almost monday’s gig stories

Rock bands’ wild-gig stories often involve violence, mayhem, destruction, and the scream of police sirens. For San Diego’s (intentionally non-capitalized) almost monday, nuptials tripped them up. “The worst story we have,” relates singer Dawson Daugherty, “was definitely playing a weird wedding in the middle of a park. We thought we were just playing music during the reception, but I somehow became the MC of the wedding. I remember the bride’s dad asking me to basically run the night, and I had no idea what I was doing.

“Anyway, after we finished we were driving away and somebody in the car in front of us flashed us. Moral of the story, it was a very strange show.”

Guitarist Cole Clisby recalls misadventures out in the big bad world. “Probably the worst story from playing outside of California was from this January with AJR. We flew to Buffalo in the middle of a big snowstorm the day after we played in Chicago, and it was the scariest flight I’ve been on.”

“AJR’s bus broke down in the snowstorm on the way to Buffalo, and they barely made it in time to set up and play, so unfortunately there was no time for an opener. We ended up just hanging out and eating wings in Buffalo for the day in the dead of winter.”

Unlike many San Diego acts, the almost monday fellows all hail from the area. “I grew up in San Marcos,” explains Daugherty. “[Bassist] Luke [Fabry], grew up in Escondido, and Cole in Encinitas. I think we all initially bonded over surfing, so Luke and I would drive frequently to Encinitas to surf.

“When we all moved away for college Luke and I attended Point Loma Nazarene, and Cole went to UCSD. It was cool for us to all experience a different side of San Diego.”

Clisby elaborates, “We all learned to surf fairly young and still often do when we’re home. My dad was a pro surfer in the ’80s, so I’ve always been encouraged to surf a lot with him and stood up on my first wave when I was six years old.”

“I live walking distance to Grandview beach, so we’ll usually meet up and surf there. I lived right above Black’s Beach in La Jolla when I was going to UCSD, so I’d get lots of good waves there. I’ve also spent a solid amount of time surfing Seaside Reef and DMJs on base at Camp Pendleton. To get the best waves I usually go on a surf trip with my dad down to Baja.”

Fabry recalls early impressions of the others. “My first impression of Dawson was a kid who had endless amounts of energy and a desire to be the life of the party. My first impression of Cole was a calm, cool, and collected type who was way too good at guitar.”

Daugherty reflects, “As a band we were influenced by artists like David Bowie, Prince, U2, and The Beatles. I think not only the music, but the culture of these artists, contributed to us as a collective coming together and wanting to create. I grew up on U2 records and I remember watching the U2 Rattle and Hum live dvd and idolizing how they walked on stage, what they wore, and how they moved.”

Sans a manager, at first, they took to booking their own gigs. “Cold calls!” Daugherty laughs. “We just looked up bookers’ emails and sent out messages to every venue from SD to LA. Sometimes they would respond and help us get on a show, but most of the time we wouldn’t hear back.”

The group’s also noted for its bright-hued videos. “For our videos,” says Daugherty, “we asked our talented friends to help us make them. We really love shooting in film when we can. Shooting film is such a cool process, because you really have to nail your shots, which makes you get creative and intentional with the scenes you shoot.”

The band's debut EP don't say you're ordinary (still with the lowercase) comes out October 9.