Andy: Shell Shock has been around for about a decade and has seen about as many line ups as years. In all that time what we haven’t done so much is take trips that keep us away from our families and jobs for more than a night or two. In fact the five days we just spent traveling from Austin, TX to Orange County, CA marks our second longest trip, and only the second time we’ve been “on tour.” You’ll find plenty of people in bands tell you there’s no way to make it unless you’re road warriors, constantly in a van, on the road, grinding it out until you catch your break. The thing is, those people are probably right, which means we’re not trying to make it. We have no rock and roll fantasies, no dreams of turning hardcore into a career, or even wistful longings for life on the move. All we’re trying to do is play our hearts out for people who care to listen. But still, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to go somewhere you’ve never been, play for people you’ve never met, meet kids you never would have had the chance to other wise, then get back in the car and do it again the next day.

So this long weekend punk rock vacation got started as a way to commemorate the resurrection of Shell Shock. But not just to mark the occasion, it was because of how excited we all are about the way we sound, the songs we’re writing, and how well the four of us get along. Because being in a band is great and all, but when you hate the dudes you’re playing with it’s not worth the effort, but when you love the people in your band there really isn’t anything better. So we made calls, wrote e-mails, ran into headaches and obstacles all along the way and finally, with a week out, managed to book all four dates of a four date tour. And just to raise the level of difficulty, the only way this trip would have been possible is if we flew out to Austin and bummed gear like a bunch of douche bags for the whole deal.

We honestly tried our hardest to not be those guys, we offered to rent a back line, tried to trade shows for equipment, planned to meet up with friends who would let us borrow all the stuff a band needs minus guitars and a bass drum pedal, unfortunately in three out of the four shows it all fell through so we wound up imposing on the kindness of strangers night after night. On the bright side, because we weren’t hauling anything we were able to rent a nice midsize car and take full advantage of wide open desert highways and sweet gas mileage. Still, with all the effort and planning and good intentions things went awry at every opportunity. It really is a wonder this trip happened at all, let alone wound up being so much fun.

Anyway, the day of the trip finally arrives- all of our shit is packed, new t-shirts already sent ahead and waiting for us. Our first show in Austin is confirmed- but it’s been moved to a third venue, two of the three other bands have been dropped off the bill and we have no idea who’s equipment we’re gonna be playing with. Ok, fuck it, at least the plane is boarding and we’re on our way. And by “we” I mean Andy, Scoot, and Tim (singer, guitarist, bassist respectively) Mike, the drummer, bought a ticket on his own and swears it leaves 30 minutes after ours and gets in an hour later. It’s no big deal because we need to wait for baggage and pick up the rental upon arrival anyway, plus the show is only about 15 minutes from the airport so picking him up later won’t cost much time. First class, priority, and sections 1 and 2 have already boarded. About two thirds of the flight has already left the boarding area for the bird when we see a very harried Mike fast walking down the terminal still disheveled from security looking very concerned. So yeah, he didn’t have a different flight, but he did have a brand new speeding ticket to show for his effort to make it to the airport on time. Luckily the good people of the TSA took pity on poor Mike and expedited him through security.

Without any other surprises we landed in Austin, picked up the car and made our way over to Jay (not so) Drunk’s house to pick him and the shirts he’d been holding for us for the shows. Jay is a friend from Long Island we’ve had for a very long time, and a great guy…too bad he sucks at Buck Hunter. From the airport to Jay’s to the show, which turned out to be an outdoor stage in the middle of a condo complex by the pool, it only took about 30 minutes and one wrong turn. So we got there plenty early for a show that started late, ended early, and no one came to see anyway. But here’s the thing about doing shit part time, it really doesn’t matter when things don’t work out. Every experience is worth having so when it isn’t ideal it’s ok, we’ll just have this to joke about the next time we have to drive 8 hours for a show. Scoot was psyched just to hang out in Austin, we checked out a number of bars downtown.  Walked around 6TH street like a bunch of lame ass tourists and kept losing the more inebriated among us.

Scoot: Being that this was my first time in Texas I was psyched to hang out in Austin for a while. Besides Jay we also hooked up with his wife Kate, our old friend, Bonnie Blue, who used to book us in Indianapolis during the first incarnation of Shell Shock and one of Andy’s old El Paso army buddies. First thing we did was try and play an open mic night but no luck so we checked out 6TH Street. While some where just happy to sit in a bar I took off and checked out the local establishments.

I dragged Tim and Mike with me to check out this souvenir place that had a Museum Of The Weird in the back. So we paid our $1 and took the tour. They had a shrunken head, deformed animals, skulls and other “weird” stuff. At the end of the tour they had the sword swallower and he also stuck nails up his nose. To me the weirdest thing in the store was not the museum but the guy behind the counter. He had this weird comb over that he tried to make into a hipster haircut but it just wasn’t working. But do hipster haircuts ever work?  It’s just too hard to really explain. Across the street from the “weirdness” was a Death Metal Pizza Place. I didn’t eat there but when you walked by you could hear the death metal blasting. 

Andy: This behavior continued until about midnight when a decision had to be made, stay in Austin and get a few hours sleep, or drive through the night and get to El Paso early. A night in Austin vs. breakfast in El Paso, can you guess what we did? You guessed it… we rounded up our missing people and piled in the car for an all night drive through lovely Texas at a very high rate of speed. Like responsible adults none of us had enough sleep, and some of us had too much to drink, so we took turns driving.

We all brought some kind of digital media player, but no one remembered the cord to connect it to the car and to make matters even worse, we couldn’t keep Coast to Coast AM on for more than 10 minutes at a time. I’m not sure how many people reading this have ever tried to drive through the night but station scanning in the heart of Texas is not the way to do it. Luckily for us the rental achieved near light speed and the good highway officers of the State of Texas saw fit not to look for speeders on a Thursday night so we made it to a Luvs rest stop soon enough and found that desperately needed cord. With music playing and dawn approaching we raced on to El Paso.

We got into town about 7 am and ate the cheapest breakfast we could find. We then drove around town like douche bag tourists again until a friend of ours responded to an SOS sent via Facebook about needing a place to crash. From there it was showers, a few hours sleep, Persian food from a crazy ass gas station and some rounds of lame ass plastic tipped darts until it was show time.

This was the first show we booked, and thanks to friends in town it came together pretty well. If you’re ever in the desert end of Texas look for a bar called Ms Lip’s Lounge downtown and have yourself a good time with some good people.

Scoot: Ms Lip’s was a pretty cool place with a pretty cool set up. It’s always cool to have a place that lets them book all ages shows. The first band was The Pinsetters and their drummer Chino had been hanging with us pretty much all day and he was a real cool guy. They were a ska/soul band. I am not usually a big fan of ska but I liked these guys. Up next were Against the Crowd, who were a good hardcore band. People were constantly moving for the entire show and it didn’t stop when we played. Some of the kids knew some of our songs from when Andy was stationed in El Paso and they heard our stuff which was real cool. We played well and had a great time. After the show we went and had the worst tacos I have ever had in my life. They were real small and came in a bowl of grease. Sound good? I wish I could remember the name of the place so I could tell you to stay away but the name escapes me, but if you’re ever in El Paso just message Shell Shock and we’ll get you the name so you know to stay away.

Andy:  After some shenanigans trying to find a place to crash we wound up sleeping 5-ish people in the hotel room and then meeting up for a farewell lunch on our way out of town. Here’s the thing to remember about El Paso. It’s a small scene, great energy, a lot of really dedicated kids doing everything they can to make a life for themselves. Lunch was over, the desert called, we hit the road. Our single longest stretch was behind us, now we were on our way to Tempe, AZ to play a show that was only confirmed two weeks prior.

Andy: The show was a free one (they did take a collection for us and we made out pretty good) in a dive bar in what looked to be a pretty empty part of town- which explains why they tolerate a punk rock bar. Too bad there’s no part of any town around here left for a bar like this. It was the perfect kind of cinder block bunker for a hardcore show. No stage, no special lighting, pretty small, cash only, covered in stickers and sodden wisdom scrawled in sharpie. The Yucca Tap Room is the kind of place every scene should have as its headquarters.

Scoot: Closet Case played first. They played a real aggressive set of good punk. They ended their set with the singer giving a “friendly” right hook to someone in the crowd. Then a pop punk band from CA played but their name escapes me. Rotten Youth played next. These guys were real good and they were kind enough to give us each a CD. Real good snotty punk rock. Finally it was Shell Shock. We played a real good tight set and there was plenty of dancing and a good time was had by all. We have definitely won some people over on this trip so far. Todd Hamilton (Warzone) came out to see us but he showed up too late but we all went out to another bar with Todd, Rotten Youth, and a bunch of other locals and stayed until closing. Then the party continued at the Rotten Youth house and then we all slept on cardboard boxes. Now that’s urban camping.

Andy: We had a great time in Tempe, met some good people, ran into some old friends and made some new ones. Even had home cooked breakfast for our troubles. Unfortunately we couldn’t linger, we were up early and headed west for our final show. Just like the previous stretches of highway, we tried our hardest to speed as often and as fast as possible. The desert really is beautiful, but there’s no need to take your time to admire any particular patch of it. Besides, when you’re not in a beat up van covered in punk rock stickers you don’t draw nearly as much attention. So the hours passed by taking close to 100 miles per with them. We switched out drivers, and I-Pods every time we stopped for gas and sugary drinks in sizes now outlawed in NYC. In Texas we passed through an immigration check point and entering California we had to pass through an inspection/registration check point. Neither time did anyone find a decent reason to search the car…being old has its advantages kids. Thanks to modern technology we were able to call some friends, change our plans and find our way to Radiation Records in Anaheim, CA with only one U-turn. From there it was just a matter of eating one more burrito, killing some time in the shop and then heading out to the skate park for the show.

Scoot: We met up with Nat (Radiation Records/Aborted) and Anthony (Trench Rot/Aborted) who we had toured with in 2005 when they played in the Neon Maniacs. Once again, old friends more like family were there to greet us. The spot was great and the show had some awesome bands. The place was called Unit 6 Skate Park and the owner left some square footage behind the bowls that the kids skate in specifically for small shows. It was great seeing a guy giving up part of his business for an all ages venue, and seeing all the kids who came out. The first 2 bands were American Scheme and Dead Infect. Both were really good. Next up were Trench Rot. They played some good crusty punk. Then it was Shell Shock’s turn. We played really well and won a few kids over. The Aborted played after us and they play some fast shirtless fat guy punk with a little ass crack thrown in. It was a good show and a cool place.

Andy:  We tried kicking around after the show looking for something to do, but let’s be honest- New York Hardcore has no business in Orange County bars. (No joke- Scoot)

Scoot: I was really sorry to see our little trip end because we had a lot of fun and I can’t wait to go on the road again. Hopefully next year!! (Look for our new EP in 2013)

Andy:  For better or worse that was our trip, we played well, we met great people, we learned that we can travel as a band without so much as a dirty look between the four of us. Just brothers playing music we love thousands of miles from home for nothing other than the sheer loveof it.