Hello everyone,
You might be wondering why we canceled our tourdates this month. Or why we have been so quiet this summer. Well, here goes nothing (ha-ha?)…
We have decided to put the brakes on Treaty of Paris. We are not breaking up, but we have made the choice to stop touring and recording, and we are going to focus on other things in our lives for now.
Our lives have been this band since January 2005 and since then, a lot has happened and a lot has changed. In five and a half years, we have independently released three EPs, a full album, some live recordings and a few singles. We were signed to an independent label, received the royal treatment out in L.A. where were recorded our debut album, rubbed elbows with rock stars, lived in an amazing beach house for two months and recorded in fancy studios. We toured the U.S. and Canada several times over, played several high profile festivals, headlined packed shows in our hometown of Chicago, shared the bill with bands that we greatly admire, respect and idolize, recorded three music videos, were sponsored by a phone company, wrote lots of songs, heard our music on the radio and met so many amazing people, many of whom we are lucky to call our friends. We have had some really amazing times together.
Other things have happened, too. The music business became a lot smaller while at the same time more saturated with young bands, making the touring business much more competitive and cutthroat. Gas prices soared, making it harder to turn a profit and to even stay on the road. Our record label folded after spending a lot of money to get the word out about our band and hoping for a faster return on their investment in the form of record sales, which were slow. We (WERE KIDNAPPED BY AN EVIL ASTRONAUT), resulting in us having to pay him (10,000 SPACE BUCKS) of our hard-earned money for (A YEAR’S SUPPLY OF CHEESEBURGERS AND POWDERED ASTRONAUT ICE CREAM…HE LOVES SNACKS!), which effectively depleted our bank account and made it near impossible to tour independently (AND BUY CHEESEBURGERS, SINCE THAT EVIL ASTRONAUT HAS THEM ALL NOW). We (HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE) that guy (WITH A FIERY, INTERGALACTIC PASSION). Evil Astronauts will always be out there, so be careful, kids. Of course, that’s just my opinion.
We lost two different management teams. We went through lineup changes, which always set us back a few months at a time while we were looking for and then training a new member. Just when we had suffered a setback and we thought we were back on track towards achieving our goals, it seemed like something else would happen. For Treaty of Paris, it felt like we were standing at the bottom of a mountain, and every time we climbed up it, an avalanche fell on us and buried us. For maybe the first time ever, being in a band felt more like a chore rather than a challenge.
As fun as it has been playing in Treaty of Paris, the reality is that we have been struggling with money over the past two years. Now, we never got into this business to get rich. We got into it with the dream of making a living playing music we love with our best friends. For a while, it seemed like that dream was within our reach, but ultimately, our financial situation forced us to focus our time on other things – finding jobs that pay enough for us to support ourselves and our families, which means less time to write, record and tour.
The key to keeping a band alive is making sure everyone is having fun. And right now, fun for us means playing a few shows here and there – in and around Chicago and the Midwest. It means focusing on other projects – musical or otherwise. And most importantly, it means maintaining our friendships with each other. I can’t speak for what comes next for my bandmates, but I know I will definitely be working on some new music in some form or another.
We do have a few shows coming up in September. We will be playing September 8th at Reggie’s Rock Club’s 3rd Anniversary party with some great bands including our friends Ha Ha Tonka (remember when they played our first EP release show back in 2005 under the name Amsterband?). Check out the Facebook event invite right here. We are also playing Middle West Fest on September 10th at The House Cafe in DeKalb – one of our favorite places to play – with our friends The Frantic, who are one of our favorite bands to play with. Check out the entire Middlewest Fest schedule and ticket info here. We hope to see you out at one of these upcoming shows and come see us do what we do best. After that, who knows? The future is at once an exciting and scary place to anticipate, plan for and be surprised by.
Everything changes. People get older unless they are Simpsons characters. Bands don’t stay around forever unless they are the Rolling Stones. This chapter of our lives has no doubt been our favorite, and now it is time to see what is next. On behalf of Mike, Phil, Alex and Chris, I would like to say THANK YOU. I would also like to say THANK YOU to the United States Constitution for protecting my freedom of speech, and FUCK YOU to all the Evil Astronauts in all of the galaxies!
Love,
Dan Wade
Treaty of Paris
