We had a lot of fun playing at the recent tennis tournament here in Miami. Among the highlights, a young up-and-coming journalist named Thomas Hardy from the local station coming by to ask the group some questions after their performance…

Tristan and the guys had met Hardy once before….

Man, I was like a little girl the other night in Raleigh.

Determined to see my new favorite band, the Arctic Monkeys for the third time on their 2010 tour of America, I made a lightning quick trip to NC and caught the show with some good friends.  It was the best of the three (the other two being in Boston with Rich and in Miami) and because after the show we took our time leaving, we noticed that the road crew were almost finished loading the gear. So I begged my buddies Chase (whom you already may know) and Tom (whom I think you’d love to know), to stay and meet the band.  They obliged like any great friends would, knowing full well that I have quite a thing for this band.

Well…forty-five minutes later, once all the cars and vans were packed and some of the crowd had been dissuaded, the guys stumbled out and all of a sudden, it felt like my knees turned to jelly and I had mouthwash in my blood.  For whatever reason, I don’t get starstruck often but man was I nervous when I saw Matt Helders. Probably the greatest 23-year-old drummer that I’d ever heard of, – labeled by the UK press as the best drummer of our generation – actually turned out to be a nice guy despite seeming extremely tired (at least I think that’s what he was feeling…) I politely bombarded him with four or five questions in two minutes (though I might’ve sacrificed a limb for ten more) and had a picture together.

Then Alex came by and muttered a few words.  Seemed very nice but also very out of it. He had someone directing his attention to people waiting. Chase got a wave from Alex’s famous supermodel girlfriend Alexa Chung and then some douche ruined our picture with him.  Still didn’t spoil a fantastic evening.

What a week.  We got back from Texas after a 21-hour drive straight through the day and night. The next few days we played catchup and rehearsed for the first of two Sony Ericsson Open gigs.

The first leg went very well (You can read the full report here.) The second is on Saturday just before the Ladies’ Final but on Tuesday, Chase and I and a few friends played basketball at UM and I broke and dislocated my right index finger on a freak play.  I think its safe to say, my secret dream of being an NBAer are over. But the show must go on!

Plus it doesn’t stop me from grilling!

Ya only need one hand to hold a tong...

We’re en route to Austin, Texas for our first South By Southwest! We’ve heard from everyone and their mothers how great this thing is and now we’re going to experience it ourselves.

If you’re there, we’re performing on Tuesday, March 16th at the Rusty Spurs at 6.30pm.  We’ll also be there for the rest of the week, attending everything we possibly can and basically sweating Red Bull.

We’ll be reporting in periodically and if you’re there, come say hi!

…I just stumbled upon these photos. Phil and I were invited to England on Valentine’s Day, 20o9 to open for platinum-selling artist Sandi Thom. Absolutely one of the biggest professional honors opening up for this fantastic performer.

Many thanks to the brilliant folks at Pocklington Arts Centre.

Our Silly Faces...

Sandi and I

Click here to see the album.

While perusing my Twitter (haha, that sounds funny…) I saw that well known Canadian blog site, “Toronto Music Snob,” posted on Purple.  Said it was “worth the price,” which is also funny and clever.  I was honestly hoping for a more in depth review but grateful for the positive press nonetheless…

Click here to read the brief but honest post.

Yes, Purple is still “pay-what-you-want.” We’ve had such a good response with this price structure and it allows for the individual to come away happy every time. No very immediate plans of changing it.

The New Live EP

Today, the three live bonus tracks originally included free with the Purple’s download for a payment of $5 or more are available on iTunes and the like for individual purchase.

The live EP (called “Tristan Clopet & the Juice Live! – clever huh?) is listed at $2.97.  That’s £1.87 for my British friends and 2.15 European Monetary Units for my countrymen and fellow European friends.

The album consists of two recordings from our 2009 Summer Tour and one from our “homecoming” performance in Miami shortly thereafter.

Click here to see the album.

The Juice very proudly features:

Rich Chwastiak on Percussion

Alejandro Elizondo on Keys and Guitar

Colin Veit on Bass

Daniel Hammler on Drums (tracks 1 and 2)

and Jordan Bernstein on Drums (track 3)

Recordings were done by Michael Weiss, Esq. and Ken (thanks!) from Southpaw in Brooklyn.  Mixing and mastering done by Robert Dante.

Lastly and most importantly, I want to especially thank everyone who have come to see us. Not just in the recordings but any show ever.  Playing music is fun but sharing music with others is blissful.  I and the guys are really proud of this one and we sincerely hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed playing it.

I wish everyone happy warmth as I write to you from sunny Florida. We arrived home yesterday and were greeted by a stale house smell, no food in the fridge and a mountain of bills. I love being a touring musician!! Seriously though, we all already miss the road…We had some great shows and met a ton of new people and for that we’re truly grateful.

We got incredibly lucky with the weather.  A few flurries for ten minutes in DC was the only sight of snow or ice. Actually, we got very lucky with everything on this tour.  We unfortunately won’t have any cool “road stories” but I’m sure we all secretly prefer it that way.

As for the music, I truly didn’t know what to expect. Having never played as a trio before, we rehearsed a fair bit but come our first stop, we were still a little curious of how this new “slim fast” version of Tristan & the Juice would go over. Encouragingly, we’ve  found that the more intimate shows can be as powerful as the rocking out “bass and drums in your face” shows, if not more. It’s hard to recreate the personal releationships developed in toned down shows.  I’ve also noticed a much greater musical integrity. The audience is more prone to listen to the music instead of just hearing the vertebrae of the songs.

I know a lot of the guys liked playing in NYC, (we went on after a girl we saw just a few weeks before open for Citizen Cope which was cool) but as always, my personal highlight was Raleigh. The only thing I love more than that place is the people living in it.

Next up…we’re getting the BAND BACK TOGETHER!!! I’ve written 6 or 7 new songs that we’re going to try and weave into the setlist for this winter’s shows. Writing for the next EP (or full-length) is moving right along. Constantly working on the Living Room Sessions and we’ve got two music videos (So Alive and Proximity Bomb) we’re filming/editing…

Work work work – play play play

T

p.s. Purple is out now. You can get it on TristanClopet.com for whatever you’re willing to pay… Do it now…only two more weeks until the offer expires…

The idea behind it was of course to help spread the word about Duende and Purple (out very soon) but also as a bit of a weekly homage or acknowledgement to some of the artists that I look up to.

Plus, it’s fun.

Our first episode was a rendition of Bon Iver & St. Vincent’s “Roslyn” which was written for the new Twilight movie.  Our video coincided nicely with the movie’s international release and in just a couple of weeks, we’ve eclipsed the 25,000 mark, a number that laps several times our next most viewed video.  Coupled with a few marriage proposals and a hundred incredibly flattering comments, we’re humbled by its immediate success.

Our next two episodes (Cornerstone by the Arctic Monkeys and Here Today from Paul McCartney) though not on such a torrid pace are doing nicely, and I think we’re all pretty happy about the exposure these performances create for our original music.

So if you’re one of the 25,000, thank you for bringing what is, by the numbers, the greatest success we’ve had in our young career. Everyone has to start somewhere and we are so glad you’re along for the ride.

: ) T ( :

He told a very cool story about how he was shown “Game of Love” by one of his writers in a hotel in London. When he got back to the states, he gave the song to Macy Gray.  She did a version that no one was really pleased with.  Then Tina Turner had a crack at it.  Eventually, it went to Michelle Branch and Santana who did a fantastic job (and won a Grammy) but Clive played all three tracks to A/B (and C) it.  The other two versions were never released even though Clive thought that Tina’s version was the best. (I disagree. I think Branch nailed it.)

It was a cool evening and a great trip overall (the Yankees winning the World Series just up the street didn’t hurt either.)

Supermodel Cintia Dicker was on my flight back.  We chatted for a while and she ended up proposing right there on the spot but I told her I don’t really do Brazilian girls.