NME.com Blog Updates for Los Angeles, San Diego, Tempe

I've posted words for our time L.A., San Diego, and Tempe on my NME.com blog.

To read about our time in Los Angeles and San Diego, click HERE.

To read about the Tempe party, which was insane, click HERE.

Click them! Click it!

Los Angeles party:



Sandy Eggo party:








xxxooo,

Ben Lee Handler

ICE FACE CHALLENGE

For words to go along with these photos on my NME.com blog, click HERE.


Nathaniel vs. Franz of The Hold Steady. Victor: Nathaniel.


Dyan vs. Ian of Art Brut. Victor: Dyan.


Myself vs. Eddie of Art Brut. Victor: Myself.


Dyan vs. Jasper of Ar Brut. Victor: Dyan.


Zachary vs. Keith Boadwee. Victor: Zachary.



Oh, the spoils of victory.



I love you,


Ben Lee Handler

HOOTERS Photos, Feminism, Tacoma, Seattle

For words to go along with the following photos, check out our NME.com blog HERE.

To see my updated NME.com makeout guide to the Hold Steady and Art Brut, click HERE.

HOOTERS:




New Feminist Book Club:




Nathaniel trapped in a glass cage of emotion:


I love you so much it hurts,

Ben Lee Handler

Hank Schmidt in der Beek: AWESOME -or- How We Landed Our Tour with The Hold Steady and Art Brut

Apologies for being silent all these years, or months, or however long it's been. I wish I could say my lack of current updates has been because I've been terribly busy, but I haven't. My absence probably has more to do with my recent discovery of YouPorn.com than anything. (YouPorn: It's like YouTube, but with pornography!) I probably wouldn't even be typing now had I not happened into Hank Schmidt in der Beek.

Meet Hank:


Hank is very important.

Take a moment to get a little better acquainted with him.





You know how you have your AWESOME days, where everything that happens is just TOTALLY AWESOME? Like, your hair is rockin', you got plenty of sleep the night before, you just did your laundry so you can wear your favorite pair of jeans with that Madonna t-shirt you finally rediscovered after years of thinking your mom had thrown it in the garbage but she had really just put in that drawer you never open, the rockabilly kid you always thought was cool but were slightly afraid of invites you to his party and you build up enough guts to ask your crush to come with you and she says yes... those kind of days? Those kind of days happen, like, once every four years for most people. Most of the time, an ordinary person's time on earth will fluctuate between slightly awesome and completely shitty, usually lingering somewhere in the gray area in-between.

Hank never lives in the gray area. Hank's days are AWESOME ALL THE TIME. If you're ever lucky enough to hang out with Hank, a little of his AWESOME will rub off on you, too.

Case in point: The very day we met Hank, The Blood Arm were flown to France to tape a performance on TARATATA with Anaïs and Babyshambles, and our upcoming stint on the U.S. leg of the NME's Rock 'n'Roll Riot Tour 2007 with The Hold Steady and Art Brut was announced. TOTALLY AWESOME, right?

And we owe it all to Hank Schmidt in der Beek.

I've missed you, but now that I've found my muse, we won't have to be apart for long. (Hank has also assumed the role of my muse.)

Love you always,

Ben Lee Handler

How We Roll: The Hurricane Festival

I should probably say something about the surreal backstage Southside and Hurricane festival scene. This is how we roll*: We check-in, load our equipment onto the stage, then make our way to catering. We rub elbows with what is destine to become the cast of some 'Remember the Nineties' reality show on VH1--Eddie Vedder, Juliette Lewis, Perry Farrell, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Mark Ibold--over squid ink pasta and Alaskan Sea Bass. After lunch, we perform, then it's time to hit up the Artist Bar, where we pick up bottles of champagne--one each--to keep us company on the walk to take in the Sonic Youth set. (Their live show is amazing.) We're kind of tired and very drunk by this point, so we head to the on-site masseuse to work out the kinks in our backs, then drink with Art Brut until we can't remember our names. It's a rough life.






We love Germany so much we want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.

Other things we love: You.

More than this there is nothing,

Benjamin Lee Handler

*The collective 'we' on this post does not include Zachary. Zachary's festival activities consist only of sleeping face-down on the dressing room floor and playing the drums for forty-five minutes.

My Friend, My Friend... Lover?

Almost as soon as we were all reunited in London, the beatings began. After about six hours in the Goth Pub--which is so Goth persons not wearing all black are turned away at the door--drinking Goth Juice (cider and blackcurrant--it looks like BLOOD) we caught our dear friends Pull Tiger Tail play at the Forum, then hurried to the Barfly to afterparty, then finally to Keith Top of the Pop's house to after after party.

Things we've learned about ourselves and the world at large:

-No matter what anyone says, Nathaniel can knock you out of your chair.

-Mikey from Art Brut parties harder than anyone.

-Zachary is a Sleepy Tiger Cub.

-Inside the deepest, darkest recesses of Zebastian's soul, there lives a tiny city, and the city's mayor is an absolut tyrant.

-I am a bonafide homosexual.


I love you (in a totally gay way),


Ben Lee

Party Brut Learns to Pot Luck

First things first: Forgive me for the nonsensical gibberish on the previous post. I was drunk, and alcoholism is a tough burden to balance with Down's Sydrome. (I also suffer from that.)

Secondly, the show in Southampton was perhaps the best ever Blood Arm perfomance. There was Kabuki, nudity, and I shaved the fuck out of TBA loyalist Ross's head until he bled.



Southampton was also our last show with the phenomenal dance outfit Hey Willpower, and we will miss them sorely. (Outstanding local act Breaking the Girl also performed... They are highly reccommended by us.) Hey Willpower did, however, leave marks on Zachary and I assuring that we will never forget them, barring the sudden onset of blindness or torso scarring.


Then it was time to party. Zachary was obligated to drink four liters of milk, which he promptly did.


He was not obligated to purge the four liters, but he did that anyway. (This photo is actually from our archives, the real proof is much too vile for the Internet.)


London was next on our hitlist. We had the day off, so we threw a Pot Luck at the house of Keith Top of the Pops and Eddie Argos of Art Brut. A Pot Luck--for those of you unfamiliar with the term--is basically an orgy of food and drink, wherein everyone attending brings a dish to share, and then everyone makes out. Making out--for those of you unfamiliar with the term--is basically full body, multi-person lovemaking, without worry of emotional or physical repercussions.






Soon, Keith and Eddie took off to perform at the Part Brut show, which is three fifths of Art Brut playing Art Brut songs and Animals covers. (If you're interested in the latter, look no further than here.) We followed them, and it was awesome. After this, we zipped over to Canvas in time to destroy Pull Tiger Tail's equipment during their last song.Then we went back to Keith and Eddie's and drank until the wee hours of the morning.


Now it's Paris for one quick showcase before we head home.

Au Revoir!

Ben Lee

The Blood Arm Get Married, and it is Brutiful

We had so much fun at our Wednesday show at London Kings College that we decided to keep it going. As far as I'm concerned, it's still Wednesday, and we're still at Kings College. (Also, I'm still drunk.)

The band debuted their first live cover of another band's song about our hometown in the encore, with a little help from our friends in Pull Tiger Tail, Hey Willpower, and the man who actually penned the song being covered, which I won't write out here so it will be a surprise for all if it's performed again.


Then Dyan, Zachary, Yannis, myself, and our dear friends Nathalie, Handsome Dan (who was wearing his fabulous leather trousers), Teri, Lex, Martin, Hugh and our eighteen year-old boyfriend Jamie headed over to the house Keith Top of the Pops and Eddie Argos so Yannis could do all our makeup and we could swap clothes. This is much better described in pictures--it is downwright horrifying--and I will post them as soon as Nathalie, Yannis, or Teri sends them to me.

When ten o'clock am rolled around and we found our way over to the BBC for a live session, they wouldn't let Zachary in the building. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.


Luckily, we had made honest women of the Tiger Tails the night before (with Hey Willpower filling our rolls with their best manship), and Davo was more than capable of taking over the Zachary pants for a few songs. Also, his drum parts.



More pictures of the evening's debauchery coming soon, see you in Southampton!

I love you,

Blee

Oh shit, I found a wallet at the merch booth Wednesday night... if you lost one, email your name and address (all this information is contained within the wallet, so I'll know if you're being sneaky) to info@thebloodarm.com and I'll mail it to you.

Also, special thanks to Kim and David for their badass Holiday cards.