Happy Holidays

I had the most delicious date, basil, and goat cheese snacks at a holiday party last night, and I felt so happy to be in the company of good friends and family eating these delectable treats. The holidays are always like that, happy or really sad, always one extreme or the other, never balanced and neutral.
Well, we hope you spent the holidays with those you love and found the holidays to be on the happier end of the spectrum. And we are sooo looking forward to a beautiful and magical 2010! Yes, we've sorta been holed up in our bedrooms and practice space scheming and dreaming. But when 2010 hits, we'll be ready.

Here is a link to a video from our last UK tour in October thanks to the lovely Mick Scholefield :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Ka8X4O8J8

Hope this make you happy too. :)

XO LLF

The Mission

Yesterday, I took a friend of ours that we met at a video shoot, for a tour of the lovely neighborhood we call home: the Mission. It's easy to get used to your surroundings and all the little shops, curiosities, and creature comforts it provides. Walking around with Liza made me realize just how beautiful and magical our neighborhood really is. We have five amazing coffee shops within a few blocks from eachother, two corner stores where the people are really nice and the sandwiches are utter and pure TLC, tons of worthwhile bars, an indie video store, two pizza shops, a frozen yogurt haven, a pirate store, taxidermy shop, and I'm sure I'm forgetting loads more. I can't imagine any other place like this that I would want to call home. Oh, and to top it off, you can buy avocados for 50 cents, and a bag full of fresh fruit and veggies for under 10 bucks. Love!

Books

Winter has crept in again and I wasn't even ready for Fall yet. I've been reading a lot of poetry lately. It helps me see the world differently and changes my creative expression. I've been dancing by myself in my room a lot lately too.

Books
It is when we are near the end of a book that we enjoy it.
Guests who we anxiously expect often fail to come.
So the world runs always contrary to our wishes
How rarely in a hundred years do we open our hearts!

On a heist

For halloween this year, we played the most fantastic party at Bottom of the Hill and dressed as bank robbers on a heist. We threw play money into the crowd and gave out money sugar cookies so I guess we were sort of like the Robinhood of bank robbers. It was one of the best parties we've ever played.

CMJ!

we're playing a few shows:

Oct. 22
show time 9:15pm -
Death By Audio
49 S. 2nd Street
Brooklyn, New York 11226

Oct. 23
Friday,9pm
Shea Stadium/All Ages
20 Meadow Street
Brooklyn, New York 11206

Oct. 24
Saturday-
show time 3:00pm
Spike Hill
184 & 186 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11211

Oct. 24
Saturday
show time11:45 pm
Cake Shop
152 Ludlow Street
New York, New York 10002

Homesick at home.

We've been too busy, too busy loving the UK, it's people, history, culture, and food. Our last show in London was the perfect ending to a beautiful three weeks spent travelling across the kingdom. I felt truly at one with the audience and felt safe and completely libertated on stage, which doesn't usually happen all at once like that. Maybe it was watching that depressing yet inspiring documentary on the metal band Anvil the night before that gave me a renewed sense of appreciation and love for what we do. In either case, it was a good last show in the UK and it felt spectacular. Also, on our last show day in London, we did an in studio at XFM and the engineer was kind enough to play us all of our favorite bands that had come into the studio before us. It was so humbling and amazing to be able to listen to all these insanely gorgeous live tracks.

I have a bright picture in my head of places like Cardiff, Brighton, York, Southhampton, Birmingham...I have a newfound appreciation for all things salmon and prawns and mayonnaise, Superdrug, Primark, and castles. I've learned that "you okay" pretty much means "how are you". And it's cool to say Cheers! after everything pretty much anything. But I still haven't figured out when someone is going to reach in to kiss me on the cheek versus hug me 'cause this is different with every british person we meet.

xo ann

Southampton

Last night we played one of our last few shows in a big but little city called Southampton. It's typical that all the cities shut down by 6pm so most of the time when we're finished with soundcheck, we are seeing the city in it's quietest moments. Walking through Southampton was a lot like New York City at night, there was a beautiful park and streets lined with shops. The venue we played was just plain rad. So many bands had played here - Radiohead, The Libertines, British Seapower, Coldplay....there were old fliers dating all the way back to 1996! The first question the venue staff asked us when we arrived was how spicy we wanted our pasta. Really? Cooking for us and asking us about spice factor? Yes please!!! To top it off, sound was spot on, everyone there was friendly , and we even got to hang out after the show was over and have a few drinks while dave geeked out on drums with the sound guy. Pretty much the entire bar was open to us including candies which I indulged in. There is no greater pleasure than this.

London so far...

Beautiful weather here, every neighborhood we chance upon there is sun, pubs, and english sausages. Good times. Today we did an instore at Pure Groove, one of the coolest record shops I've been to in a long while. Was planning a big night out tonight having a day off finally, but the hour long ride into Hackney and our lack of rest until tonight barred us from leaving our comfortable abode here. We met a really cool band last night called Bodies of Water and were keen to hang out with them so it's a shame we stayed in. But, Mick has a copy of Samuel Beckett's complete works and I've begun reading a play called Play which is quite good and humanistic in it's portrayal of a man, one girlfriend (i think), and one lover. The guys are watching a movie in the other room, ahhhh. Staying inside was a good decision.
x ann

Manchester

Hmm, where to begin. Manchester is a city of greatness, there are cool shops, people, and places to eat everywhere in the Northern end of town where we stayed. We had two proper full english breakfasts! The place we stayed in was a pimp ass (sorry no other way to describe it) apartment right next to a supermarket and in walking distance of the fun. We played a show to people who'd even come all the way from Spain and Atlanta, Georgia to see us in Manchester. I will never forget that, and I hope that we can continue to grow with those that have followed us and supported us so much. I have so much love for them. After the show we went to a rocknroll bar called Big Hands with our labelmates The Answering Machine and Mick. Late night fun at it's finest. Had my first drink of tour, southern comfort and lemonade, so delicious and refreshing, kind of a girl drink I suppose. :) xo ann

Cambridge, Bristol, and Nottingham

Wow! Our first show in Cambridge came with chocolates, fruits, veggies, and an amazing dinner. Everyone was so nice! Last night, we played in Bristol where there was a guy who'd been to 250 shows last year and just been to a festival and was still at our show front row and center dancing. Kudos to him! The owner of the club gave us homemade Lemoncello (did I spell it correctly?) in exchange for our album. I wish you all could have tried this amazing drink, holy! After the show, we went back to the hotel and ran into a band called Detroit Social Club and had a drink with them in the lobby. Super sweet guys, they taught us what to say when we play in Newcastle, where they are from. Hmmm, but I can't seem to remember it now. Now we are sitting at the Bodega in Nottingham getting ready for show numero three here in the lovely UK. We've been totally spoiled so far, well fed, new friends, and awesome venues. :)

Longest trip, thanks United

Our day of travel began at 9:30am.

9:30am - picked up by good friend and taken to airport.
10:30am - mean United lady #1 threatened that we wouldn't be able to take our guitars on the plane, thanks mean United lady #1.
12:00pm - board plane and sit for one hour because there is complications with the door
1:00pm - told that plane cannot fly so we have to switch to a different plane, thanks United.
3:00pm- board United plane #2, served prison food and told there will be no movies on the flight, oh thanks so much United.
5:00pm - encounter more mean United stewardess ladies on board the plane, who roll their eyes when we ask for drinks, thanks again.
2am - arrive at London Heathrow.

At least they gave us appreciation vouchers?

Summary Part Two

Just back from a week with Bad Veins and Division Day, and we:

1_Learned how to play beer pong,
2_Won a match of band tennis
3_Learned how to say underwear in French (thanks Aaron!)
4_Made some new friends for life
5_Took lots of pictures
6_Went bird watching on Lake Shasta

Now off to the UK where we will:

1_Play lots of shows
2_Visit Castles
3_Eat at least five full english breakfasts
4_Eat confectionary bars
5_Make new friends
6_Take lots of pictures

Turtle the Tortoise

Just as we were about to step in the van to make the trek back to SF from LA, a woman yells out, "Hey, is this your turtle?" And there was this little guy racing across the street towards us as if we were long lost family. He came really close and just lingered near us so we brought out seven snap peas and a carrot for him. He seemed a little shy at first and then after he realized what was handed to him, he was in hog heaven! He ate everything patiently with such determination and joy! It felt so good to know we were bringing such happiness to little tortoise. He kept eating and eating and when we were out of snap peas, he just wanted to hang out with us in the grass. It was so hard not to take him home but San Francisco is too cold for a little desert tortoise. Hope to see you again little guy.

US and UK Tourdates!

We're so excited to be on the road again! Please check our myspace for a complete list of dates, we'll be hitting the west coast of the US before we head over to the UK to play a bunch of dates. XOXO

Our album is officially available in special record shops!

If you live in the UK and even more specifically in any of the cities below, you can purchase our album- the old fashioned way - at the record shop!!! I highly recommend this, 'cause there's no better satisfaction then going into a store and getting something to listen to immediately! :)

Digital Waves, Slough
Sister Ray, London
Crash, Leeds
Powerplay, Hereford
Spillers, Cardiff
Resident, Brighton
Rounder, Brighton
Rise, Bristol
Bluebird, London
Cramer, London
Rough Trade, London
Juno, London
Rapture, Oxford
E Head, Leamington Spa
Rise, Cheltenham
Fives, leigh on Sea
Norman Records, Leeds
One Up, Aberdeen
Picadilly, Manchester
Quirks, Wigan

Did you know...

freckles get darker in the summer? The sun has been rearing it's pretty face every day here in SF and now my freckles are also sprouting shades darker on my face. Coincidence? I think not. xo ann

And it's also no coincidence that there are various articles sprinkled throughout the web, as we prepare to embark on our month long tour US and UK for our album release. I'll keep posting stuff as I hear of them.

http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/features/track-by-track-lovelikefire-tear-ourselves-away

Magnetic Fields Cover Song

How I love the Magnetic Fields. We recently did a cover of Abigail Belle of Kilronan and you can download the tune for free on this lovely blog:

http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2009/07/download-exclusive-lovelikefire-cover-of-magnetic-fields/

xoxo LLF

Steve Lamacq's 6 Music Playlist

We've been nominated to be on Steve Lamacq's 6 Music Playlist in the UK. If
you could just go to this link below and click on the “vote for
LoveLikeFire” link for our song “Boredom” it will automatically direct
an e-mail to Steve Lamacq and help us get one step closer to making it
into his rotation. Voting ends this Sunday, that would be
Saturday U.S. time though. There are only two other bands so every vote will really count!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/steve_lamacq/rebel_playlist.shtml

Thank you, <3 <3 <3

xoxo LLF

New Music Video

Our new music video premiers today. We shot it in England at the New Forest, a beautiful magical place with a bordering magical village. The director was an 18 year old whiz kid, he reminded me of Max Fisher from Rushmore mainly because he was a dreamer. He knew how to run a big ship of cast and crew and worked round the clock over 20 hours a day to make this video happen. Thanks Jacob, and thanks to all the crew that volunteered their time to make this possible.

It's on Myspace UK, check it out: Boredom.

Help.

We've found ourselves slowly and surely headed toward the same predicament that many bands face, no money honey. And yet people are freely sharing our album before it's release, two years in the making, relentless time and money later. Our label has set up a donation box for us on their website, and if you have a few dollars to spare, please purchase something or plain just give to the cause. We may not be starving children in Ethiopia, but we're hungry dreamers with lots to say and more future music to share and we need your help to do it. Please help. XO
DONATE HERE

R.I.P. Michael, Farrah, and Ed.

S.F. - L.A.

Photos Courtesy of Mick. O and Julie Schucard

Our new single is out.

Buy Vinyl or iTunes.

Vinyl

iTunes

Music Killed Me.

I found this on Soko's site. I love Soko because she is honest and pure, and matter of fact, and bares her soul. Being a musician is a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and if you're sensitive like me, those ups and downs seem even crazier sometimes. So this apron is perfect for all of us who has a passion for something. Just replace music for whatever passion you have and you can relate right?
Last night was special, because we gave someone goosebumps and I can appreciate that so much. We really appreciate everyone who comes out to our shows, it's one of the greatest feelings to see new and familiar faces who support and love us, one of the greatest highs.
So Soko, my thoughts are with you, I know what it feels like to be so down. But I also know what is feels like to feel so amazing because the music you make brings joy to strangers, and goosebumps. I hope to eventually befriend every person I meet at an LLF show.
PS. She baked blueberry bars for us, I could have had like ten of them.

Sweet treats.

If we're lucky, a nice girl will be bringing some sweet treats to the show tonight. Maybe they will be cupcakes?

M83 song- Skin of the Night

This is one of my favorite songs on the latest M83 Saturdays=Youth album. So why was I disappointed hearing it live? Well, when she backed off the mic, I didn't hear any change in volume, and where were the doubles coming from?? It sounded too perfect. Perfection = Disappoinment. Enjoy the tune, for the goth in you.

03 Skin Of The Night by LoveLikeFire

Blink*

I just finished reading this book, Blink, and normally I'm not much for non-fiction. I love the drama of good fiction I guess you could say. Blink isn't typically a book I would pick up to read, but my sister gave it to me and I had a few days free so why not? Blink is a book about the quick decisions and judgements we make, good or bad, within the "blink" of an eye based on our own rapid cognition. Like when you go on a date for the first time with someone and you just don't like them after literally a minute of being in their presence. If you were to analyze before making this quick judgement you might sway yourself into liking the other party. But your quick judgement is often better than you think. You pick up on certain "key" things, thin slicing, they call it..that allows you to determine your compatibility so quickly. Obviously, I'm not doing justice to the complexities of the psychology behind this. The book was great because it gave sooo many examples of places where snap decisions are made and some of the analysis that happens both consciously and subconsciously, even in the foods you eat and the people you choose to make your leaders. You should read it, you'll learn something I promise. I think Macolm Gladwell should next write a book on the psycholgy behind second guessing.

Show on Monday in San Francisco, people.

Art by Gretchen Natvig.

Nailed it.

I don't know why this was so funny to me, when we were working on new songs last night, Marty would say nailed it, we can put a fork in it, it was all in jest of course and it made me laugh so much. But what if that's how easy it were, you wrote a song and then moved on like it was some test you just passed with flying colors and you could truly say, wow I nailed it. Then I got to thinking, well maybe it is. The only thing blocking you from feeling like you nailed something is yourself. It's true. Last night, we nailed it. High five!

Interviews, Press, and Photos - for your amusement

Before I forget, here is a link to our flickr for those of you who want to see some photos from our time in England. 

LoveLikeFire Flickr

Also, an 8 song mini LP is up for sale on itunes but only if you are a UK resident.   UK Peeps

Lately there's been a lot of press and interviews floating around LLF.  And sometimes I say, ummm okay.  No matter if it's good or bad I can't help but be amused at the diversity of bands we're compared to, the sounds, the imagery. It's interesting and entertaining what other people think.   I've learned that you can't put out there everything you want in the way you want people to perceive you all the time.  You can try your best to tell people, this is what I stand for, this is who we are, this is who we aim to be, but in the end everyone's got their own opinion and sometimes it falls right in line with yours and other times, it's way off.  Such is life.

On that note, some recent press/interview links for you to chew on:

The Culture of Me

Amelia's Magazine

Drowned In Sound

The Cold Cut
Bored And Beats
There Goes the Fear
NME 

Dave's debut in the New Tortoise Video.

Dave is a renaissance man.

http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/musicvideo/3444-tortoise-prepare-your-coffin-thrill-jockey

Last Day in England, sigh.

What an amazing way to end an amazing two weeks in England. The Dot to Dot Festival was held in Bristol and Nottingham, two beautifully romantic towns a few hours away from London. In Bristol, we played on a boat overlooking the River Seven. The crowd was electric, I broke a string for the first time ever, but didn't really matter much, it was so packed in there I could barely see anyone past the first row. We got meal tickets for these delicious beef pies and free beers, and we met up with our friends in Gran Ronde, nothing more you could ask for really.
In Nottingham, we played in an amazing venue called the Bodega, sound was stellar, and I felt like a strong connection with people so much that I lost myself in William. Ha. We ran into our lovely friends The Pains and Wintersleep and had whippy cones with Mick and Amul after the show. Seriously, what more could you ask for? Can't believe it's already over and tomorrow we head back. Stocking up on Crunchy bars and getting on that flight with fond memories of our first UK tour. xo ann

From Twickenham- part two

We met up with our sweet, sweet labelmates after the gig and drove back to Twickenham for our intimate little afterparty. Two frozen pizzas, five jack daniels, and one toffee bar later, we were watching a screaming cat on youtube in one corner and singing along to Martin and Pat's rendition of the Rat by the Walkmen in another. Can you imagine this, wish I had video footage of it.

The photoshoot was quite fun, it's always a new adventure, the Regent Park feels very royal maybe 'cause it's owned by the Queen but there was definitely a prim and proper air to the grounds. We also took some shots in a cute 50s esque laundromat, bright yellow washers and nice typeface.

The turnout at Club 229 was cozy but we had a fan train in from Scotland for the show who was also at our Vivian Girls show which made me feel pretty greatful. All the other bands were super nice but, holy, was the venue loud, my eardrums are sore from this.

Ready for sleep.

From Twickenham- a mad recap

Wow. Every day has been racing by here, so I am going to recap some cool moments from our trip thus far. We'll add all our photos to the lovelikefire flickr page too in the next couple days, there are so many of them, it's going to be tough wittling them down.

Camden-
Last night we played at the famous Barfly, so many amazing bands have played there. Camden, where the Barfly is located, is a bit like Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco with tons of shops, places to eat, and definitely touristy. I found a beautiful dress for 5 pounds and we ate fresh donuts and coffee from one of the booths. There is also this area called the Stables with loads of vintage stores. Earlier during the day one of the lovely girls, Sema, at our pr firm escorted us to a couple of interviews before our gig, and we got to hang out in a cool little park near Russell Square.

Music Video Shoot-
On Sunday, we spent 24 hours making a music video for Boredom in the New Forest. Jacob Perlmutter, the director, reminds of Max Fisher from Rushmore. He is a bright young fellow, charming and incredibly talented. He greeted us that morning at 7am and led us into this field of bluebell flowers where they'd hung purple paper lanterns everywhere that lit up, it was quite surreal and so beautiful. We spent the entire day there shooting loads of scenes over 24 hours and by the end we were all quite delirious from fatigue. We had a scene with a white horse named Twitchy who kept giving us the stink eye because somehow he knew he was roped into doing this scene where he had to trot across the forest for us several times! Sorry Twitchy. There was also one shot where they had a photcopy machine in the middle of the woods and neon lights flashing through, the bugs loved this and our faces were right inside the copy machine for the shots. I alone have about 15 bites over my face and legs. The crew on the shoot were great, they worked round the clock past the 24 hours we were there. I hope they are catching up on their sleep now.

The Great Escape in Brighton -
This is way cooler than SXSW, there is a concentration of bands from all over the UK and the States that play in this beautiful town by the sea, just as you could imagine what that might be like. A tacky pier with a dreamy carousel, funnel cakes, and quaint little cobblestone streets throughout the town that fan out into the main street. We saw probably 15 bands over the course of 3 days. Hatcham Social was our favourite collectively. We had our first full english breakfast in Brighton too which consists of fried egg, bacon, sausage, baked beans, tomatoe, and white toast. The English equivalent to a Denny's Grand Slam.

I will write some more tonight when I get back from our show at Club 229, off to a photo shoot at the moment near the London Zoo!

Day Two - Sunny again?

It was just so sunny and beautiful again today. We thought, well this is a lot like San Francisco except that it's much sunnier and warmer here, that doesn't seem right somehow? We drove around collecting our acoustic guitars for the Fly set tomorrow, thanks to James Yuill and Alex from The More Assured for letting us collect them. Not sure if it was the sun beating down or the jet lag but lethargy sleepiness kicked in full force. Mick kindly drove us everywhere today, including Portobello Road in Notting Hill where we got to see Rough Trade records and our vinyl there! We also found Sleepy Sun, Wooden Shjips, and The Papercuts in the store, so many SF bands represented here in the UK, so cool! We drove back to Mick's company and rehearsed our acoustic set and had fun taking photos on his forklift, while Dave tuned up the new Heist drumkit. Fun!! Yes, it doesn't take much for us to discover a good time!
For dinner tonight:
Fish and Chips (one whole fried piece of cod!)- Dave
Bangers n Mash (tender sausage deliciousness)- Ann
Chicken Sandwhich (cajun flavor explosion) - Eric
Ribs (no need to explain this one) - Marty
And if that wasn't filling enough, we had Sticky Toffee and Apple Crumble for dessert.
Who said there wasn't good eats in the UK again? Tomorrow we are playing at the Social, and will be seeing some SF friends there, can we hope for a third day of London sunshine? TBC....

Day One

Day One in London - We safely landed and took a power nap before heading over to the venue, an old 50s charm british pub. The brits know their pubs, apple cider was amazing and they even had cupcakes there. Amusement Parks On Fire were fantastic, nice guys and great music. Our new gear worked so well that I am personally tempted to switch permanently to an AC-15. Got the ol' bruise on my hand from the tambourine again, sweaty and cozy stage. It was a really fun show, jet lag wasn't even a factor, it hasn't hit yet in fact, still up at 2a.m. having some whiskey and talking about music.
Prices are surprisingly not as high for food as I thought. An egg sandwhich at Marks & Spencer was only 1 pound which is about $1.50. Had our first taste of marmite, half the band liked it, half band were open minded about it. We all agreed it would make for a great condiment along with some other delicious condiments. Mick's house is beautiful, picture perfect, along the river, I would like to set up a couple of beach blankets and bring tea and a good book and spend an afternoon on his lawn.
Day one was pretty lovely here.

Travel Checklist

Unique Items Checklist for traveling to the UK:

1) Benadryl 

2) Power plug converters

3) Peanut butter m&ms 

4) 4 Packets Starkist tuna

5) Te Ji Mo Li tea 

6) 50 pounds.

7) Memorex Mini voice recorder

Santa Monica Music Video

Last week we shot a music video for Stand In Your Shoes. We were in a big padded room, wearing helmets...I know right?  The same directors Ed Skudder and Zack Keller who did William, they are wonderful and we're very much looking forward to what's in store.  We drove down to Santa Monica to shoot, land of abundance and fancy cars.  Afterwards, Ed and Zack took us to a sandwhich spot, forget what it's called, but they had this monster called the Godmother, too much meat, sauce, spread, too much goodness.  

Today is rainy, drizzly, cold. Perfect weather for Here We Go Magic.  Tunnelvision is great with hot cocoa btw.   www.myspace.com/herewegomagic

 

Welcome.

Alright, instead of random posts on our website and more randomly on our myspace and facebook, we've decided to start a bloggity blog,  BlogLikeFire (thanks dany), LoveLikeBlogger, blog.  In exactly 10 days we leave for London and what better time than now to leave no stone unturned when it comes to our comings and goings.  Photoshoots, music videos, sloppy joe nights, and bicycle rides, LLF style.  Last night, at the Pomegranates show, who btw, are a superb band from Ohio, we were just pondering us as people and as musicians. Philosophies on why music is what we do, the love, the torture, the passion, the drama of music.  You'll hear all about it here.   x0 ann