Snow Shovel

Since Pelda, our sound engineer, joined our crazy team, we've always been carrying a snow shovel with us. Even this pizza in the picture can't be fully enjoyed without it.



Do you know the arbiter of taste in our band? :-)

The Driver

8.3.2013, Pardubice, Czech rep.

Look, guys, what do think about Michael's keyboard skills? At the last gig, he reassured me that playing in this band is too easy for him. Try to imagine a situation where the boys do their best playing "Coco" and fans are screaming at Michael some superlatives. He is smiling back at them but suddenly, he makes a gesture with his right hand which says something like "wait girls, now it gets a bit harder", then he plays some crazy chords and after that he jumps back to the role of the smiling superstar. Actors call it the Brecht effect I think...



Also you should know that Paul is fascinated by the fact that nobody is fascinated by the things is fascinated by. This is what he said on our way home from Jaroměř last week. I'll try to find more details about this next weekend...

Half of the band is trying to put the word "tomb" everywhere possible these days. For example, "A friend in need is a tomb indeed".

The Driver

7.2.2013, Trinec, Czech rep.

Hey guys, in the past two days I recieved more than 10 requests for our signed photo from Russia, Latvia and the Ukraine. How the hell did you find us?? Is it real? Russia is quite a big country, you know... If you keep it up, I'd better employ a person fluent in Russian specialized in sending photos. So, where did this come from? :)

The Driver

23.1.2013, London, UK

We stayed a few days in London, Finsbury park. At the hotel, we got typical english breakfast which consist of baked beans, which we usually don't eat in the morning and that's why it can make our day very unusual. And it did, to be honest, to all of us. :-)

The thing I like the most about London (and Australia as well) are leggins. I wish all girls in the world would wear them!

Does anyone know why the Oyster card is actually called Oyster?? I don't.

The driver

19.1.2013, Prague, Czech rep.

Today we went to a restaurant somewhere in the city centre. Paul has special talent to confuse anyone he wants. At first he asked waitress: "Are you shy?". So she brought ME drink I didn't order and changed workshift to the manager. Accidentaly he forgot about Paul's meal and gave a 20% discount to all of us! Thank you, Paul!

Johnny wears St. Nicholas's beard, Paul takes a picture of his belly, types of food make Michael explode in laughter while the band try to work on a song for the Apollo Awards, Albert is shocked and I'm supposed to keep it together.

The best thing about "bandlife" is that there's no specific "bandlife". You never know who actually is the DJ of it all.

The Driver

10.1.2013, Groningen, Netherlands

Hi, everyone! This time I left the band home and took the management part of our team on the road :-) We went to the Eurosonic festival to take part in conferences and to see some new bands...
The strongest impression I got was Jake Bugg. I was totally shocked that he never smiles. Later I found out that he's something like "working class hero". So maybe that's why. Also Mikhael Paskalev. I've never seen a drummer like this before... On the other hand, there was a band whose bass guitar was so strong, that it almost made me vomit. Do you know that feeling when your throat is shaking to the rythm?

Also I learnt my bit of the British sense of humour. We went to dinner to a Mexican restaurant with a certain Londoner and after he was reading the menu for a few minutes, he said: "This is not English. That's why I don't understand it!"

The Driver

13.12.2012, Brno, Czech rep.

Merry Christmas everyone!

We're so busy these days that I hardly manage a good night's sleep. How are you doing so far?

Except building new relationships, there's not that much going on... Some of us buy copper boxes to protect PC and mobile phones on 21/12/12. Some of us are trying to be positive as much as possible. But Paul goes swimming in a pool.

Maybe you'll like this video or another one.

The Driver

4.10.2012, Vienna, Austria

On the way to Vienna we were listening to the album called "Someone With a Slow Heartbeat". Some of us liked it and some did not :-)

Look at Paul below to see how hard it can be when you choose the wrong hotel!

The Driver

24.9.2012, Epinal, France

This is my reflection from Epinal last year. It was pretty much the same but this time we also played a public gig. The people there are awesome, although some of them are a bit different from regular human beings...

There was a sound engineer with a decibel meter who apparently loves music and silence at the same time - and can never decide. Strange, isn't it? I think it's OK when you like silence, reading books and all activities in quiet places. Also, it's OK to love music and listen to it. But when you are the sound engineer from an Epinal school, you tend to listen to musicat the lowest volume possible, which is pretty boring. We were allowed to play 105 decibels. We played 87 decibelse, but he wasn't happy. Anyway, the French crowd was thrilled and so were the band.

I agree with Míša, our PR manager, that french girls have extremely beautiful hair. They wear it "as it grows", I find it very sexy. No colours, no special haircuts. Beautiful... :-) I'm also convinced that the quality of food in France is 885858605837x better than in the Czech Republic. We eat such horrible things here all the time!

The Driver

16.9.2012 Coldplay, Prague, Czech rep.

I think it's been about 3 years since I saw their gig for the first time. At that time Albert refused to go with me and Johnny saying: "Are you crazy? One of the reasons I started Charlie Straight was THIS BAND, I can't just go see them. I'd probably die." But this time he joined us. From my point of view it was the best gig I've ever seen. And also I have to agree with Vít "Yza" Haratek who said: "It was great, nothing what Charlie Straight couldn't do."

Did you see us in Olomouc last week? Remember Paul playing Coco with a swinging groove? I am trying to make him do it again... That night was magic! Albert had two beers, which in his case causes drunkeness. And also we played a game called "Spin the bottle" with our fans. Instead of kissing, we asked each other questions. Those who refused to anser had to take off a piece of their clothes. ;-)

Cheers!

The Driver

27.8.2012, Prague, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Hello everyone!

1. At the end of our Red Hot Chili Peppers support gig Paul said: "How come they are so popular when I only know two songs?"

2. There were 9 stagehands helping us unload the car. What the fuck?!! Hell Yeah!! This is exactly what we need :-) Thank you!

3. A few days later we played at Bouzov castle. While the lads were on stage, I spent few minutes talking to one of the main bosses of this event. He said that our drummer was the best of all the bands playing there that night. He also told me that our music is "fucking" good. Over all, the most important sentence he uttered was: "Don't get me wrong, but there's no chance that a band from Třinec will conquer Europe."

4. We must conquer Europe, my friends. There's no other choice for me now.

The Driver

4.8.2012, Sázava fest, Czech rep.

I remember the last time we played there last year. It was early in the afternoon and we had maybe two thousand fans there. This year, we were put into a smaller tent for 600-700 people. What is more, we were not even on the official posters. Fuck!!! But do you know what? By the beginning of the first song, it was obvious that we needed a tent three times bigger than this one :-) So I would like to apologize to all of you who couldn't get in.

Johnny invented a great game! Splashing the driver with a full bottle of water while he's actually driving. I believe that homo sapiens has some blind alleys in evolution :-)

The Driver

26.7.2012, London, UK

Dear readers,

on very same day we played in the UK for the first time, Paul McCartney sang "Hey Jude" at Wembley which was completely sold out. I asked Albert how it feels when you write a song 40 years ago and suddenly there's 80.000 people singing along today. He was thinking it over for a while and then he nodded: "Well, at that moment you can die with no regrets."

I'm happy that a lot of british listeners have bought our CD. Albert's dad is happy that we are all alive and that we didn't travel on the London Undergroung at all. I wish you could hear his strong recommendations how to move safely around the city :-)

I'd like to thank a girl who was trying to help us at Luton airport. Patrick (Toxique's guitar player), Kuba, Albert and me were trying to change the batteries in a remote control of a toy car Patrick bought for his son. Would you belive that it's impossible to find a screw driver at the gate at Luton? It could have been so much fun! Albert wrote a note that said "Have a nice flight" which was meant to be attached to the roof of the car. Well, maybe next time...

The driver

june

It's hard to say something when you play 17 shows a month. For sure, there's a street light every five meters on the highway from Geleen to Brussel. It makes more than 100 km of bright-lit highway. Is it really necessary? Who pays for that?

I can't remeber where it was exactly, but somewhere on the road from Prague to Düsseldorf, there is a petrol station. This petrol station looks quite good. You wouldn't expect the most disgusting pasta you've ever had. We weren't able to finish our meal... but on the other side, there's a fucking good restaurant in Hradec Králové called Šatlava. Reminds me of a new rule we've come up with: "No rude words in the car under a 50-crown fine." We've earned 1800 Czech crowns in three days! :-)

Paul's enjoying grilled trouts every day. I'm playing beach volleyball. Michael goes crazy from his new Nord stage 2. Albert goes crazy from other things. Johnny had a bath in a "freaky tank" when he was a child.

The Driver

10.6.2012, Duchcov, Czech rep.

Hello, everyone!

At first, I'd like to say that when I watch a Charlie Straight and they don't play the song called Picking Blueberries, it's like watching fotball without the ball.



In the picture below is our stage tech Viktor. If he'd only known what technical problems he'd be dealing with in a few hours from that moment, he would have never come down from the trees :-) Anyway, Albert told me great joke at breakfast in Duchcov: "Do you know who's from Bristol, Vojta?" "I don't, Albert." Than Albert looked at me with confusion in his eyes and said: "Me neither."



Right here you can listen to Michael's cover of the famous Czech song "Rybitvi".

The Driver

25.5.2012, Klatovy, Czech rep.

There's a friend of ours living in Klatovy. A day after the gig on the main square of the city, we were invited for breakfast. But she didn't realize one thing: it was seven guys that night sleeping at a hotel with one single toilet for everyone to share. Can you imagine that? We all got up at the same time so it was impossible to "get ready" for the visit on time. I said, "We just can't go to her place and take a shit one by one!" Luckily, there was a petrol station on the way... At least we managed to destroy her garden by playing football :-)

Have you seen the video in my last blog, evereone? From now on, I am putting all my videos on YouTube ... check this one or another one.
The Driver

23.5.2012, Třinec, sweet home

I really can't remember when we christened the newborn tiger at the ZOO in Ostrava. Can you find it in this blog? There should be some note about this kitty here... Since then, the tiger has been with us all the time.

There's a tiger in her heart, too.

There's a tiger guarding our CDs.

There's a tiger's stamp in Albert's notebook.

What do you think Albert is thinking of when he's able to put a tiger-stamp on every single page of his diary? I've got a small hint for you. First, he has absolutely no time to be bored. And second, I've seen him plenty of times refusing drugs. So I'm trying hard to find some reason for doing it, but with no success. Maybe that's why he plays guitar and I'm a manager.

The Driver

4.5.2012, Valašské Meziříčí, Czech rep.

Look. Do you know our pink t-shirts? I'll tell you the story.

One day, Johnny and I decided to make t-shirts for girls to wear. We found quite a good prototype of a good-looking girl. She was fitting t-shirts one by one and in the end we agreed on one thing - Charlie Straight women's t-shirts have to follow the curves of the body. We believe that our logo is much nicer on female breasts than on male breasts. So, please, next time I try to sell you a pink t-shirt and you think it's too small for you, it is NOT. Trust me! :-)

At this gig there was a typical example of the it's-too-small girl. So I said to her that she has to try it on and if it fits, I'll give it to her for free. You know what? In a second she was standing in front of me wearing just her bra! This is it! Girls, you should try shirts on more often, I think Michael's eyesight will get much better then...

In the photo you can see a present Michael was given.

The Driver

Someone With a Fast Heartbeat

Bloody April! We're having quite a hard time these days. We play 10 gigs this month. Michael and I have to finish our bachelor thesis by the end of April. Michael's keyboard's broken, so he plays sounds that are "not that cool" in some of the songs now. You're buying our new CDs "SWASH" so fast that we barely manage to produce them on time. So many things are happening now that I just can't react.



But anyway, since I'll have more free time from July, I'm about to plan a tour in Slovakia in October and another tour around Australia in February. What do you think about that?



The Driver

3.4.2012, Atomic cafe, Germany

It's such a fun being on the road!



The Driver