hey folks!
our website has moved to desark.org
& we got a new facebook page
leaving soon for a 5 week US tour with our pals aka my favorite band since polvo aka pygmy lush. all dates can be found here!
here’s what you need to know:
-5 week des ark/pygmy lush tour kicks off in march
-we are all riding in the same van
-one time mike widman changed an alternator on the way to a pygmy lush show
-they were not late to that show
–we still need help with ALBUQUERQUE NM on THURSDAY MARCH 24, and AUSTIN TX on MONDAY MARCH 21. if you have any leads, please get in touch!
-for the sake of us all, please keep me away from vegan donuts. i’m fucking serious.
-i do not eat spaghetti, except this one time in italy when i was told that our cook was the “former personal chef of george clooney”
-i should’ve paid more attention to the word “former”
-this tour will coincide with the release of new Des Ark aaaaaaand Pygmy Lush records
-the new PL record is amazing. AMAZING!
-i had to fight really hard for the right to have “mood lighting” while recording my vocals on their record
-lost that fight bigtime
3.04.11 BALTIMORE MD @ CHARM CITY ARTSPACE
3.08.11 WASHINGTON DC @ BLACK CAT
3.10.11 RICHMOND VA @ STRANGE MATTER
3.10.11 CHAPEL HILL NC @ NIGHTLIGHT
3.11.11 COLUMBIA SC @ HUNTER GATHERER
3.12.11 ASHEVILLE NC @ TBA
3.14.11 TALLAHASSEE FL @ FARSIDE
3.15.11 TAMPA FL @ TRANSITIONS ART GALLERY
3.16.11 GAINESVILLE FL @ WAYWARD COUNCIL
3.17.11 ATLANTA GA @ THE DRUNKEN UNICORN
3.18.11 ATHENS GA @ THE CALEDONIA LOUNGE
3.19.11 BIRMINGHAM AL @ SPRING STREET FIRE HOUSE
3.20.11 NEW ORLEANS LA @ MUDLARK THEATER
3.23.11 TULSA OK @ THE SOUND PONY
3.24.11 ALBUQUERQUE NM @ TBA
3.25.11 PHOENIX AX @ SOUND KONTROL
3.26.11 SAN DIEGO CA @ TBA
3.27.11 SANTA BARBARA CA @ THE BIKO
3.28.11 OAKLAND CA @ TBA
3.29.11 SANTA ROSA CA @ TBA
3.30.11 PORTLAND OR @ RED & BLACK CAFÉ
3.31.11 OLYMPIA WA @ THE NORTHERN
4.01.11 SEATTLE WA @ HEALTHY TIMES FUN CLUB
4.02.11 MISSOULA MT @ TBA
4.04.11 MINNEAPOLIS MN @ TBA
4.05.11 BELOIT WI @ THE C-HAUS
4.06.11 CARBONDALE IL @ HANGAR 9
4.07.11 LOUISVILLE KY @ KESWICK DEMOCRATIC CLUB
4.08.11 CHICAGO IL @ TBA
4.09.11 DETROIT MI @ THE TRUMBLEPLEX
4.10.11 CINCINNATI OH GOETZ ALLEY
4.11.11 COLUMBUS OH @ TBA
4.12.11 CLEVELAND OH @ NOW THAT’S CLASS
4.13.11 ITHACA NY @ TBA
4.14.11 NORTHAMPTON MA @ TBA
4.15.11 BOSTON MA @ TBA
4.16.11 BROOKLYN NY @ THE ACHERON
i get the feeling some of you are starting to freak out about how much you miss me, so here’s a rundown of my day: touched a stalactite (aaaaand a stalagmite!), was nearly impaled by a giant cliff-hanging icicle, then i licked an icicle that was half my size, stood like forever in awe of a meter high pile of bat shit, stole something from nature that i probably wasn’t supposed to, caught a feather in the slovenian air, made plans to ride a rollercoaster tomorrow am. things took a turn for the way worse when, due to a prolonged lapse in sleep, i made the major mistake decision to force feed myself lethal doses of sugar and coffee at the same time (by lethal i mean “barely any”), after which i tried to pick a fight with two enormously giganticly enormous men on the street in vienna, and learned my favorite austrian rollercoaster is closed for the winter. but then i gave myself a pep talk in the bathroom and played a fun show, and now i’m almost back to normal.
i’m in a new band with al. we’re called banter band, and if you thought the talking in-between songs at des ark shows was unbearable…well…you ain’t seen shit.
12.07 GERMANY MÜNSTER @ SPECOPS
12.08 GERMANY MÜLHEIM @ GALERIE SKRIBBLE
12.09 GERMANY BIELFELD @ AJZ
12.10 GERMANY VAGNEY @ BAR L’ESTAMINET
12.11 SWITZERLAND WINTERTHUR @ PORTIER KRAFTFELD
12.12 SWITZERLAND ZÜRICH @ TOTALBA
12.14 ITALY GENOVA @ KITCHEN
12.15 ITALY LUCCA @ BLUE
12.16 ITALY AREZZO @ BISTRO
12.17 ITALY BOLOGNA @ LA TENDA
12.18 ITALY FORLI @ VALVERDE
12.19 ITALY MANTOVA @ LA BOJE
12.20 SLOVENIA LJUBLJANA @ MENZA PRI KORITU
12.21 AUSTRIA VIENNA @ RHIZ
12.22 CZECH REPUBLIC PRAGUE @ REKOMANDO SHOP
12.23 CZECH REPUBLIC JINDRICHUV @ BAR 69
12.24 CHEZH REPUBLIC BEROUN @ JINA KAVA
12.25 GERMANY @ TBA
12.26 GERMANY @ TBA
12.27 GERMANY HAMBURG @ ASTRA STUBE
12.28 GERMANY @ TBA
12.29 GERMANY HANNOVER @ KORNSTRASSE
12.30 GERMANY BRAUNSCHWEIG @ KAUFBAR
12.31 GERMANY BERLIN @ SHOKOLADEN
01.02 GERMANY DRESDEN @ AZ CONN
Now that your big eyes have finally opened
Now that you’re wondering how must they feel
Meaning them that you’ve chased across America’s movie screens
Now that you’re wondering how can it be real
That the ones you’ve called colorful, noble and proud
In your school propaganda
They starve in their splendor
You’ve asked for my comment I simply will render
My country ’tis of thy people you’re dying
Now that the longhouses breed superstition
You force us to send our toddlers away
To your schools where they’re taught to despise their traditions
You forbid them their languages, then further say
That American history really began
When Columbus set sail out of Europe, then stress
That the nation of leeches that conquered this land
Are the biggest and bravest and boldest and best
And yet where in your history books is the tale
Of the genocide basic to this country’s birth
Of the preachers who lied, how the Bill of Rights failed
How a nation of patriots returned to their earth
And where will it tell of the Liberty Bell
As it rang with a thud Over Kinzua mud
And of brave Uncle Sam in Alaska this year
My country ’tis of thy people you’re dying
Hear how the bargain was made for the West
With her shivering children in zero degrees
Blankets for your land, so the treaties attest
Oh well, blankets for land is a bargain indeed
And the blankets were those Uncle Sam had collected
From smallpox-diseased dying soldiers that day
And the tribes were wiped out and the history books censored
A hundred years of your statesmen have felt it’s better this way
And yet a few of the conquered have somehow survived
Their blood runs the redder though genes have paled
From the Gran Canyon’s caverns to craven sad hills
The wounded, the losers, the robbed sing their tale
From Los Angeles County to upstate New York
The white nation fattens while others grow lean
Oh the tricked and evicted they know what I mean
My country ’tis of thy people you’re dying
The past it just crumbled, the future just threatens
Our life blood shut up in your chemical tanks
And now here you come, bill of sale in your hands
And surprise in your eyes that we’re lacking in thanks
For the blessings of civilization you’ve brought us
The lessons you’ve taught us, the ruin you’ve wrought us
Oh see what our trust in America’s brought us
My country ’tis of thy people you’re dying
Now that the pride of the sires receives charity
Now that we’re harmless and safe behind laws
Now that my life’s to be known as your “heritage”
Now that even the graves have been robbed
Now that our own chosen way is a novelty
Hands on our hearts we salute you your victory
Choke on your blue white and scarlet hypocrisy
Pitying the blindness that you’ve never seen
That the eagles of war whose wings lent you glory
They were never no more than carrion crows
Pushed the wrens from their nest, stole their eggs, changed their story
The mockingbird sings it, it’s all that he knows
“Ah what can I do?” say a powerless few
With a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye
Can’t you see that their poverty’s profiting you
My country ’tis of thy people you’re dying
i’ve got two solo shows coming up in ireland! so excited…thanks charlene at small town america records for your help!
NOVEMBER 26 BELFAST IRELAND @ COMMON GROUNDS CAFE 7:30pm
NOVEMBER 27 DERRY IRELAND @ CAFE DEL MONDO 7pm
we’ll be running around ireland from the 25th-30th…get in touch if you want to hang out! desark@gmail.org
it shouldn’t have taken so long to upload a fucking video to this godforsaken website (i’m also thankful for this website, so thank you universe even though i swear i can feel my heart palpitate every time i think about how i should go to college and get a life and move this stupid fake website to tumblr, like i even know what tumblr is).
i suppose it seems as tho and is totally probably true that i’m always asking for something impossible in every post, but seriously…can someone please be our web manager something or other personal person with benefits? i invented a new raw cookie recipe. i will cookie deliver. HAND DELIVER DAMNIT!
thanks if you make it! it was further toward the bottom of the awkward scale!
beacuse i’ve had a lot. anyway, i’m driving up to salem, ma tomorrow, as i have the great pleasure of being a part of the new pygmy lush record…a statement so cool it’s making me jealous of myself.
anyway, here’s a live recording of an Oh Shenandoah cover we did in Richmond last year. cut us some slack. we were probably tipsy (it’s richmond, what could we do?), definitely nervous, i was sad for missing my friend’s wedding because my car died earlier that morning, certainly pissed to be driving a rental ford focus… HOWEVER, i can proudly say that i managed to play a show in richmond without picking any fights. probably because i’d been subdued with tater tots (this trick works on me, btw).
new york, you were great last night. so many nice people. thanks for that!
love, aimée
but this is the year i’ve decided to get “into” sports. more specifically, i am going to become a football fan!
what follows are my notes on a conversation with a friend this morning (btw, this whole entire post is completely non-music related), who i called to be like “dude, i’m sorry but i gotta bail on camping sunday, because i uh, well something came up, i mean sundays are kinda bad for me now, from now on anyway, and um, hey so like, what are your thoughts on football?”
but then to my surprise he was really supportive, which is an understatement because what in fact happened, before he responded–anyway this is what i’m pretty sure i could tell was happening from the other end of the line–was that in his mind he was like oh man, i gotta sit down for this one as he pushed through the old busted screen door of his house, sunk into a broke ass rocking chair on the front porch, poking his fingers around the ashtray till he found a half-smoked cigarette from earlier, took a long thoughtful drag and then at that point i bet he probably propped his right leg onto his left knee, resting his left hand on the right ankle and then he goes:
“aimée, the average football game lasts 3.5 hours.”
pausing, considering carefully, he continued…
“aimée, how much time do you think you actually spend watching the game? i mean like real, actual football playing?
13 minutes. that’s all you get is 13 minutes of actual football action
the rest is closeups of cheerleaders,
closeups of fans,
closeups of players,
and other game hoopla bullshit
so what you need to do
is make an event out of watching the game
like my brother, and mike, like they do. they make an event out of it, they know what they’re doing, they’ve been doing this for years
first off,
ok so first off dont get drunk, cuz if you get drunk and your team loses, then yr fucked
i mean we get drunk but our team sucks, they’ve always sucked and we know that so it’s ok
and wear something warm, even if it’s hot in yr house because it gets you in the football mood
and commercials. dont watch one single commercial. make sure you have an activity planned for the commercials. we go outside and smoke cigarettes, but you can go outside and toss around the pigskin, um, you know, stretch your legs, something. oh! you could have a magazine, yeah go get yourself a magazine, and then when the commercials come on, open up the magazine, hit mute on the television and read an article. and then when the commercials are done you will have read the article.
here’s the most important thing, and you probably won’t have a problem with this since you’re new at it:
DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, PERSONALLY INVEST ANY EMOTIONAL REAL ESTATE INTO THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME. this is really important. because if you do, you might fuck up the rest of your week. but if you ever get to that point, like, ‘FUUUUUUUUCK,’ then you need to call me and i’ll talk you off the ledge.”
desark 
