Music At My Doorstep

    Around 6:30 p.m. on Monday, my phone rang its somewhat irritating xylophone ring.  This ring can only mean one of two things, since everyone that I talk to on a regular basis has their very own special ringtone in my phone: this was either a wrong number or someone I haven’t talked to in a long time.  To my pleasant surprise, it was the latter.  I couldn’t help by smile when I looked down and saw the words JP Hott flashing on my screen.  (Quick side note, I’m terrible with names so basically everyone in my phone has some kind of signifier following their name to help me remember who exactly they are.  JP took it upon himself to change his name in my phone from his band’s name to JP Hott.)

    The last time I had seen JP was back in the fall, when he and his band, We The Living, played a show at the Knitting Factory and stayed over at my house.  JP and I go way back, to my freshman year at the University of Wisconsin, when I was a fresh faced 18-year-old and we bonded at a boring sorority formal and we drank the night away.  We’ve been friends ever since, because we all know that solid friendships depend upon common interests, ours being music and beer pong.

    A few months after that fateful evening JP and I became friends, I had the fortune of meeting Ben, the drummer.  With his ever present vests and magnificent hairstyles, Ben is always entertaining to hang out with.  Over the years I’ve met the other members of the band: there’s Matt, the guitar player, who is a sweetheart, Stefan the bass player who always is smiling, and now Jasper, the newest member.

    But I digress.  So Monday night I get this phone call from JP, and I immediately know that this means We The Living have in some way ended up in NY, even though I’m fairly certain this was not planned.  We chat for a moment, and then he asks if there is any way they can crash on my floor that night.  “Yay!  Of course!  I miss you guys!  Come on over!” I say excitedly.

    They arrived around midnight and the fun began.  See, all of these boys are extremely tall, most of them over six feet, so even from the hugging stage I get caught up in their world, not to mention feel really short around them.  They regaled me with tales from their tour, how their van recently got broken into and Gary, their navigation system, was stolen.  I was filled in on how Jasper joined the band, what my boys have been up to in the past five months, and filled them in on my world at Purchase. 

    Things got really entertaining when they discovered the piano in my house and were taking turns playing.  I’m fairly certain that at one point, one of the guys, and I won’t say who so that he can keep some of his dignity, was playing music from Beauty and the Beast. As usual I did their laundry for them, at one point JP was wandering around wearing boxers and playing his guitar.  I love musicians.

    The next 24 hours were a blur.  The guys went into the city for some meetings and I attempted to do some work while running on very little sleep.  They came back in the afternoon and we decided to cook dinner.  It was delicious.  And being the polite, well-mannered Midwestern boys that they are, they even cleaned up!  The guys decided to go back into the city to see a concert, but Matt decided to stick around so he and I hung out.  We talked music, movies, and the Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon video.  Matt played the guitar while I worked on an article for The Brick.  A friend of mine came over and we made hot chocolate, and then I passed out early while Matt played music in the kitchen.

    Finally on Wednesday morning I had to say goodbye to my boys.  Their band is amazing and I wish they had a chance to play in NY this time.  (Shameless plug, I know, but go check out We The Living on Myspace, Facebook, iTunes, wherever!)  Their music is great, and they are extremely entertaining to listen to, or to watch their several video blogs about their tour antics.

    Most of the time when they are in town, I only get to see them for a few hours or at their shows, so getting to spend two days with them living in my house was really a treat.  For 36 hours my house was filled with music, jokes, laughter and good friends.  They’ve been gone for a day now and my house already seems overly quiet and I once again feel normal sized.  My dogs miss all the attention, and I miss having my old friends nearby.