship. Not what I had hoped to promote "Everlovin" with. Actually, I enjoyed everything about Brooklyn except for the show. I loved Vox Pop in the rain. It felt so nice and cozy snuggling up to a hot late and a book, I could've stayed another night.



Times Square, NY. This may have been the highlight for me. We got on the roof of that bus and drove straight through Times Square in heavy traffic as though we were on parade. Come to realize that's exactly what we were doing- having a little parade. Waving and hootin' n' hollerin' and acting like some kind of celebrity on Thanksgiving day!! That was such a gas!!! The crazy part is there were cops EVERYWHERE and not once did they order us to get back in the bus! Afterward, the Evangenitals broke with the 1 Second Crew and went to another cool eatery that was vegan friendly with a few old friends. Later, we crashed at Juli's brother's pad where we reunited with her mom. It was great to see her again and briefly meet her brother, Jayson.

Connecticut. Here, we met up with drummer George, who had jumped ahead to spend more time with his Dad. Connecticut was George's home turf and, god bless him, he arranged quite a welcome for us. We arrived for our gig at a local Italian restaurant (friend's of George) where we met all of George's people.

He is immensely popular in Connecticut. The chow was free and so we played a sweet set for the locals before Nirvan launched into his pitch. Thanks to George, Connecticut was the 2nd most lucrative fundraiser on our tour!



Ohio. All of the big shows were now behind us except for the big Oprah Finale. So we stopped off in Ohio to visit the World's Largest Ball of Paint and to say hello to touring bassist Sarah's parents.



More SUPER-NICE mid-westerners who bathed us, fed us, and put us up overnight and let us watch TV all night long!!!! This was a funny scene. In one room, there was George and I, along with Sarah's Dad, Mom & brother all watching the World Series. In the adjacent room, everyone else were glued to another TV watching movies from the 80's. Weird. In my mind, it just seemed like good manners to chat it up and watch a little ball with our hosts. Were George and I just too old for this sort of thing? Because I'm starting to sound like somebody's parents.



Indiana. Now it was time to meet with Levi's family. They lived on a genuine FARM with Amish locals to the left and the right. When we showed up, they had pizza and a big bonfire waiting for us to torch.



That fire burned well into the night and kept us hella warm in that cold, cold, town. Old Brettster spent a good chunk of the night shooting the shit with none other than Levi's dad about politics and the state of the union. Levi's dad, like Sarah's, was not affiliated with any party in particular. One year they'd vote Republican and the next election they might go Democrat or Independent. I had never met a bonafide swing voter before (let alone two). I'm from Texas and Cali and where you vote their way or the highway. Anyway, it was great fun to relax a bit and talk with Levi's old man who still liked his Wild Turkey and Marlboros.



Finally Chicago. My first time in the windy city. I was so excited to be in Chicago because I knew this meant we were just a few more days away from a hug from my honey and long hot shower. As it turned out, Oprah had a big emergency in Africa with her school scandal and so she was nowhere to be seen. Of course, we had all prepared long ago for the possibility of an Oprah no-show.



But as we grew closer, I have to say I was pretty surprized at discovering that no one had any idea of Oprah's whereabouts until the day we arrived at Harpo Studios, when we bumped into an NBC news crew there trying to build a story about the school scandal. Still, a few Harpo employees stopped by and became producers and that was really cool. Finally, we celebrated the tail end of our journey by eating at another vegan restaurant. I forget the name of this place, but I can tell you they had the BEST fake malt/shake I've ever had in my entire life! Yum.



Back to L.A. The next 48 hours were a sleepless mad dash for home. We all wanted to get home pronto and the only way that was going to happen was if we worked the night driving shift and kept that trusty bus moving at all times. This created more tension for Lisa and I. She discovered early on that she had trouble sleeping while the bus was in motion. But most of us really wanted to get home YESTERDAY and so George and I carried on with our red-eye shifts.



God bless Nirvan and Levi and Mike for having a vision and sticking to it and including this raggedy old band for the kicks. It was a beautiful, most difficult journey that, in the end, I will fondly never forget. But I was hella glad to be home. Home. Home. Home.

Alright. New Album. New Art. New Tour. Indie 103.1. Universal Summer Block Party. New Record Label? It's all happening in September. Get ready. The album totally rocks and can also sing you gently to sleep. George Bernardo, you are a great drummer and an even better friend. Thanks for making this album with me. Today we're picking up the first 100 copies which we'll sell (out) at Universal. It's a free show with plenty of eager visitors from out of state just DYING to find ways to spend their $$$$. It's also gonna be the biggest show yet for us. Word is it's gonna be thousands. And here's the really freaky part. Apparently they really like autographs(!).

Hello Friends & Familia. We just flew back from The Island a few http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifdays
ago and want to share with you all the best moments via our Flickr
Photo Album .

http://flickr.com/photos/brettlyda/collections/72157601301546583/

But first, for the story to be told completely, we have to take you
all the way back to Monday April 2nd on Wanni's Birthday when I asked
my baby what she'd like to do on this special day and she hollered...
"Casino!". So as part of her gift, I bought her $40 in chips to play
at the "little kids" poker table. Well, imagine my surprise when four
hours later, Wanni had amassed a stack of no less than $1200 in chips!
And I wasn't doing so bad either. I had turned my $40 into $200 and
just when I thought it couldn't get any better, on my last hand I get
four aces and beat somebody's full house and win $700 in a jackpot! So
what do you do when you've got an extra $2000 lying about?

August 26th. Wanni and I flew into Kauai at 9PM and literally camped
on the side of the road just a few feet from the ocean. I'll admit
that was a rocky night riddled with zero sleep and endless bug bites
but, by morning Paradise was a knockin' loud and clear. We skirted
down the one and only highway to Kapa'a and discovered quickly that
this was our favorite town for eats. We totally fell in love with
Small Town Coffeehouse

(http://web.mac.com/smalltownkauai/iWeb/Small%20Town%20Coffee/Welcome.html).

It was here that we also accidentally bumped into local resident Vern
who happens to be the honest-to-goodness twin brother of our hometown
pal Mitch which, for me, was a wonderful, positive sign of things to
come but also pretty surreal nonetheless.

That day, we camped on the beach with the bum locals until morning
and waited for a tan rugged Australian named Burt to boat up about 50
feet from shore. We were instructed in advance to pack all of our
belongings in plastic trash bags and, upon his arrival, swim out with
our gear onto his rinky-dink little fisherman's boat so that he could
motor us onward to the breathtakingly remote Napali Coast where there
are no roads or coffeehouses and only the heartbreaking, glorious,
virtually untouched, tropical landscape of heaven on Earth exists.
Reaching destination, we had to swim another 50 feet to shore. This
was pretty scary stuff as the riptide is very rough in these parts.
It's so tough, in fact, that there are signs posted on the beaches
strongly recommending that visitors NOT swim in the ocean at all.
This probably explains why Burt's near extinct profession is
thoroughly illegal, though often overlooked.

We camped rough and rugged for three nights and hiked about 20 miles
during our stay on the Napali Coast. If you know me, you know I'm no
exercise guru, but when every single friggin' twist and turn of the
landscape is as exciting and breathtaking as this, you can't help but
put one foot in front of the other, childlike and eager for what comes
next and never once being disappointed. In the beach cliffs, we
discovered a massive hidden sand floor sea-cave the size of a
football field. An equally large emerald green swimming pool of sea
water extended from its mouth, tongue-like, out into the sunlight and
sand, almost bridging itself to the ocean. Wanni and I swam into the
cave and spotted a shadowy figure resting on a sand bank. As we
approached, we realized it was an obese naked woman in her 50's (did
I mention the Napali Coast is loaded with naked women and men?) The
old lady was nice, however, and soon left leaving Wanni and I to
enjoy this undeniable slice of heaven all to ourselves. We camped
HARD in this area for four days. Early Saturday morning, Burt arrived
and we stuffed our trash bags and swam out to the boat for our return
to civilization. Hats off to Wanni for flawless planning such a
wonderful trip to the Napali Coast.

Our friend Jeff Mann is working on the new Ben Stiller/Jack Black
movie "Tropic Thunder" in Kauai. He, his wife Stacey, and daughter
Emery invited us to stay for a week with them at their beautiful
rental house near Princeville. While Jeff was super busy making Ben
Stiller & JB look awesome, Stacey & Emery were amazing hosts who
showed us around the island and hooked us up with some great old and
new friends (Rachel, Joel, Noah, Sean). Emery is just about the
sweetest little girl I've ever met. Stacey took us to the set of
Tropic Thunder and made sure that we got some "elbow time" with
Stiller and Jack and some great pix of the big napalm explosion
scene. Wanni was especially stoked cuz she got to surprize Jack and
another friend, producer Stewart Cornfeld. Stuart is about as big as
they come in The Biz but you wouldn't know it as he also happens to
be an exceptionally nice guy. With the Manns, it was great company, a
nice bed, outdoor showers in the jungle & french toast and bacon every
other day! We will never forget their kindness and hospitality. Thank
you Jeff, Stacey & Emery.

Along the highway, we visited the ruins of the famous Coco Palms
Hotel Resort in which all 46 acres were destroyed by hurricane back
in the early 1990's. It was here that Elvis Presley filmed all of
those beach flicks like "Blue Hawaii" and it was also where they
filmed the popular TV show "Fantasy Island". It was fenced off just
like any abandoned property might be, with "No Trespassing" signs
everywhere but, strangely enough, the parking lot was unlocked and,
adjacent to the lot, was a truck-size opening in the fence. We
couldn't resist. As it turns out, we bumped into the groundskeeper,
Dwayne, who has been with the hotel since the early 60's. He was such
a nice man and Wanni is such a charmer that it wasn't long before he
offered to give us an unrestricted VIP tour. What a beautiful mess.
We even visited Elvis' humble cottage which had long since been raped
of its charm. I'll let the photos speak on my behalf.

And so it just kept on flowing endlessly - secret summer beaches,
rainbow canyons, air-conditioned hotels, more giant caves, snorkeling
with exotic fishes, giant turtles, cracking coconuts, fresh mangos and
guava from the trees, picturesque log cabins, gourmet vegan food,
awesome ahi tuna & khalua pork regional dishes, and LOTS of ice
cream.

Enjoy!

Brett & Wanni

p.s. is your picture on my website? www.brettlyda.com has tons of new
pics and lots of new media. check it out! And if I don't have your
picture, send me one and I'll get it up asap!

Thanks to old friend Josh Warren for this gem!