We Blog Pretty One Day (Locksley's Official Blog)

Hooray!



~Kai~

Hey All, it's been quite the week for your boys LOCKSLEY! We're starting to prepare in earnest for the upcoming tour, of which we're all very excited about. Hitting the road and being able to play for as many people as possible is one of the things that make us tick, and we're ready to start ticking again.

It was a moving weekend for LOCKSLEY, not emotionally per se, but physically. Sam, Jordan, and I had the separate privilege of taking all our worldly possessions from one locale to another. Some of us had a bit further to go than others, but at least that's over with. Moving tip: If anything uses the word "Industrial" to describe its size or status, you want to avoid moving it at all costs. That word alone adds at least twenty pounds to nearly anything you need to move. Sam has two cabinets that used to serve Crate & Barrel as display cases, and needless to say, they're a bit heavy. Why are they so heavy? They're "Industrial-Sized", of course! I wish we had pictures of the process used to extricate them from his apartment, I 'm sure it was quite the sight. I was on the roof using two railings as a pulley system, he was on the third floor, but I digress... Let's just say it was a daunting way to spend a saturday, teasing gravity with massive blocks of wood using only drummer-arms and rope.

Onto other things... Fun things.
Do you play Rock Band? If so, you now have the ability to download and play LOCKSLEY songs! We're in a video game!?! One can download Don't Make Me Wait, All Over Again, and She Does, all in the blink of an eye!
I've yet to play, but I hear it's pretty fun, and I'd like to get my hands on a system to see if I can get a high-score on the lead guitar part of Don't Make Me Wait. (I have a feeling that, with all my "practice" there are probably many people, or children, well maybe mostly children, that have the ability to absolutely embarrass me in that regard, but I'm o.k. with that.)
This week, if we can avoid Rock Band and find a way to stay productive, we'll be gearing up for our upcoming appearances on MTV, and we'll be flying out to Los Angeles this weekend. Why are we going to LA you ask? Read the next line to find out.

The Video Music Awards, of course!
Wait, is LOCKSLEY up for a VMA?!? No, sadly, we are not in the running for the popcorn or the moon-man, or the high-times award we so desperately desire, but apparently we will be walking down the red carpet, so Mom, if you're reading this, WATCH THE VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS.
I personally just hope they have Rock Band backstage.

How about that Democratic National Convention, eh? I found it both enthralling and informative, and they couldn't have chosen a better site for Barack Obama to accept his party's candidacy. I'm excited to see what John McCain and the GOP have to say, and I'm sure Minneapolis will be a very welcoming city. If you're not sure who I'm talking about, for shame, you clearly have no idea how Parliament works. First there's the Labour Party, they're known as Tories, then there's... nevermind, the machinations of the political process will all be explained to you during our fall tour! In the meantime, if you are over 18, I strongly urge you to get yourself registered to vote, and if you are under 18 (sorry, what happens in the little voting booths are unfortunately not all-ages events) I strongly urge you to get out there and strongly urge others to either register to vote, or join you in your valiant attempts at strong urging! If you think that last sentence was confusing, wait until next week, when Jordan explains to you the inner workings of the American Electoral College.

Another something fun... I've recently discovered www.pandora.com, and It's done me wonders in the last couple of weeks. If you'd like to check out what I've been listening to, I believe this is the link that will send you there:
www.pandora.com/people/kai072

That's it for me, I'll write again soon. What will you do until then, you ask?
You can:
Play LOCKSLEY songs on Rock Band.
Prepare your television for the Video Music Award/LOCKSLEY onslaught.
Check out my Pandora page.
Find out as much as you possibly can about the two people who are up for the job of Head American Honcho, JOHN MCCAIN and BARACK OBAMA. The power to sway the next election is firmly in your grasp, don't let this chance pass you by.
Listen to LOCKSLEY.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy your labor day,
Kai of Locksley

...Also this....

This is pretty much how Sam Bair acts when no one is watching...


Hope you have a smile on your face!

Kai

It's been quite the tour so far, we're returning home with a couple scrapes and bruises, testaments to time well spent.
The crowds we've had the opportunity to play for have been fantastic, and I hope we'll get the chance to play for everyone again quite soon (most likely this fall, more to follow on that score).
We'll be heading back into the studio to crack out some more of the new album, a prospect I'm excited about. We're about one-third done, and everything so far sounds smashing if I do say so myself.

Oh yeah, one more thing:

FREE SHOW ON SATURDAY!
FREE SHOW ON SATURDAY!
FREE SHOW ON SATURDAY!

KNITTING FACTORY!

DOORS AT 5!

FREE!

See you then!

~Kai~

p.s. Chicago here we come.

Yesterday America celebrated its 232nd birthday! Hooray!



We're in Austin, gearing up for our Emo's show, which I'm pretty jazzed for. I'm a huge fan of Austin, and I always seem to have a good time when we pass through. We ate at Uncle Billy's to enjoy this occasion, and got stuffed on myriad meats slathered in barbecue sauce. Texas takes its food pretty seriously, and I'm sure glad I get to partake when I'm here.



Austin seems to be a bit more palatable when South By Southwest™ isn't in full swing, and it's been nice to see this city when it isn't crawling with bands.













See you at Emo's!

Kai

New Orleans

Hey All, Locksley's spent the last couple of days in New Orleans, and it has been fantastic. Now, when I use the word "fantastic" I mean that in its most literal sense. This city seems more fantasy than reality, and at times it can be quite haunting.

We had a lot of time to kill while we were waiting for our trailer to be repaired. Again. (Yes, our heads are thick thick thick.)
We spent an hour or two at Cafe Du Monde eating beignets and drinking coffee while a trumpeter assuaged our angst and offered Big Easy anecdotes. I forgot to take a picture of course.

Some of the boys and I ate at Pierre Maspero's last night, and though the food was relatively good, the historical value was through the roof. It was built in 1788, and apparently slaves were bought, sold, and eventual aided to freedom in this, one of the cities oldest buildings. It is said that Andrew Jackson plotted the defense of the city from here during the Battle of New Orleans, eventually leading to American victory over British tyranny.
The gator was delicious.

We also saw "Wanted" which left me wanting.

Bourbon street is either Heaven or Hell, I haven't decided yet, though I'm leaning toward the latter. I only know that I have to give commendation to the people given the task of policing this city, whom I don't envy in the slightest.

It was refreshing to have some time off in such an interesting city, though the urge to move on and play another show is strong within each of us, as we roll onward towards our final destination.

See you soon,

Kai

Our trailer broke down the other day, so in order to get to the show on time, we had to learn how to fly.













By the way, it was easy.

~Kai

Jordan found this;



That is all.

~Kai

What's happening, Kai here. I'm in the studio working on some acoustic stuff, and it's going pretty well if I do say so myself.
The rest of the guys are out of town getting some well-deserved rest, so Guy (our manager/producer) and I are working out some of the technical kinks with our gear. Actually I'm holding the flashlight and telling Guy he's doing a good job.
I'm excited to be on the road again, and especially excited to be opening the tour at Irving Plaza, an excellent venue. Maybe I'll do a cartwheel. Maybe.
On another note, The Bridges, who we'll be on tour with this summer, are releasing their first album tomorrow, and it's quite good. For more info, go to www.myspace.com/thebridgesmusic

Ta-ta for now, I hope to see as many of you as possible over the next couple of months!

Slee-Ya

Kai of Locksley




p.s.
Whattup Rooney!

Sam just sent this e-mail around to everyone and at the end he said "if I forgot to forward this to anyone, please forward it". Well, he forgot to send it to all of you, so here it is:

********************

To all,

I am alive. Surgery went well.

The hospital was a fairly new building. Construction was still happening on the top floor. I was joking around with the doctors when i went into the O.R. and am pretty sure I passed out mid joke. Surgery lasted 22 minutes. They took out the tonsils (don't get to keep them, medical waste), chopped off my uvula, & cleaned up some scar tissue around my adenoids from a surgery when I was 5. Recovery in the hospital, trying to get me lucid enough to stand and walk about took 3+ hours.

For those of you who had bets going as to when I would no longer be bed ridden I just got back from doing the old folk strut around Hilldale (sporting my Hives hoodie. Thank you boys) and shopping for baby food at whole foods. I am pretty sure there is still time to get a pool going on either how long till I start talking or eating solid food.

Grunting, Swallowing, and any other sort of throat related movement sucks big time. I ate one popsicle and a 1/2 a jello yesterday. Nothing so far today. I'm staying at my parents new condo. Cool view of madison. Lots of trees.

I guess that's about it... I will be accepting charitable donations in the normal places...

If you think I forgot to send this to somebody... please forward it along

***********

This post was from Jesse on Sam's behalf. We're the boys he's referencing in the Hives hoodie section. And the old folk strut around Hilldale refers to a mall in our hometown that old people use in the mornings for exercise. Its called mall-walking and its a safe, weather-proof environment for them to exercise in. So they literally just walk from one end of the mall to the other, visiting no stores. Its like their track. Its really hilarious too, because a lot of them wear workout clothes. Headbands and spandex pants and things. So, now picture sam doing that all limpy and slow because he's drugged out on Vicadin and probably can't see straight. And he's on his way to Sentry, the grocery store at the far end of the mall, to buy baby food. God damn! I can't believe I'm missing this!

P.S. Of course he passed out midjoke! That's hilarious! I'm sure he was flirting with some cute nurse. "Oh really? You like jokes? Well, have you heard the one about the rabbi and the priest and they're sitting in..."

Love,
Jordan

courtesy Emma Laz-Hirsch

Here's what I'm listening to, right NOW:

See You Again - Miley Cyrus

-Jesse

P.S. I Believe In You by Kylie Minogue is next on the playlist.

I had an unexplained urge to listen to two albums I haven't listened to in years today. One of them being Cake's 'Comfort Eagle'. The second Green Day's 'Dookie'. I used to love Cake. I think the first time I heard them Jesse put 'Shadow Stabbing' on a mix he made for me a long time ago. So anyway, I listened to the album--much to my pleasure. 'Shadow Stabbing' held up as my favorite track along with 'Meanwhile, Rick James'. I plan on listening to it again soon. I remember I bought my copy of Dookie. I bought it from the BMG music plan (you know the thing where you get 10 free cds if you buy 3, except the 3 cost 30 dollars each, AND THEY NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE.) But I couldn't find it. I did find my old copy of Sugar Ray's 14:59 though. I didn't listen to it. Maybe tomorrow.
It's funny when you find old CD's and you think: What was I on? Oh yeah, mushrooms.

Here's a list of old CD's I came across in my search for Dookie:
Will Smith- Big Willy Style (on your mark ready set let's go...)
Shaggy (I must have been doing A LOT of shrooms when this happened)
Reel Big Fish- Why Do They Rock So Hard? (Both the name of the album and a fair question. They can rock.)
Sum 41- All Killer No Filler (But in my defense a friend burned it, so I didn't actually pay for it. Except i think I still love 'In Too Deep'. P.s The title is misleading. There is plenty of filler...)
Foo Fighters (Um...)
Third Eye Blind (Oops.)

I'll stop there. I hope I haven't offended anyone by either a) suggesting these are not stellar records when you yourself think they are, or b) actually purchasing these at one time in my life.

Since i've told you what I listened to when I was 10... Why don't I tell you what i've been listening to now:

Strange Times- The Black Keys
Blue- The Bridges
I Feel It All- Feist
Mr Maker- The Kooks
Off The Record- My Morning Jacket
Many Shades of Black- The Raconteurs
Return the Favour- The Hives

to name just a few...

-Jordan

Alright, we have a majority of the next album recorded. How do you like them apples? We're doing finishing touches stuff today. At this very moment Kai is adding some extra harmonies on the end of It Isn't Love. Have we mentioned anything about It Isn't Love? Sam says its his favorite song we've ever done. Very swing. Its like Mando Diao covering Benny Goodman. Kai and I trade off vocals in the verses and in the chorus. Its actually the most back and forth vocals we've had in a song. There's a cool instrumental breakdown in the middle that has a very Sing, Sing, Sing thing going on. And there's this cool vocal horn part and a dr. dre sounding piano thing. Alright. That's all for now. More tomorrow or so. Sam is getting surgery in the afternoon. He'll be bedridden for awhile though, so I'm sure you'll hear from him.
Like woah,
Jesse

Well hello again...

So, I believe my compatriots have mentioned how lucky Locksley is. The Hives? Rooney? The Bridges? The hits keep coming. And there's more on the horizon. I've been negligent in posting all of the funny things that have happened to me/us on these various tours (shocker, eh?). So, I'll try and remedy that a bit here.

1. While we were waiting in a hotel lobby for the night manager a woman walked right past us and slammed into the floor to ceiling glass panel right next to the front door. Then, without even turning around (face still pressed against the glass) she goes "please say you didn't see that. oh god. please don't laugh. oh. no. no. please don't laugh, I said." Then, also without looking, she walks right out the door while we stand in stunned silence. She was moving too! Right into that window! Oh man. It doesn't read as funny as it was. It was really really late too. Maybe 3 in the morning late. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile.

2. This is undoubtedly far too inappropriate to share here but also doubled me over laughing. I was sitting in bed on my computer one morning and kai (buck-naked) slides into my bed. Real slinky like. And I go "what the... what are you DOing?!" and he goes "oh. sorry. I thought you were jordan." then he slinks out and into jordan's bed where jordan starts freaking out yelling while kai laughs hysterically. Maybe you had to be there.

3. One of the Hives' guitar techs was named Jordan and their merch guy was named Jesse. So after the last show Perry (our sound guy) asked Kai if he wanted to go meet up with Jesse and Jordan at a bar nearby. Kai said "wait. I swear I just saw them a minute ago. when did they leave?" and perry says "oh, maybe 15 minutes ago" and kai's like: "okay. sure. weird." and then they show up at the bar and its the other Jesse and Jordan. Its not really THAT funny, but what are the odds, you know?

Man, there were definitely a lot more funny things that happened. Believe it or not our van broke down again. We have the worst luck with that. Anyway, I'm drawing a blank, but when I think of them, I'll try and get them up here.

-Jesse

P.S. I'm listening to Don't Make Me Wait right now and its been awhile since I listened to it through and its really a damn fine album if I do say so myself!

Hey all!

Anyone reading this blog knows that we're god-awful at updating our website and our blogs etc. But we're taking steps to improve it. Anyway, priorities time. Anyone who sticks with us enough to be reading this right now, you're obviously very committed and probably have some excellent feedback. What would you say are the top things you would like to see us have/add/update-more-frequently. Let me know!

-Locksley

These are Hives:















There is no cure.





Now I itch all the time.




~Kai

Hello after an extended absence!
Since I'm sitting in an airport right now waiting to catch a plane back to Madison while the guys wait to catch a flight back to New York later I get to be the first to tell the tale of the Hives tour...

It began as any other might. We arrived at the Rave in Milwaukee mid afternoon to load in our gear and sound check. When we pulled our Dodge van and trailer up next to their celebrity coaches bus (which probably was equal in size to my house) we felt a little embarrassed, though if there's one band that deserves the most lavish and comfortable rooming on the road it's the Hives. Anyway, when we got there the Hives stage was already set up and they were apparently checked. So we did our sound check and hung around hoping to meet the guys. But we never found them. This was a little disappointing, but we were so excited to play and see their show later, and we figured we'd probably be able to hang out with them after. So we played our set to a pretty full house and it was great. Then we went backstage to try and catch the Hives before their set. But again, nowhere to be found. Right on schedule however they came out and put on the best rock and roll show i've ever seen. Then right after it finished--they disappeared. Every night for a week this was how it happened. We'd arrive, the Hives would be set up and checked and no where to be found, then when show time rolled around would put on the greatest show i've ever seen. So last night, the last night of the tour, I wanted to find out what was going on. I had to meet them all before then end of the tour, and this was my last chance. I broke into their dressing room and found no food or drink, no bags or computers, no dirty clothes or garbage or anything that blankets our dressing room every night. I found only five suits, laid out, waiting. I decided to stay in their dressing room till they came back, they would have to come in to put on their suits. So I waited. Then after about an hour the door knob clicked, I spun around to see if it was them but something struck me on the back of the head. I don't know how long I was out but when I woke up I heard a faint whirring, and the sound of bolts and gears shifting. I looked up to see Chris Dangerous drummer for the Hives buttoning his jacket. He didn't do it quickly enough though. I saw it. The switch. The on and off switch.

The hives are the greatest live band on the planet. Every night the same incredible, exciting, high energy. Never a low point. And now ladies and gentlemen I know why. The Hives are Robots.


Over and out
Jordan

Well it's been awhile. This tour's been great. I too would like to extend my thanks and love to Rooney and the Bridges who have been truly incredible and I can't wait to get back on the road with them.
Anyway, we've had a lot of fun so far. Some ups and downs. Side to sides. Back steps front steps. You get it. Except for mostly ups and front steps. Every city we went held new surprises and tons great people to meet, but Cincinnati is where we met one gentleman who was truly memorable.

He sat in a wheel chair with a blue rain jacket old worn jeans. He waited outside the venue huddled under an umbrella and an awning to stay dry. In one hand he clutched a bright sign that read "Give me some money or i'll kick you in the face!" It seemed threatening at first till you notice--this man didn't have legs. He would shout at the people leaving, "hey!" then hold up his sign and go, "ha! It's a joke!" or he would say, "Hey hey! Someone tie my shoe! Ha it's a joke!" He made the night very interesting.
Anyway, I would like to meet him again and give him all the money I have. At the time I had none.
So here's to you hilarious homeless stranger, I hope you find your way.

Salute.

The man with Jesse



Till next time,

Jordan