Tag: The Babies

CHECK THE SPREADSHEET: Talking Tour Eats with Cassie Ramone, Sadie Dupuis, and Chloe Chaidez

 

One surprisingly common tour complaint is not being able to poop for the first few days. Probably due to a mix of public restroom anxiety and not eating like your normal self would, tour constipation doesn’t sound that bad compared to “fire ass,” something my former tourmates have suffered from after consuming too many gas station hot dogs. Even worse though, Darkwing’s fill-in drummer vomited for a day and a half after he solely ate ramen noodles for a week straight. It should go without saying that staying sane and healthy on the road begins with figuring out how to eat well while on a budget, but it’s not always as simple as it might sound. Around the time I started experiencing a weird cold and cough on Sharkmuffin’s last tour, our manager joked that my daily diet of coffee for breakfast, a quinoa salad for lunch, and wine for dinner might have something to do with it. With the help of our road foodie experts Cassie Ramone, Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz and Sad13, and Chloe Chaidez of Kitten we can hopefully learn to avoid all of these tour ailments.

Cassie Ramone

Vivian Girls/The Babies

First of all let me preface this by saying that I love both cheap eating and fancy food, I’m an omnivore with no dietary restrictions (although I try to eat healthy or vegetarian more often than not… key word here is “try” though), and I love both local cuisine and the comfort of chain restaurants. Sometimes when you’re on tour for an extended period of time, McDonald’s and Subway help so much to regain a sense of familiarity. I’m also a huge fan of Denny’s. If I’m in the South or Midwest, Waffle House is essential. I love getting a double order of hashbrowns with onions, cheese and jalapenos, and some over medium eggs. It’s the only American sit down restaurant I can think of where you can eat a lot and end up paying less than $10 after tip.

A good tour habit is going to Whole Foods in the morning and stocking up on healthy snacks and beverages for the day. If you shop smart it can end up costing less than stopping for lunch. That said, stopping for lunch can be an essential break during a long drive. In most of the groups of people I’ve toured with, we’ve enjoyed stopping for lunch at local diners in tiny roadside towns. The menus are similar enough to each other, and the food can be hit or miss, but sometimes you’ll end up with the best BLT you’ve ever had in your life or something. And often, the menu prices seem unchanged from the ’90s!

In the Pacific Northwest, I always make sure to get pho from an authentic Vietnamese place. As far as I can tell, the Pacific Northwest does it best in America.

I know this probably goes without saying, but street cart tacos in LA and mission burritos in San Francisco are both amazing!

There’s a lot of amazing food in Texas, but I always try to stop by this diner Magnolia Cafe in Austin. Their “mag mud” (queso, salsa, black bean dip and guac layered) is sooo good.

Ok this is a weird pro tip, because I’m sure not many people are going to tour Alaska anytime soon, but if you go to Fairbanks they (weirdly) have incredible Thai food! I had maybe the best Tom Yum soup I’ve ever had when I was there!

Hit up a steak house in the Midwest, just for fun.

My last tip is for people traveling through New York! If you play or stay near a halal deli/bodega/truck, order chicken over rice! It’s $5 or $6 for a massive portion, delicious, and tastes great the next day too.

Sadie Dupuis

Sad13, Speedy Ortiz

AF: How difficult is it to eat vegan and stay healthy while on the road?

SD: It’s easy — I’ve been vegan for almost 13 years and it’s only gotten simpler as more vegan restaurants open, and others learn about the prevalence of the diet (and environmental importance of it), and how to accommodate it.

AF: What are your favorite fast food spots / gas stations / random favorite diners and/or food trucks, restaurants, etc. in different cities?

SD: I have a hit list of favorite vegan restaurants in just about every city we tour through, and I try to stop at those every time on tour. When I’m at home I cook most of the time, but I use touring as an excuse to check out and splurge at new spots, like a food vacation. Speedy Ortiz collaborated with a bunch of them on our last headlining tour, creating themed specials that benefited local charities, which was pretty cool and demonstrative of some of my favorites.

In terms of fast food, I don’t eat too much of it, but Chipotle and Taco Bell usually make an appearance at least once a tour since they can accommodate vegans and gluten allergies.

AF: Any additional tips / advice on eating while touring?

SD: I try to stop at a grocery store every few days for some fresh produce or juice – it’s easy to eat junk food on the road, and I am known to plow through big bags of barbecue chips, but fresh or dried fruit is just as easy to snack on and makes you feel way better. Also, an easy way to eat well when you’re in the midst of a 13-hour drive day: soup cups (like Dr. Macdougall’s) which I prepare at gas stations with dried seaweed and raw green veggies like spinach or kale. Adding hot water will blanch and cook the veggies, and rehydrate the seaweed, and you will feel sort of like there’s some normalcy in your life.

 

Chloe Chaidez

Kitten

Favorite tour foods:

  • Subway salad. Okay yes, we all know we would never eat Subway in New York City. Maybe if there was an apocalypse and Subway was the last sandwich place on earth you’d walk in there. BUT on tour, when there are literally no vegetables in sight, get a subway spinach salad and put every single vegetable they have inside of it. You won’t quite feel like a million dollars, but maybe 500,000, and you’ll be ready to rock that night.
  • Wasabi almonds. They don’t really taste like wasabi, but they’re definitely tastier than most almonds and they sell them at most gas stations!
  • Apples. Just because apples are usually the only fruit they sell at gas stations in the middle of nowhere.

More tips to eat somewhat healthy and cheaply on the road:

  1. Buy a Cooler. Just don’t forget to bring in perishables and re-freeze your ice packs whereever you’re crashing each night!
  2. Bring a Reusable Water Bottle & Thermos. This will save you loads on bottled water, since tap water is free at most places. Bonus tip: bring your own instant coffee and/or tea.
  3. The Chipotle Myth: It hasn’t worked for me personally yet, but I’ve heard if you call Chipotle and tell them you’re sponsored by them and set it up in advance they will give your band free food.
  4. Taco Bell Dollar Menu: You can make almost anything vegetarian at Taco Bell by subbing beans for beef, and the potato taco is the best!
  5. Dollar Tree: Stock up on snacks here and possibly buy a mermaid doll while you’re there. Everything is actually a dollar!
  6. Gummy Vitamins: Get a giant pack and pass it around the van once a day. Other helpful healthy supplements: Spirulina, Wellness Formula, Oregano Oil, Non-refrigerated probiotics.

ALBUM REVIEW: Kevin Morby “Still Life”

Kevin-Morby

Kevin Morby is nothing if not prolific. He left Woods indefinitely last year — with whom he released a new album every year until his departure — and put The Babies (his band with Cassie Ramone) on hold. Now. he’s focusing on his solo work, and his sophomore record, Still Life, is perhaps one of his most contemplative pieces.

Released October 14th on Woodsist, Still Life opens with the track “The Jester, The Tramp, & The Acrobat.” It is a reeling, Lou-Reed-meets-Leonard-Cohen story, using broad strokes to provide just enough color to each character, but never a direct plot line. It’s an approach continued throughout Still Life, which provides listeners with feelings and reactions – not stories.

This might perhaps be the reason this LP is so thoughtful. The album is named after an art piece by Maynard Monrow entitled “Still Life with the Rejects from the Land of Misfit Toys,” but even truncated as it is, the title is apt: Still Life is low key, low-energy, and highly meditative. Still Life does not dwell, but it lives in a land of misfit toys which leaves a little room for playfulness.

Even with a healthy dose of the stillness – considering and reflecting on hard subjects – there’s still lots of movement; Morby shifts gears before songs feel too stagnant. That’s reflective, in many ways, of his move from New York City to Los Angeles last year. Throughout the album, he moves through themes of finding peace, death, and parades. When Morby handles the subject of death, he is never heavy-handed – instead, he is hopeful, considerate, but realistic. “I’m not dead, but I’m dying,” he says in “Amen,” the 7-minute track that has multiple movements that bleed into each other. “So slow, so slow,” he qualifies.

He sings in the haunting “Bloodsucker,” “I am trying to make peace with who I am,” and he hasn’t completely abandoned his former bands’ aesthetics. While Woods defines itself as a psych-folk band, Morby’s solo work focuses more on the folk aspect of that equation. In this way, Morby’s own influences come to full light: his love of Bob Dylan’s songwriting emerges in the fast paced “Ballad of Arlo Jones” which channels Dylan during his major move to electric in the 60s. “Motors Runnin” is a kindred spirit to The Babies; Cassie Ramone’s repeated lines in “Run Me Over” almost feels echoed in Morby’s track. In spite of the different influences and camaraderie, the tracks all feel right together. Still Life is carefully constructed, and sonically simple, but has just enough complexity in its riffs and hooks to keep the songs in your head after a few listens.

This much is clear: Morby has grown tremendously over the years as a musician and songwriter, and he shows no sign of stopping.

Still Life is out now on Woodsist. He’ll play some shows for CMJ; check out dates and watch his video for “All of My Life” below:

10/24 – Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade (Aquarium Drunkard CMJ Showcase)
10/25 – Brooklyn, NY – Academy Records *Free*
12/01 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall w/ Angel Olsen
12/04 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre w/ Angel Olsen