by hapago / pictures by Alexzandra Roy

TOTAL WIFE–groundbreaking shoegazers from Nashville–just got back from tour with CELLTOWER a few days ago. ASH from TOTAL WIFE gives us a look at the insight of their tour together, from Birmingham to New York City. Read on!

“When I feel antsy I want to drive. When I lose myself I want to write. When I’m hungry I try to eat light. 

This is the second tour we started in Alabama, and Luna was eager to drive her new van. We pulled up to Trim Tab Brewery blasting Cartoons & Cereal and were greeted by a pungent, hoppy smell. 

 We played in front of experimental films by John Whitney for Celltower and the Windows maze screensaver for Total Wife. Faux Deep played a killer set & so did Chancho, the Drake of Birmingham. 

 That night we stayed at a psychedelic portal guarded by a bass legend and two fat lynxes. We passed through a fork in the tree to begin tour. In the morning we went to the Birmingham Folk Festival, saw a marching band & bought a basket of strawberries! 

 Beautiful, sunny weather carried us to Atlanta and when we arrived at Park Grounds, the local cafe and dog park had undergone a transformation to an outdoor music space. 

 Although we got asked to turn down at 9pm by a local gentrifier in a bathrobe – a request that we’ve literally never gotten before (we have) – we all got our minds blown by the locals. Psaltery had a narrative lyrical style and certain pleasant nonchalance to their playing that really blew me away. We were all eager to hang with them and other talented Atlanta friends afterwards in EAV. 

 Made a quick beeline to Nashville to play a Celltower set with MYSAH, Enumclaw & Graham Hunt. Caught up for a minute with our friends and talked about what’s coming up, and some movies we’ve watched recently. 

 After a couple days of working my day job, it was time to hit the road again. The whole time it felt like I was dreaming. On the way to Asheville I queued up a hype mix including GROUPLOVE, Gwen Stefani, Gym Class Heroes, Jason Derulo & Smash Mouth. By this night, both sets were starting to feel really tight in the new orientation.

 Nerves are getting exercised from my body via noise drone every single night. It was a late show so we were able to hit some dinner after load-in and I drank an elixir with marshmallow for clear communication. 

Folks began to trickle in to 27 Club from a nearby Primus concert. I love the style of slowcore that Trust Blinks plays & I was super excited to have discovered them through the live set! 

 One of the coolest parts of staying with other artists in our scene is seeing their own DIY setups. So many bands make music in their home studios, print their own physicals, make merch. 

 We had a long drive ahead of us to DC but we all woke up early to traverse the pouring rain with a cup full of coffee ice. Lots of drive time gave us time for an active listen through some very dense and beautiful recent releases; Sarah, by Salami Rose Joe Lewis & Flanafi Night Songs, by Joyer Minotaur, by Tex Patrello. 

 When we got to DC, we were able to reconnect with a close friend while bathed in liquid lights and meditating to modular synthesis. 

We were all really feeling the energy of the room, so during the set I split my voice in two, propelling me into the pink light. We were fortunate enough to stay with friends every stop of this tour, and the love has really blown me away. 

 By the time we played Philly I was starting to get really excited to finish recording these songs. It blew my mind how many people clocked that we’re playing all new songs. Some of them were really worked out as a band, on tour & playing in town. 

 In Philly we played the basement of a Communist library which was pretty based. It was so sick to hear solo work from Sam Silbret & it was humbling to play with one of my favorite bands in the scene 22 Degree Halo. Even though their set was cut by a strict curfew, it was awesome to get a sneak peak at their live set before they come through town in August. 

 We got coffee and a $3 egg sandwich with some buds in the morning and went on our merry way to NYC.

 I love playing Purgatory while y’all decide whether we go to music heaven or music hell.

 Fish Hunt and Hooky both released some of my favorite albums this year and hearing their sets left me feeling so inspired & ready to get back to recording.

 & after one parking ticket, one battery jump and two late nights of driving, we’re back!”