Here’s a quick 20 second video from yesterday in Boston. We were in the car on our way to a radio station in Malden (one of Boston’s suburbs) in the middle of a snow storm. The weather just a little different from summer in Tamworth, Australia, where we were just a few days before.

We’ve been shaking off the jet-lag, getting out and meeting people, working on tour preparation (we kick off in Canada early March), and trying not to fall over walking on the icy ground. I nearly went arse-over last night walking through the apartment car park with japanese take-away in hand. As it turned out, I regained my balance by throwing my arm out in a windmill motion, Pete Townshend style (I hope nobody saw it). The take-away did a complete aerial 360 – but was surprisingly intact when I opened the bag inside the apartment a few moments later.

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

Body clock totally messed up. Going to bed now. Talk more tomorrow.
From snowed-in Boston,
Fires out.

Tamworth was great, spent the weekend sitting out on Mum’s verandah soaking up the last bit of Australian summer before flying out yesterday. Mojo (the dog) was going weird just before we walked out the door. He knows when we’re about to leave on a long trip now (sad).

So, 27 hours and 3 flights later, here we are in Boston. It was minus 7 (C) when we arrived late this afternoon, snow & ice everywhere. Just had dinner at our host Kevin’s favourite pizza joint in East Boston. Now we’re back at his apartment. We’ll be based here for the next couple of months before the tour starts.

Shaking off the jet-lag…

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

Last minute packing. About to step out the door & drive up to Tamworth for a couple of days. Boston, Monday.

Suffice to say, send-off drinks at Stalk & Kim’s last night weren’t kept to a manageable level. Hazy start today. Worth it, though – had a great night.

Checkya tomorrow from Australia’s hoe-down capital.

Fires out.

Today is our last day in Melbourne for a long while. We’ll be over at Kim and Stalk’s tonight for dinner, attempting to keep the send-off drinks to a ‘manageable’ level. We’ll head north tomorrow for one final stop at Tamworth before flying out to Boston on Monday – a huge year of OS touring to commence shortly after that.

Kent Aberle (our drummer from Atlanta, Georgia) emailed us yesterday with the message below (he’s stoked – just got endorsed by Sonor Drums).

“Just as I was getting down heartened today about the snow, I got a call from Will at Sonor Drums.  I’m now endorsed by them.  I’m trying to sell my current kit to purchase a sonor kit for the tour.  Sonor also endorses some new Australian dude named Phil that plays for a band called AC/DC!”

The video below features Kent holding a drum clinic in Georgia.

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out

Down to the last two days in “sunny” Melbourne, Australia. So far, summer hasn’t hit us here – it looks & feels more like a dreary spring. No complaints though, as half of the eastern sea-board is underwater with NSW & QLD enduring catastrophic flooding set to be the worst on record. Crazy weather all over the world…

Friday we’ll be on our way north for one more stop before flying out to Boston on Monday. And my hand should be almost functional by then after Saturday night’s cat attack (the little bastard went nuts when I tried to pick it up). We’ll be based in Boston for nearly 2 months in the lead up to a very big year of touring, starting with Canada and the US.

We’ll also soon be announcing a series of dates for China in May (a dozen shows across the country including Beijing and Shanghai).

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

Finished moving house over the weekend – Wandin East back to Abbotsford (Melbourne). We’ve got til the end of the week here before driving back up to Tamworth to drop Mojo at my folks place. We’ll fly out to Boston from there.

Saturday night turned into a shambles when the cat went psycho, yet again (I tried to pick the little bastard up after a ‘fight’ with the dog). We had some friends over for a BBQ & everything was going great til that point. Only took a few seconds of cat-attack and my left hand was badly bitten & shredded. Pain-killers and anti-biotics added to beer already consumed, I staggered to bed in defeat. Damned cat.

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out.

Early last year we saw a Chinese punk band called PK 14 at the South-By-South-West Festival in Austin, Texas. Interestingly, I can still remember the performance. Max and I rolled up to a venue off the main street – and I had started on the beers fairly early in the day. They had a few stages running, bands playing all day. After kicking back in the afternoon sun by the front stage, we decided to wander out the back to find PK 14 tearing up the main stage.

I took a bunch of film (wobbly as it was) right up the front. The band was great – one of the most exciting shows of the festival (of the shows we saw).

Max bought me my very own PK 14 t-shirt. I wore it everywhere, including on stage in Europe a few months later. Then, the unthinkable happened: Max accidentally threw my t-shirt out with the trash (it’s a long story). The video below features the band in full swing (in the US)…

Early this morning, in Melbourne, a new PK 14 t-shirt arrived by courier all the way from Beijing. I put that baby on straight away.

We’ll be touring China in May. We’re hoping to meet the guys in Beijing (they don’t know it yet, we’re secretly scheming).

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

Our intrepid English film-maker, Ted Beagles (who shot a roving documentary of our first European tour back in 2007), put this little gem together. Life in London, Christmas 2010.

Ted & partner Ceira, became parents in 2009. This video portrays how life changes when the little people arrive. The soundtrack: David Lynch’s ‘Good Day, Today’.

Welcome back to the year (if this is the week you’ve been called back to work). Time flies when you’re having fun…

Checkya later,
Fires out

Happy New Year from The On Fires.

Last night we had the discussion about whether this new decade started this year or last year. Apparently it starts now (so happy new decade, while we’re at it).

Went down into Tamworth (New South Wales) last night to join in on the celebrations. Suffice to say, we were back home before the count-down. Put the TV on in the background. One of the networks featured a round up of the year’s ‘chart topping’ hits in the lead up to the count-down – and what a magnificent year it was: Usher, Justin Bipper & The Jersey Boys being some of our most ‘exciting’ & fresh acts.

Fingers crossed, 2011…

Back to Melbourne today.

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.