How was your July?
Hey!
It's basically mid-August, which somehow feels like no time at all from my last letter. But this one's the last oddly-timed letter you'll get this year, in September it'll go back to sometime during the first week of each month. July was really good for music - I really loved Joyous Wolf's "Fearless," (which I got to hear live at their show back at the end of June and yes, they sound exactly like that live, maybe even better), Ida Mae's "Long Gone & Heartworn," which features Jake Kiszka of Greta Van Fleet, and Games We Play's "Deadbeat." As for longer releases, I loved Flight Club's debut album, Until The Sun Drowns and George O' Hanlon's EP, The Storm.
As for me, I spent July job-searching and getting used to the little part of Utah I now live in (which basically means walking to the bookstore down the way from me and discovering all the local Free Little Libraries). There's not so much I can say about Utah - it's very hot, much hotter than New York ever was because it's a dry sort of heat, not a humid one. I can see the mountains all around, closer than I've been. It makes me feel so small and so aware of my aliveness, but in a good way. The people are really friendly, which shocks me, because I can't remember people (strangers) being nice to you on the street just because. The amount of times people have wished me "Good morning!" just as I was passing them by on the sidewalk is astounding, that doesn't really happen in New York (in the city and the state). I haven't visited Salt Lake City yet, but hopefully soon I will, at least before October. My favorites cleopatrick, Ready the Prince and ZIG MENTALITY are playing Kilby Court there in October, and I can't wait to see them. The only local-ish place I can recommend so far is Beans & Brews, a coffee shop, it's affordable and tastes really great. But - this New Yorker girl misses Dunkin' so much, and cheap deli sandwiches (I would do anything for a BEC with homefries on a roll right now). I've found a good enough Dunkin' replacement, no local deli place yet.
I wish I could go on tour and write about my experiences and take photos of everything. Live music is back, sorta, and I ache to be a part of it in a tangible way. Writing about music cannot compare to living on the road, surrounded by the music. I want to experience that so bad. But back to me taking photos...there's one photographer I've been really fond of for years - Andy DeLuca. He worked with 5SOS back in 2018 to create the visuals for their Youngblood record and tour. I think he might still work with them now, I'm not certain, I don't really keep up with 5SOS anymore. What I loved about Andy's work was how real the photos felt to me, how you could feel the movement, hear the music, how you could close your eyes and imagine yourself right in the crowd in front of them...(that's also how I feel about fleenormality's show pictures, he's my favorite photographer these days. The way he captures passion and emotion is so, so brilliant.). Back in 2018, Andy had this really distinct style of grainy, blurry, almost candid photos that I fell in love with. I love the candid, I love the disposable camera stuff, I love all those really bad, low quality photos from the 70s that you see all the time of The Rolling Stones and the Woodstock crowds. I want to make some of my own photos like those someday.
Lastly...at the very end of July, I started watching the bootleg cut (director's cut) of Almost Famous. If you know anything about this magazine, anything about me, you'd know that I love that film & it inspires me hugely. I haven't found the time to finish that version of the movie yet, but there's a part in it where one of the members of the band in that film, Russell, says something to the groupie character, Penny Lane, and it's been stuck in my brain ever since I heard it, so now I'm leaving it here for you. It's this: "(rock n' roll will miss) the way you turn a hotel room into a home, the way that you pick up strays wherever you go, the way that you know the words to every song, EVERY SONG, especially the bad ones...the real name that you won't reveal."
with love,
Cherri Cheetah
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