One of Australia’s hardest working DIY punk-rock bands, Melbourne punks Blind Man Death Stare (BMDS) can't seem to stop touring.
With a recently completed and successful tour with Straightline (Germany), the band are at it again for a national tour in June and July (these will be some of their last Australian shows of 2018), even hitting the west coast for the first time with The Decline.
BMDS are also recording their second full-length album with Jay Whalley (Frenzal Rhomb) and Daniel Antix (Nerdlinger) among the madness before they embark on a massive European tour including appearances at Punk Rock Holiday and Rebellion Fest.
The band share 5 things they enjoy about tour life.
1. Great highway food
After being on the road so many times, we've honed our skills into finding not so sh*tty highway food. You just have to pick your servos, which actually involves a lot of trial and error. Trying to avoid fast food is often hard, but not impossible.2. Sleeping quarters
From couches to floors to 5-star apartments to recording studios, we have seen and slept at/ on/ in them all. My all-time best was in Penang, Malaysia, where we had a 5-star apartment in an executive suite, top floor with a rooftop pool.My all-time worst was in Jakarta, Indonesia, when we had cardboard boxes as mattresses on a tiled floor, 50-degrees celsius at least and buzzing with dengue-riddled mosquitos. Not so fun.
3. Getting tied up
Sometimes on the road things get a little hectic and we need to get punished. Sometimes we punish each other for the pain, sometimes the pleasure. I bring my bag of tricks on the road and just recently picked up a horsewhip, which has been a great addition.Once I got handcuffed to the inside of the van screaming down the highway, blindfolded and gagged. It was quite a time.
4. The toilets
There are some superb toilets up and down the coast of this great country of ours. And then there's some really bad ones, like the piss smelling, poop-wreaking thunder box toilet just outside of Gundagai.I needed to go #2 once so bad, but couldn't even enter so I ended up going on the side of the road in a secluded rocky outcrop, positioned behind a bush, hovering over a bull ants nest.
5. Long drives
Spending weeks in a van that ends up resembling some sort of landfill, with your mates listening to tunes for hours on end is great. You pass out when you can, sitting up or wedged in somewhere, there's never a shortage of jokes and beautiful scenery so you just watch the world drive by.We love being on the road; it's kinda weird when you're not on tour. Despite the long drives and poor hygiene, we have had some of the best times of our lives and recommend it to everyone.
Blind Man Death Stare Tour Dates
Thu 31 May - Hamilton Station Hotel (Newcastle)Fri 15 Jun - Cherry Bar (Melbourne)
Fri 22 Jun - The Barwon Club (Geelong)
Sat 23 Jun - The Reverence Hotel (Melbourne)
Fri 29 Jun - Enigma Bar (Adelaide)
Thu 19 Jul - Mojos Bar (Fremantle)
Fri 20 Jul - Amplifier (Perth)
Sat 21 Jul - Prince of Wales (Bunbury)
Sun 22 Jul - Dunsborough Tavern
