Driving on the Interstate 93 from Cambridge, MA to New York. Beside us a giant camera protrudes from silver van, eerily focusing in on us from all angles driving beside us with a boom mic aimed at our windows. We now live in a bubble surrounded by voyeurs from Germany. For some reason they find our daily dealings interesting – the mustard hanging from Aly’s lip, the inside jokes, the melodramatic band meetings.
If you didn’t know, The Sweetness tours of 2011 are are being filmed for a German documentary on….
YOURS TRULY!! US!
Today our alarms woke us at 8:30am. The four or us sleeping in one room with four bunk beds, I rolled over in the top bunk, Aly below me, Sam and Doug in the bunk beside us.
Oh Hello film crew? Doesn’t everyone want to be filmed first thing in the morning, bed head, dried drool and all? Somewhat prepared for such surveillance, I opted to wear a shirt in bed over explicit nudity. Aly on the other hand forgot to wear a bra. But hey, these are the ingredients of a gripping documentary, right?
So this is going to be our existence for the next few weeks. Believe me, it is fun. These boys are wonderful to be around, even when they sneak around tapping into our conversations, reducing our lives to good scenes, and not so good scenes. Its uncanny how quickly you accustom yourself to being watched. At our house concert in Montreal, Aly went to the bedroom to take a moment of contemplation before the show. In came the camera crew and there was Aly staring out the window looking pensive and in deep thought. Pascal, the director nodded, “This is great, keep going.“ Nothing to break a little personal reflection like a furry boom mic hanging over your head, a camera, and four guys watching a meter away.
We’ve just left Cambridge MA where Michael Jones, CEO of Just Strings, and our personal angel, hosted a fabulous house concert atop his condo roof, pampered us with Afghan food and 18 year old whiskey. Two full glasses later the band was in heated conversation over how we will juggle both our solo projects and the band, an issue we are all struggling with these days; how to divide our efforts between projects without sabotaging either one.
So thus far we have made a stop in Peterborough ON, at The Spill, slept in an underground dome/giant bed raft at my childhood friend’s, made it to Ottawa for a house concert where we quickly realized that Doug had left his borrowed cymbal 4 hours away in Peterborough. While Aly and I continued to socialize Sam and Doug made a trip backwards to Peterborough, spent the night at the venue and picked us up on on the way to Montreal – likely not the last time we forget something. Montreal was a house concert put on by a fan whom I’d never met – a room filled with interesting people and tons of delicious food made by Roula, our host. We left with a gift basket filled with a dangerous amount of candy.
We are now in NY, where everything seems a bit more complicated. Finding beds in Manhattan is nearly impossible. With 8 people in our posse, and the film crew wanting to stay together, we ended up all staying in completely different parts of the city; Aly in Manhattan, Doug and Sam and I in Long Island, and the film crew kicking it in Harlem in a shady rental with water dripping from the ceilings. The poor boys are more scared to leave their equipment in the flat than in the car.
Not quite the warmest welcome to NY for the boys, when they were shoved out of Rockwood Music Club by the owner. Although we thought we had clearance to shoot the concert, it turned out we were only allowed to shoot basically the space our 4 bodies occupied on stage. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pascal, the director so stressed. He now has a pretty jaded opinion of New York. All the while Sam, Doug and I are being showered in gifts of perfume and groceries by our hosts.
These are all lessons in flexibility and learning to be comfortable in not so comfortable situations.
Till later!
Xo
Chloe
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