Monthly Archives: April 2012

COFFEE ES MUY BUENO

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It’s been a great two weeks here in Latin/South America. Every show has been at least great. Some greater and so far Chile was the greatest. One show left in Bogota tomorrow and then we head home for a few weeks off until the Rock On The Range show May 20.

After that it’s 2 weeks in Europe playing festivals, a few headline shows and also headlining the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards show in London, June 11. The day before that we play Download. Besides being excited about our show that day and how crazy I think it’s going to be, I am also excited to see Refused. I’ve been waiting 14 years to see them, never thinking I would. I can hardly contain myself. And then of course there’s Black Sabbath. Rumor has it this will be the only actual Sabbath show. I don’t care about rumor, I just want Tony Iommi to kick his cancer in the ass and get back to doing what he does best. Can’t wait.

Over the last month and a half I’ve been lucky to have had coffee in Indonesia, Brazil and Columbia. If you follow me online at all you know I’m a bit of a coffee fan. I’ve sampled some of the best beans in the world recently, had some great espressos, drips, siphons, presses everywhere and I’ve come to the conclusion that the person making your coffee has as much to do with the final result as the bean does. I had four cups of the same Luwak in Jakarta and there was no consistency. The second cup I had was the best of the four and I think the best I’ve ever had. The other three were good but not memorable at all. I had an espresso in Santiago yesterday at our hotel that rivaled anything I’ve had in Italy. The guy pulling it knew what he was doing. Same today, there’s a serious coffee bar in our hotel and the guy working it is a pro. He did the Columbian beans justice. Anyway, I’m writing this all jacked up on three cups so there may not be a point to any of it.

Coffee es muy bueno.

I’ve attached a bunch of pics of the last two weeks. Have fun checking out the worst travelogue ever.

Until next time.

Cheers,
Scott

Better Late Than Never

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Happy new year everyone. Better late than never right? I hope your first third of 2012 has been good to you.

Yes, I’ve been lagging at writing. I’ve been so crazily busy that even trying to just catch up has been impossible.

At this rate three a year seems daunting. A bi-yearly blog? An annual blog? That’ll keep you coming back.
I promise from this point on I’ll do my best to get something up at least weekly if not more. For those of you that follow me on Twitter (@Scott_Ian) you get the gist of what’s going on with me and the band etc etc without too much detail. In my blog I can flesh things out more, outside the 140 character box.

The thing is, being on tour has always been Kryptonite for my writing ability. I always have the best intentions at the start of a tour because there is so much down time every day I say to myself, “You’re going to use that time constructively and write blogs, work on your comic, start writing chapters for your book, work on lyrical ideas and get loads of work done.”

And then reality sets in and this impenetrable wall like the monolith from 2001 sets itself up in my brain and all I can do is stare blankly at my Mac, clicking between iO9, Twitter, Nerdist and other awesome sites but ultimately just things that enable my procrastination. I asked my wife Pearl why she thought it was so hard to write on the road (she’s also a writer and suffers the same affliction) and she said, “Because all of your mental and physical energy goes into the time that you’re on stage. The rest of the time is just spent getting to the next stage. The show is what it’s all about.”

When I read her answer I was inspired to sit down and not go straight to Vulture.com to read their Mad Men and Game Of Thrones recaps, I sat down and started this. I had never looked at it in the way she explained it. That all my energy was being focused on the reason I am traveling away from my family and my home.

I have been unconsciously saving all my energy from the minute I finish a show until the moment I start the next one. I’ve always known that on show days I try and do as little as possible physically, even try not to speak to anyone, saving it all up for showtime but I never thought that my creative brain was was also in a resting state. I always chalked it up to the lack of mental stimulation caused by sitting in a hotel room or an airport or a bus or a plane. Well my brain called bullshit on that about five minutes ago after Pearl answered my question and this blog proves it.

All the excuses fell away and my fingers hit the keyboard trying to keep up with my thoughts.

Is it going to affect the next show? Will writing cause me to perform at less than 100%? My brain says, “Hell no.”
If anything, chasing the boredom of the day with some constructive creative outlet will make the show that much better, like dessert after a great meal.

I feel like a weight has been lifted.

And I actually do have lyrics to work on for one of the unfinished songs from the Worship Music sessions. I’m all over that next.

I don’t feel the need to catch up on the last four months, you can just check my Twitter timeline for all of that. Onwards and upwards as somebody once said.

So as I sit in my generic room here in Rio with my new found ability to write on tour, I’m now going to FaceTime with my family. Procrastination? Nope, I just miss my wife and son. They’re the biggest inspiration in my life.

Until next time my friends.

See you next week.

Cheers,
Scott