Alexx Bond

Alexx Bond

http://facebook.com/Vandread

Well, currently, I am a student at The Art Institute of Austin, enrolled in their Media Arts and Animation program with intent on becoming a 3D modeler and animator for video games, movies and such. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not really any good at coming up with original ideas and designs and drawing them out, which isn't ideal for an art student. However, I want to be the guy who takes others' concepts, pulls them from the paper and gives them life. I'm not that skilled at it yet, but I'm still learning and like it quite a bit, so I'm hoping it all pans out, because this is the only type of career I can see myself have and enjoy. In my free time, I'm typically spending an arguably unhealthy amount of time on the internet, watching TV and anime, playing video games and hanging out with friends at concerts, most typically Quiet Company shows that are occasionally followed by trips to Waffle House, where we are served by hilarious and awesome waitresses.

I've always been terrible at picking just one or even a short list of favorite anythings, but I have seriously been loving Preaching to the Choir Invisible, Parts 1 & 2 as of late, though now I have no idea which song is which. Thanks for screwing up the titles guys! We Went to the Renaissance Fair (All Our Friends Were There) has quickly become a favorite as well. Trying to pick from anything else would be impossible, so I think it's probably best to leave this as it is.

Years and years ago, back in the days of MySpace, my love of Eisley and Taylor's connection to them led me to Quiet Company's profile, where I heard and really enjoyed some of their songs. I only listened to them on that site though and after a while, I had kinda forgotten about them. Then about this time last year, I found a copy of Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon at the now closed Hastings in Round Rock near my school, thought "oh hey I remember these guys they were pretty good" and bought it on the spot. After absolutely loving that album, I preordered Songs for Staying In and grabbed a copy of Shine Honesty from Amazon and had all three on rotation for the longest time. Then some time later, I learned that you guys had a show on July 4th and, since I didn't have any plans and needed to be cheered up from some less than cheerful stuff I was going through, I decided to go to that, which turned out to be a fantastic idea. You guys put on one hell of a show, despite a largely unenthusiastic lawn chair crowd, and once your set was over, I met, talked and hung out with you guys for the rest of the night and had a great time. Since then, I've gone to one QC concert a month, on average, and have made a great group of friends in both the band itself and its fans and have become more confident, outgoing and all around happier as a result of all of this, which means a lot to me. So uh, thanks for that you guys.

As a token of gratitude and out of love of sharing great music, I've taken and uploaded several videos of your shows and have worked on getting many of my friends into your music, often times to an obnoxious degree, and have been pretty successful in converting them into fans. Three of my friends from high school must have recognized your name from all my Facebook plugging, as they went to see you in San Marcos over the weekend and all loved you. I have a lot of friends in many other states, and even a few different countries, that quite like you as well, so when the inevitable nation and worldwide tours happen, I hope that I've helped plant a few seeds to sold out shows. I realize that covers a lot more than just "discovery," but, uh, whatever. I tend to type a lot.

I went to a few concerts with my mom when I was younger, but those weren't entirely my idea, so I don't count them. The first concert I chose and was really excited to go to was Eisley's show at Antone's during their Combinations tour with The Envy Corps, Vedera and the Myriad. I completely missed The Envy Corps and only saw the second half of Vedera's set, but what I was there for was incredible. The night did end on a bitterwseet note though, as the camera I used to record Eisley's set ran out of tape during their "last" song, so I didn't get the rest of that or the two or three song encore. I also didn't get to meet the band, as they went back to their bus and I couldn't wait for them there as it was late and my aunt and uncle were with us, and they had an early start the next morning. I also had no way of getting the footage off the tape for the longest time, an issue I finally resolved last year with the use of a school camera.

Barenaked Ladies - Rock Spectacle Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist fun. - Aim and Ignite BNL is one of my all time favorite bands and Rock Spectacle is an album of their best songs from their best period, at their best, live. Any version of Brian Wilson is inferior and I can never not get chills from Steven Page yelling in Break Your Heart. Portugal is another favorite and, to me, The Satanic Satanist is their best, and possibly perfect, album. I listened to that album countless times without tiring of it, so it'd be perfect for a desert island. fun.'s Aim and Ignite has always been that one album that has never failed to make me smile and improve my mood, which it has had to do at times. It being one hell of an album doesn't hurt either. Honorable mention goes to Florence + the Machine's Lungs, Eisley's The Valley and Sufjan Steven's Illinois and/or The Age of Adz. Any of those albums could probably be swapped in for the third album and I'd still have a killer selection. Also, hell, let's throw the FLCL Original Sound Track NO.3 by the pillows on the honorable mention list, but only so long as it can include the handful of tracks it is inexcusably missing.

Ahahaha, that would probably have to be Paramore's All We Know is Falling. I'm not too ashamed to admit I used to like them, but I bought that album hoping to like it as much as Riot. That turned out to not be the case, as I found the whole album uninteresting and each song just sounded the same to me. Now that I'm not really a fan of their music anymore, I just kinda hide that album from view.

That's classified information.

Well first off, I got a haircut before the Twitter show at the ND, and another one after that, but I guess those just weren't enough for you. However, your crimes against me have since been rectified, so I suppose we should call Bush and ask to borrow his banner for the occasion.

I believe the great Childish Gambino, swagged be his name, put it most poignantly when he said "I'm fucking bitches left and right, my dick is ambidextrous." In all seriousness though, this haircut has yet to earn me any crazy lays. I swear my game is that bad; I will never make out with a GAP ad.

Quiet Company concerts have always been fun, especially when they have had the added fun of joining the On Modern Men stage mob. The ACL Satellite Sets show probably would have been my favorite if I hadn't been stuck in a scriptwriting class that night. Being on that DVD would have been fantastic.

That said, my least favorite Quiet Company experience would have to be when you closed out The Mohawk's Wild Frontier Fest, which admittedly wasn't any fault of yours. For those who weren't there, don't remember or forcibly buried memories of that night, allow me to explain, with apologies to those of the third category. I, along with Deneece, Colleen and a few others, were in the indoor venue anticipating and trying to reach the front of the stage in time for Quiet Company's set. It had already been a pretty long day at that point, and we still had at least three bands before QC went on. The first of those bands was Zlam Dunk, whose fans started a mosh pit right behind us, which resulted in us occasionally getting pushed and, on at least one occasion, have an airborne body land on one of us from seemingly out of nowhere. After that was a very slow band which was followed the oversized, frat boy band, Sip Sip, which took the stage, as well as nearly an hour of time to sound check and space in front of the stage for their horn section to stand, where they proceeded to blare in everyone's faces. By the time Quiet Company made it to the stage, an hour or two later than scheduled, we were all exhausted and incredibly irritated. It was still a good set, including a tasteful 9/11 joke and a new acoustic song I recorded but still have no title for, but by then, everything preceding it had kinda ruined the rest of the night. I didn't enjoy the recent Shady Grove show as much as I had hoped, but that's just because we arrived late and it's a seated venue with limited standing space and a group of chairs with a massive tree between them and the stage. Again though, that's not something to fault the band for. All of your performances have been aces.

Oh stop that. There's nothing strange about it. There are dozens of us. Dozens! Seriously, it's a fantastic show with some of the most memorable characters and best dialogue of any show out there. I do not understand your prompt and I won't respond to it.

This one's easy: Taylor's superpower is his ability to sooth enemies with lovey dovey piano pop. This causes them to lower their guard, giving him an opportunity to scream at them, emitting sonic soundwaves from his mouth. His immune system is shit though, so he easily succumbs to allergies.

Jeff is a master of homeless man disguise, able to blend into any alleyway with ease. He also has super strength and is able to throw drum kits at enemies with deadly precision, but he attacks indiscriminately and rarely with his own equipment, causing trouble for everyone.

Cody is a great acrobat and very agile; however, he has yet to master his abilities and tends to spaz out, becoming a great source of amusement and danger for anyone near him. His young age also makes him unable to enter bars and other restricted locations where many criminals take safe haven, so he just kicks rocks outside most of the time.

Matt has the ability to bring anything he draws to life to fight for him. He often travels to and from London, which causes him to be missing in action at inconvenient times and leaves him victim to jetlag, which, for the sake of me giving him a weakness, is something he has inexplicably never managed to adapt to.

Tommy's wedding ring transforms him into a source of unwanted affection from women. When against a female foe, he uses this to his advantage, luring them into a trap, where his wife Betsy is ready and waiting to pull out the bitch's weave. Too much of this, however can cause Betsy to become irritated, causing her to sometimes attack Tommy, especially when the women pose no genuine threat.

Leah is of the all important support class, able to heal other party members and buff their abilities. She is the figurative motherly caretaker of the bunch, but she sometimes leaves battles early or doesn't show up entirely to take care of her literal daughter. Or watch American Idol.

Paul is the technologically savvy man behind the curtain, aiding the rest by scanning the internet and manipulating social networking sites for clues to crimes and to track down villains. He has a history of posting pictures of his naked son online, which has landed him on countless government lists, crippling his web surfing abilities and often putting him on the run from the feds.

The first animal to come to mind when reading this was a bear. Or perhaps it was "beard." A bearded bear! He'd probably have to wear a suit. As far as me wearing it, sure, that could potentially be fun.

I believe that would have to go to either The Emasculated Man and the City That Swallowed Him or Tie Your Monster Down. Aside from those I mentioned above, those are some of my absolute favorites and I think they could be amazing live.

Despite just being made Fan of the Week, I have been repeatedly called the biggest Quiet Company fan by everyone by the of name Betsy Blank. Considering she was FotW for nearly a month, I'd say she knows her shit, occupationally related pun slightly intended.

Vandread