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From Ryan: My buddy Clinton left work this week and dropped me a bunch of coupons for free Bagel Bites on the way out. I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m homeless. I told him how I’m renting some closet space and the occasional couch at my buddies’ place, but it sounds like he thinks I’m living out of my car or something. Little does he know that my car got totaled last winter…now I roll on a 12 speed Trek 920, bitch!

Alright, got to get back to my La Fin Du Monde…it’s a fancy beer. Yeah, but I guess I’m a pretty fancy guy when I think about it.

Pics from Wildflower Cafe and rehearsal:

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From Jared: Having finished our first full-length in June, I never would have guessed the learning process would have carried through until now, November, merely 6 months later.  I think we, or at least I, definitely underestimated the extent of work that’s involved in reworking songs you’ve recorded in a studio setting into songs that can translate on stage.  More specifically, songs that can be played by 4 people live, as opposed to having the ability to go back and overdub 5 vocal harmonies, or a bantar, or aux percussion to help certain elements of the song come to life.  Maybe it’s just the nature of our music, or maybe we’re just being anal retentive.  We’ve spent every practice for the past 3 weeks working on one song, but it feels good to get back into the groove of busting our ass and doing whatever it takes to get it right….the same groove we were in when we were recording the album….which yielded results we can all be proud of, and which will hopefully do the same for us now.

Rehearsal jam put to Milo’s mind view:

From Ryan: I pulled a bike out of the Hudson this week.  I was laying on a rock Lo and I call “juice,” and I saw it washed up underneath a wall by the crepe shop in Hoboken. It was covered in barnacles and was chicken pocked with rust.  I ghost rode it next to my own bike and then left it at a bike rack on Fourth.  I didn’t have a bike lock, but I figured, given the condition of it, I wouldn’t have to worry too much.  Then the next morning I found that it had been stolen. I am fuckin’ pissed. Then I thought, “Maybe some drunk asshole threw someone’s bike into the Hudson.  They saw it down there but didn’t have the courage to retrieve it. Then one day they saw it there, unlocked waiting for them at Fourth. They thought, ‘What a weird miracle’ and then rode it home.  I’m sure none of this happened but believing my own bullshit is a great way to keep smiling sometimes. The music is going great.

Video, photos and blogs below

From Mike: Something that seems to have gone unmentioned throughout the past few months in the mayhem of the tour and getting settled back in NYC is our new practice space in HOBOKEN, NJ. That’s right! We’ve managed to resist the temptation of Brooklyn and elsewhere in NYC so that Carlon can remain in its home state: New Jersey. This is no easy feat, but we’ve managed to hold onto the past and hopefully we’ll be able to remain there a little bit longer. To be honest paying rent at any practice space seems difficult. More coincidentally, the most peculiar thing about this new rehearsal place is its exterior. Take a look at the photo above and you’ll know what I mean. Johari anyone?

Almost forgot about Mac Davis. In Nashville, Ryan and I stumbled upon a “strictly” country record store. Though not surprising, it was still foreign to two people from Jersey. In going through my photos of the trip I found an entire series of Mac Davis album covers that Ryan and I unashamedly took while in the shop. And it inspired me to check out some of Mac’s tracks. Check out Baby, Don’t Get Hooked On Me. It’s one to watch out for. I know what your thinking…and no, this isn’t going to be the third CARLON cover. Apologies.

From Jared – Our man’s journey from NYC to Hoboken, NJ for rehearsal, scattered with slices of alternate moments:

From Ryan: Tour is done.  Now we’re spending our time incorporating things into our live set that we did not have the time to do earlier.  Cantaloupe has seen some changes and Rutherford is next in line.  I am finding it hard to focus sometimes in these sessions because my mind is on writing.  When I get like this I have the tendency to become a little distracted from tasks. Imagination over powers responsibility and logic.  This is probably where the stereotype of musicians being flakes comes from.  I don’t mind being flaky until someone confuses it with being inconsiderate.  Then I have a pep talk in my mirror to screw my head on again. I’ve been reading short stories a lot. They help in the search for words. They are like novels for the distracted.  Every 20 pages is something fresh to think about.  I got caught in the rain today and have to put on dry pants. So I’ll talk to you later.