SHOWS!.... AND GAYTHEIST PANDEMIC MEMOIRS!

 Yes indeed, shows have returned.  So get your shit together, break out that dusty calendar, and if you're still (for some stupid fucking reason) not vaccinated go do that so you can not be a dick.  Good?  Alright.

Here's a list of a bunch of Hex-related bands and their plans, as much as I can reveal for now.

ALSO, if you keep scrolling, I've added the piece on Gaytheist from Translate zine #10 in which our man Jason Rivera gives his perspective on how he and his band handled things over the last year...  with more than a dash of humor, of course.

ALPHA HOPPER

8/27- Mohawk Place, Buffalo, NY

 

EXHALANTS

7/17- Mysterioso Ranch, Austin, TX w/ Easy Prey, Glassing

10/1-10/3- No Coast Fest, Denton, TX

 

GAYTHEIST

7/23- Southgate Roller Rink, Seattle, WA

7/24- Kenton Club, Portland, OR ("How Long Have I Been On Fire?" year-later record release!)

8/7- Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR

GRIZZLOR

7/10- Focal, Pawtucket, RI

8/14- Cafe 9, New Haven, CT

9/29- Asheville, NC

9/30- Memphis, TN w/ Pressed, Moon Pussy

10/1- Denton, TX No Coast Fest

10/2- Little Rock, AR

10/3- Nashville, TN

NULL

8/19- Nashville, TN @ Exit In w/ Yautja

PINKO

7/17- Lonesome Rose, San Antonio, TX w/ Grasshopper Lies Heavy

USA NAILS

11/5- Salford, UK

11/6- Leeds, UK

11/13- London, UK

Gaytheist are my favorite band in Portland (well, to get real local-specific, they actually reside just over the river in Vancouver, but we’ll let that slide).  Not only do they create great music that is all loud and heavy, and also catchy and fun, but they bring joy.  Despite some of their lyrics weighing in on weighty issues (which is why they’re probably, like, so heavy….  man) it is joyous to listen to them and to see them play live.  They are prone to humor, which is inserted into the songs, but especially in the live between-song banter from frontman Jason Rivera.  So I thought it best to ask him to write a little bit about the world of Gaytheist in 2020 because as much as this year sucked, it’s always good to get a bit of a laugh in here and there.  If you can’t laugh you may as well cry, right?  Does that apply here?

Plus, if I do say so myself, our man is being a little modest.  Yes, the band had some big plans, but they actually pulled off more than is alluded to here with not only releasing their new full length, but also a split 7” and playing two live stream sets (one of which was at a coastal beach house no less).  Who says you can’t be productive in the face of a crippling, worldwide, stress-inducing, panic-driven pandemic?

 

Gaytheist: 2020

We are the only people in the world having a bad 2020.

(I was trying to think of the lamest thing I could say to open this article. I feel I have succeeded.)

Mr. Hex Records, Ryan Caravan, asked me to write about this year for Gaytheist, the band that I play guitar and sing and write with.

Naturally I said, "fuck no I don't do shit for anyone!" Then he pointed to page 713, clause 34-12A of our recording contract: "You will write one article for Hex before 2020 ends or you will be crushed physically, mentally, emotionally, sexually and spiritually". I was all like whatever. I did it because I wanted to and not because of "contracts" and "threats".

When this year began, unlike everyone else in the world, we had plans.

2019 had started out to be another year-in-pause for Gaytheist. Nick had just teamed up with High On Fire to learn their set and go on tour with them. Half way into the year, HoF and Nick parted ways (this story is explained in the lyrics to "Separate Ways" by Journey, who likely also asked Nick to drum for them) and we were back in action. At the start of summer 2019 we recorded a new album with Stephan Hawkes. Ryan got wind and approached us about releasing the album on Hex Records in early 2020. Yes please!

So 2020 started, and most of you don't know this, but things were about to change...

We ramped up to an April 2020 release date. Spent the start of the year booking like crazy, all kinds of shows across US and Canada. Hex put together record release parties in Portland and Seattle. Plans to shoot two music videos starting in late March. Everything was coming up Gaytheist.

Then, a virus designed only to hurt our careers was developed and released by Donald Trump himself as a desperate measure to keep Gaytheist from getting popular.

IT WORKED. For now.

What was to be a year of triumph was transformed into a year of meh.

The record release parties were replaced with sitting at home in a mask.

The first tour was replaced with sitting on my thumbs at home in a mask.

The Canada shows were converted to sitting on my thumbs with my legs crossed at home in a mask.

Roller skating rink party? Instead I sat on my thumbs, legs crossed, prone, at home in a mask.

Still, we managed to finish a music video with the talented James Rexroad and Jayson Smith. Most of the video was shot before quarantine. The rest was finished afar. My understanding is that Jayson and James spent most of the editing apart from each other, sitting on their thumbs, legs crossed, prone, breathing slowly, at home in masks.

Eventually the opening track, "The Dark Deep", off our Hex Records 2020 release, "How Long Have I Been on Fire?", had a music video. We discussed, as the Spring turned to Summer, of having a video release party of some kind.

Instead, we sat on our thumbs, legs crossed, prone, slowly breathing, in a full panic, at home in masks.

I know none of you can understand, as you were not the personal target of a madman hell bent on destroying our careers with a specially designed virus that only affected Gaytheist.

But you could at least try, you selfish piece of shit.

Thanks for reading!