Alright! We finally have all the details squared away for our show at the Masquerade in Tampa on Wednesday, November 9th.

It's basically the sequel to our show at Duke's Orlando a week or so ago. We're road tripping down to Ybor City to rock the Infinity Room with Select Start and Half-Way Hero. Both of these bands have amazing energy and we can't wait to share the stage with them again and expose ourselves to a new audience. Well... not "expose ourselves"... unless Doug takes off his shirt again. Ew.
If you live in Orlando, you should get all of your friends together in a car or two and meet us down there since we won't likely be playing Orlando again until November 19th at the Haven.

I have to get up at 5:30am to work on a Sunday, but besides all that mess, we actually have a productive week ahead of ourselves. On Thursday and Friday we'll be heading into the studio to record some songs. What songs we will be recording is still kind of up in the air at this point, but it probably won't be anything you haven't heard, just some decent recordings of some songs that currently have not-so-decent recordings.
Don't worry. We aren't even close to recording any sort of follow up to "Sarcasm" so don't get excited.

In December we're playing Daytona Beach.... possibly Sarasota in January. Yeah. We're getting around. Slowly but surely.

-Wes

This is quite possibly the best day of my life.

One of my all time favorite bands and biggest musical influences, The Rentals have just reunited to record a new album and to tour.

I love lamp.

-Wes

So Wes pretty much hit the nail on the head. Dukes rocked. All the bands did amazing, I was tired just from watching the other guys. Despite the small crowd, the energy in there was nuts. I really hope we get to join those guys down in Tampa because that would make for another amazing show. Speaking of shows, come to the one this Wednesday at Full Sail Live because it doesnt matter how old you are and its free. And if you havnt picked up a shirt or cd yet, what the heck is wrong with you? I mean come on, you get a free sticker, how can you pass that up? The only thing wrong with the shirts is they arnt yellow, but I'll deal. Thats all I really have. Come to our shows, buy our merch, say no to hurricans.

-bert

I hope everyone made it through the hurricane alright. It wasn't anything too terrible, so I'm not assuming the worst for anyone.

Work was cancelled as the entire school I work for was shut down for the day. So what did I do? I accomplished absolutely nothing. No wait... that's not true. I wrote a second verse to a song I've been working on for a gazillion years. I'll probably hate it the next time I read it and start from scratch. But that was the only productive activity I took part in.

I'm glad the power didn't go out. I have absolutely no food in my apartment unless you count the lifetime supply of Ramen Noodles in my pantry. However, I'm saving those for the apocalypse.

How nice is the weather though? It totally cooled off with the storm, and I'm kind of hoping that things stay this way for at least a few days. It's hoodie weather, and Doug and I are big supporters of that. The downside is that if it gets too cold, it starts reminding me of Ohio, and that's just something I would rather not have happen.

I believe we're playing this Wednesday at Full Sail Live. It seems like we're always playing there. It's for the students. We like them. The first few weeks in November are looking good. We'll be doing some rather fun secret things, and then we'll be headed down to Tampa for a rock show at the Masquerade. We should have a band lineup for that gig in the next day or two.

I can't believe October's already coming to a close so soon. The months are just flying. I feel like I'm getting old. I hope I remember to pay my rent on time this month. I should since I put a reminder into my cell phone. However, it's one of those lame phones that tries to guess what you're typing, and then spells it out for you. My phone must be on something because I was trying to make it say "Rent Due" but the closest that my phone could get was "Spreeve Dutes" and chances are, when that pops up as a reminder, I won't actually remember what it's for. I will laugh though.

I forgot to mention this in my last entry, but after the show at Duke's, Doug thought it would be a good idea to go to another bar and get even more drunk, so we headed up the street to the Copper Rocket Pub where our friend Dave (of Hawkeye) works as a bartender. He gave me a free drink and made fun of me for about 80 different reasons.

Hey Dave, your hat was stupid. Hah!

We hung out there for a bit and talked about the good times, and then decided to talk about the bad times since there were way more of those.

Still working on booking a mini tour for December. Details on that as soon as people decide we're cool enough to book for shows.

While inspecting my gear after the Duke's show, I noticed that I kinda sorta broke some stuff on my main guitar. Great. I love it when that happens. Guess that's what I get for going absolutely psycho at the show. You should of seen me. I was a wild man!

I have my iTunes on random and "Through My Eyes" just popped on. This is awkward. Time to find a new song.

-Wes

it's 2:45 in the A.M. and I'm awake. Awake and at the computer. Awake and blogging.

You know how lately I've been referring to each show we play as "the most fun I've had in a long time"... well, this time I mean it. We played Duke's Orlando and had an absolute blast. It was our first time there, and despite a very small crowd, we played with some amazing bands and made some new friends.

First off, big thanks to all the other bands who played. We were the only local, and brought a small group of folks, but I felt bad we didn't have a bigger pull for the out of towners to play to.


Half-Way Hero from Tampa opened the night with their own brand of screamo rock. I normally don't get into that type of music, however, they really did it well. They were all super nice guys to boot, and their singer had nothing but nice things to say about us while on stage.

Better Than Average from Winter Haven took the stage second and played some super catchy tunes. They didn't play very long though. I felt like it was over right when it started. Hopefully they'll play around this area again soon.

We took the stage third and...well... let me just say.... wow. We put all we had into this performance and rocked about as hard has humanly possible. By the end our set, both Doug and Bert were shirtless, so that should be a testament to how crazy things got. We weren't plagued by any technical problems this time around, so things were smooth sailing. We played 10 jams and I spent the majority of my time running around the stage, the floor, or standing on top of JoAnna's bass amp, which nearly teetered out from under me at one point. Seriously though, I wish more of you had been there. The ENY was definitely on top of it's game tonight.

Select Start from Tampa closed out the night and blew my mind. Their songs are so catchy and yet they make it look so effortless. Those guys were so nice and I'm looking forward to seeing them play again. I talked to their synth player for a long time and we geeked out over talking about analog synthesis, and their singer was just an amazingly nice fellow. All super nice. They rock.

As Bert mentioned, we'll be heading down to Tampa on Wednesday, November 9th to rock at the Masquerade, which we are crazily excited for. If all goes according to plan, we'll be rocking out with both Half-Way Hero and Select Start. It's gonna be like a really good movie sequel. A movie with no explosions or digital effects. But a good movie nonetheless.

Big thanks to Brandon the promoter at Duke's for having us on board and being an overall awesome fellow and Paul and Matt from Orlando's own YTeL who are always so much fun to hang out with. Matt rocked the tambourine on 'Window' like no one else I've seen.

It's getting late, and the beer is catching up to me, so perhaps someone else will add their two cents...

If this night had been a sandwich, it would have been a foot-long smoked turkey on italian bread.

Now I'm hungry.

-Wes

So all kinds of exciting things are happening with Early Next Year. We booked our first major out of town show in Tampa so we are pretty pumped about that. Tonight we play at Duke's, next week we play at Full Sail and we even have somemthing special up our sleeves for yall, but you're gonna have to wait for that. Thats basically all I wanted to say for now. And if anyone would like to join the Yellow Shirt Brigade, just let me know.

-bert

So today is Thursday, meaning that unless this massive hurricane wipes us all out, we'll be playing at Duke's Orlando on Saturday. Somehow we ended up being the only band from Orlando on the bill, so it'd be REALLY nice to see some familiar faces in the crowd singing along. We've never played Duke's before. I'd like to impress them.

We'll be playing with some really great bands and even if we weren't playing this show, I would still be there checking it out. That's how good the lineup is. Joining us for a night of overly catchy rock and roll with be Select Start and Half-Way Hero both from Tampa, and Better Than Average from Winter Haven. This will also be a great opportunity to expose yourself to some bands you may not have heard of before. And if you like ENY, you'll definitely enjoy all the bands.

We'll be armed with our new t-shirts as well, so come grab them while we have 'em.

In other news, it was Doug's turn to break his glasses and now he's wearing a pair from his middle school years. At least when mine busted, I had the gaul to wear them around with just one ear piece until I got them replaced.

Never a dull moment.

-Wes

This is where I take a moment to give a quick shout out to Enemy Ink, the folks who did the printing of our tshirts. Go visit them at www.enemyink.com if you need some swag made. We highly recommend them.

Speaking of shirts... got yours yet? This Saturday at Duke's you can come and pick one up if you so choose. We'll also be playing some rock music. It's like the best two-for-one deal ever.

We made a bit more progress this weekend with another project that we've been working on. It's gonna be good. You're going to dig it. We promise. More on that soon...

So apparently a person's birthday is so sacred and special that you have to block out an entire weekend in celebration. Who knew?

Ever notice how when you're surfing MySpace, Early Next Year always seems to be online? Yeah, that's because I'm sitting at my computer staring at the same crap you are. I really need to get out more.

I'm the only person that being in a band didn't make cooler.

-Wes

Hey folks, I just finished up the new Merch section of our website. You can now order our rocking new t-shirts along with a few other fun things.

Here's the shirt design. Clicking it will enlarge to show detail.



-Wes

If you were at our Full Sail Live show on Wednesday, then thanks!

We had a lot of fun even if it looked like we didn't. Despite me going on absolutely no sleep and being in a relatively foul mood, we had to play a good 45 minute set, which is longer than we're used to. We were forced to play some tunes we either hadn't played in a while, or prefer not to play live. Our set was kind of all over the place, but out of the 13 jams we played, hopefully you heard the songs you wanted to.

We played with the bands Day and Courtesy of You. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we spent half the evening hanging in the green room with CoY who are super nice guys. We played with them back in July at Will's Pub but didn't really meet them, so it was fun to hang out for a while. We also spotted members of the bands A Denver Mile and Ytel who were out to support, so big thanks to them too.

Our set was plagued with a lot of technical problems as usual... bad cables, straps that didn't stay on guitars, broken snare drums, vintage synthesizers not wanting to work, etc...

Despite all that, we tried to put on the best show possible. I've seen the video footage. I wasn't disappointed.

Now for some good news:
Our tshirts are in!
I will be revamping the merch section of our website tonight with a few more items, so if you want an ENY shirt, order soon! Prices and a picture will be up with the other merch tonight.
Remember, buying our stuff helps us not only create more shirts, cds, and stickers, but it lets us pay for gas which gets us to other parts of the state. So everyone wins!

We'll be out at Duke's Orlando on Lee Rd. on October 22nd and we'll have shirts readily available, so bring your lunch money pick one up if you so choose.

More later...

-Wes

Last minute update concerning tomorrow's show at Full Sail Live.

The show actually starts at 6:30. We are playing SECOND, so if you don't want to miss us get there by 7:30 at the LATEST.

Things have been crazy with this show, but I promise that we're going to have a lot of fun. When have we ever lied to you?

Listen to Fellsmere and Pop.Culture.Clash.

You'll thank me.

-Wes

To some, my apartment would look like a disaster. To others, it could be art.

As it stands, there's a large cache of beer bottles on my non-coffee table which extends over to my bar. Around the bar are stacked eight large boxes full of ENY "Sarcasm" CDs. Around those boxes, a combination of music gear and empty soda 12-packs are strewn. Across the room you'll find a plethora of guitars, amps, and moog synthesizers in front of the window.

As I sit contemplating all of these things, I have but one thought... Where the hell did all this stuff come from?

Anyway.

Wednesday. October 12. All Ages. 7:30pm. Full Sail Live. Corner of University Blvd. and Forsyth Rd. Winter Park. Florida. Playing first. Also with Courtesy of You. Get there early. Say hello.

Shirts that night? Maybe. CD's? definitely.

Still working on a new project that we'll spill some details on soon.

-Wes

Hey all, I've got some good news to report. The show that was cancelled for October 12th at Full Sail Live has been rescheduled.....for October 12th at Full Sail Live! That's right all our underage fans we're back on the bill and we look forward to seeing all of you out there to cheer us on.

Doug

I don't ever send fan email to celebrities, however, I decided that Canadian Rock band Nickelback would be my first. Here's the message I sent to them:

***

Dear Nickelback,
I just watched your performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I can honestly say I'd never been a fan of your music in the past. I thought all of your songs sounded exactly the same. They had the exact same progressions and patterns. Your singer did the same stupid things with his voice. You all thought you were the coolest cats on the block. However, after watching this brief four minute performance, I have concluded that two years after your last big hit, you guys still appear to be massive tools.

The song you played tonight bored me so badly that I ran out to Wal-Mart, bought a gallon of paint, and painted over my television screen so I could watch something that actually held my attention. Also on my list of things that I find more fun than listening to your music are the following:
Grocery shopping, root canals, enemas, severe curb stompings, falling asleep in patches of poison ivy, burning my tongue, vomiting, Kenny G, spontaneous combustion, watching dogs eat their own poop, Hitler, power outages, reality television, insomnia, hangovers, natural disasters, Republicans, hypothermia, and eviction notices.

Is your singer aware that he closely resembles a horse? You know, I'm not superficial person, but I would be willing to pay for tickets to one of your concerts if I was guaranteed to see him with a saddle on his back, being ridden around the stage by a midget. Your other guitar player squinted too much, your drummer looked like he was 12 years old, and your bassist looked very bored and embarassed. But can you blame him? Wow, he and I might get along.

The stage had at least eight guitar cabinets and that seemed a bit overkill. As a musician, I know that seven is quite enough. Way to go that extra mile to show the national viewing audience just how overcompensating and insecure you really are. You had no chemistry, but the stage presence of a cat that's been dead for three weeks.

I can imagine that you think your new record is "different" or "unique" or "unexpected" but I'm willing to bet it sounds exactly like your last few releases. Was it hard to write the exact same album again? I can imagine that you had some rough nights rewriting a lyric here or inserting a different chord there. But who am I to judge? Some people love reliability. Turns out in a Sedan, it's excellent.

Your confidence is understandable. For a Canadian band to break in the U.S. is definitely a big deal, however I believe at this point you are broken. Not the good kind of broken. The kind of broken where there's a terrible accident and you turn into a vegetable, but your friends still treat you the same way even though they'd rather you were dead.
Okay, that was a bit harsh. I should have just taken the low road and told you that you sucked. I'm sure there are probably people out there who enjoy your music. What do you think the odds are of them all being deaf mutes?

Well, that's all for now. I'm sure I'll see you guys on some awards show soon where your record company will pay someone a lot of money so that you can "win" an award.

With no respect whatsoever,
-Wes

In an era of Early Next Year milestones I'd like to add another to the list. We recently acquired our 2,000th friend on myspace! So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each of you who took the fraction of a second to click a button and make us your friend. I'm sure in every case it was done with the utmost sincerity, or just to make your own personal friend count larger. Either way it shows you support what we do, or maybe not, but it's greatly appreciated. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts or something.

Doug

Things that happened last weekend which I totally forgot about:

- Purchased new shoes after 2 years of wearing the same pair everyday.
- Broke my glasses and bought a new pair. Third time this year.
- Got maybe 3 hours of sleep between Saturday and Sunday.
- Forgot to pay my rent.
- Hated myself for forgetting to pay my rent.

On Friday we're planning to start rehearsing some songs for an upcoming project that we will talk more about another time.
On Saturday I have to move yet another person into a new place.
On Sunday I work at 6am.
On Monday I will be lucky to be alive.

Here's to hoping that one day I'll be funny...

-Wes

Last night at the Haven was the most fun I've had at a show in a long time. Not only did we play with some awesome bands, but half of Doug and I's co-workers showed up to partake in the festivities (and the beer). The crowd was absolutely fantastic and big thanks to everyone who came out to see us. I always feel like I'm ignoring everyone, but what can I say, I like to stay close to the bar.

Speaking Of started off the night by making a lot of noise. They had more gear than anyone I've ever seen. However, it was something different, so kudos to them.
Social Ghost was up second and they were amazingly tight. They sounded really good and had some catchy songs as well.
Pop.Culture.Clash. played third and they were a real treat. They were the ones who asked us to play, and they didn't cease to amaze. Again, really tight, great songs, and great guys. Watch out for them in the future.
We played fourth and it just wouldn't be a show if we didn't have a technical problem of some sort, right? My amplfier decided to crap out on me and we had to run the thing directly into the sound system which lead to my guitar sounding flat and uninspiring. Big thanks to the sound guy as he was amazingly patient and did all that he could to make sure the bands were happy with the sound. Probably the nicest sound guy we've ever had to deal with.
During our set I even got my drunk work supervisor on stage to play tambourine on "Window." It was quite a sight.
Fairweather Friend closed out the night and were super good as well. Those guys were so nice to us and are very very talented.

Bottom line: we made a lot of new friends, got drunk with old friends, and I had the time of my life. So again, thanks to everyone who was there regardless of which band you were there to see. It's nights like that which make me want to quit my day job. Unfortunately, playing clubs once a week just won't pay the bills. Yet.

I always publish these blogs and then think of ten things I forgot to write, so stay tuned for an edit or three.

Shirts are coming soon. Soon, I tell you.

-Wes

For those of you who live in Orlando, now would be a good time to run out to your favorite CD store, music store, or public hang out to pick up a copy of Octobers edition of Connections Magazine. It's a free local music guide and guess who makes an appearance in this issue... that's right. Us.

Our dear friend Drunk Jenn (of Jennannapalooza fame) wrote up a small blurb about the band. It's not huge, but it's nice to get a little bit of recognition within the local music scene. I'll probably type it up a bit later and post it here since it isn't terribly long, but trust me, it's way cooler to see it in print. There's even a picture.

So we're playing tonight at The Haven. We're playing fourth. It's going to be the first show in a while where we've never played with any of the other bands. Since all five groups are slightly different in style, I think the crowd will be an interesting mix of people, but hopefully they'll give every band a fair chance and not spend their evening standing in the parking lot. I always hate when that happens.

Welcome to October. Today is the first of the month. Also my father's birthday. I should call him.
September is gone for now, so here's five things I liked about the last thirty days:

1. Retro Pay
2. Band lunches at Ti'Juana Flats
3. Being the only ENYer who doesn't care about sports
4. Mathew Good - In A Coma
5. Finally settling on shirt designs

Come hang out tonight and say hello. For once we get to play a club that's actually close to my apartment.

New things coming soon....

-Wes