Entry No. 4: Deep Fried Feels (June 1st)
JE Sheehy
I got feedback from readers on my last post.
Good, y’all are reading and spending time on this gem of a site.
“JE, that one knocked me right in them feels,” said an acquaintance.
Good.
Why?
To give a bit of background, I was a music journalist, from 2011-17. Towards the end, I had a hard time caring about writing on other people’s art. I wondered why I spent more time caring about other people’s art when I struggled to care about my own. My reviews and interviews felt robotic and soulless.
Since I started writing these guest blog posts, I’ve been reconnecting with the reasons why I loved this whole music journalism thing.
Anyways, these blog posts would be boring if all I did was talk about waiting before playing shows or drinking.
For those who said the last entry was too heavy, I’ll blame Deep Fryer.
Someone said during a drive that this band would’ve been fun in my twenties.
For a rare time, something related to Deep Fryer got my thinking.
***
Deep Fryer is the Vengaboys of East Coast hardcore punk rock.
There’s nothing boring about playing in that band – ever.
Our songs are about hockey feuds. Our band pictures feature dogs. We even track our EPs with dogs on our laps.
It took us a while to find our direction on stage. Heck, it even took us three soft-opening shows before the four of us actually played a proper show together.
Since then, we’ve played Moncton a lot, Fredericton a bit and Saint John once.
Deep Fryer is the one band I like to show to people who only know my “I’ve got an oowie in my soul” songs.
After first discovering King of King’s College, a fellow songwriter said that we must be singing about politics or bros being bros.
“Nah, that song is about a groundhog that lived on Jake (Spencer – our bassist)’s lawn.”
A little more than two years later, la grosse friteuse (minus Jake) plays The Capital to celebrate the second anniversary of Pension Clothing. We had Scott Miller of Anthesis-fame playing with us.
Scott’s a cool guy. He’s down to business. He knows the Deep Fryer songs better than we ever will and brings a level of seriousness to us, whether it’s whenever he fills in for Jake or when he records us.
He’s got a bunch of projects on the go, he runs his own label and studio. He reminds me of me, but with his shit together.
The show was a rowdy blast. In the last four or five gigs, I’ve been challenging Mike (Erb – our vocalist) in terms of antics. Lately, I’ve discovered that playing on the ground is synonymous with rocking right hard.
A co-worker of mine witnessed the madness, after attending a Postdata set.
Oh god.
I love The Capital because it’s one of the few places on earth where you’ll have two shows booked in the same night channeling emotions so different, like the nostalgia and beauty of Postdata and the eternal teenage raw fun of Deep Fryer.
It’s cool.
After every Deep Fryer show I’m ready for retirement. I’m too old to be having this much fun. I’m too old to scream terroir-Quebecois swears in a song about snacks.
I’m too old to be a never been in a punk band.
Thankfully, I’m still young enough to not give a fuck for twenty minutes whenever we play.
***
I’ve got two shows left in this initial summer marathon. Both private-ish events. Let’s see if I’ll still have things to say after this.
Will I still want to play music? Will I even go see shows this summer? Is eleven years of rocking too hard for my own sake finally catching up to me?
I think so.
The thing is, there’s always one more show left.
There’s always a friend offering a cool gig or a cool project to work on.
There’s always a reason to get out of the apartment to take part in a music related thing.
I guess that’s what they call hope.
