/ jono diener
Check out Jono talking about Flint, MI in Alternative Press issue 285!
Swellers Secret Spots: Beehive Cafe / Pittsburgh, PA
Our friend Evan (Into It. Over It.) showed us this spot and it made our touring in Pittsburgh experience infinitely better. You walk in and hear punk rock music, see tattooed mid to late twenties punk or hardcore enthusiasts working behind the counter and it feels like home.
I ordered the thai peanut tofu sandwich, barley soup and a delicious iced mocha. The place doubles as a place for delicious coffee do I felt with my new found interest I should indulge.
The sandwich was misleadingly filling although it looks like a smaller serving at first glance. Cooked just right and anything Thai related adds perfection to food. The soup was the first time I willingly tried barley and I loved it, perfect addition to the sandwich. I did the fat guy thing and dipped my sandwich in the soup mmmmmmm. Iced mocha was great too and didn’t get gross after the 2nd half which I learned happens often.
Everyone else enjoyed their food and it was the perfect, healthy, amount of full. Also stop by to see Roger from White Wives working there and give him a huge tip!
Swellers rate this place: affordable, perfect pre-show meal and great atmosphere.
Jono
Swellers Secret Spots: Green / San Antonio, TX
A few tours ago we were brought around the corner from the venue The White Rabbit to a restaurant simply named, Green. Nick is vegan and I’m vegetarian so while everyone goes off to eat fast food or generic stuff we try to find the best healthy (or non meat as plentiful) spots.
You walk into a cool Tex-Mex decorated restaurant with amazing smells and a friendly staff. We were seated and the menu was so great it was hard to pick one item. We always order a buffalo wing appetizer and I usually ask what I call “The American Question” which is, “which thing is the biggest?”. Servers usually hate it, but I like being smart with my money. Nick ordered the chicken fried steak, Dan our guitar tech ordered the Reuben an I got the “Neatloaf” aka vegan meatloaf. Soul food is something very hard to find but damn it’s good when you get it.
Nick and I’s meals were humongous. I remember the meatloaf being a small portion but this filled the whole plate like a slab of ribs. The sauces were incredible, mashed potatoes were just like my Mom makes and the kale was spot on. I didn’t even know what kale was until a few months ago and I fell in love. Super good for you and tasty. Darker greens are always the best! We destroyed the the wings and our meals until our hands were shaking holding the forks and we couldn’t eat anymore. The server asked if we were ready for dessert and we just laughed.
We rate Green: incredibly awesome, affordable, and delicious.
Jono
My friend James teaches an after school program for seventh and eighth graders at Flint’s Southwestern Academy which was perfect because we needed some younger kids to act in our new video for our song, “Inside My Head”. James’ co-worker let us use her son, Anthony, and his two sisters to act in the video and they did a killer job. In exchange James asked if I could come to his class and teach the kids a little bit about drums for their lesson “Things That Go Boom” and drumming was something everyone could relate to.
I’m always into giving back to the community and figured it’d be cool challenging myself with public speaking to some inner city kids who could honestly care less about me or our band. If I could hold their attention that would be a feat in itself. I was told it was 3 half an hour lessons I’d have to give but when we showed up we were told there were 2 classes and I’d have everyone for over an hour each… I’m good at running with things, but that seemed pretty scary. While we walked down the hallway everyone asked if me and James (aka Mr. H) were either best friends or brothers which I thought was hilarious. I loved how those were the only two options.
I brought a kick drum, snare drum, my pedal and hi hat stand into the class room and all of the kids already had drum sticks and practice pads ready to play along with me. I talked about how drums make the sounds they do, which one was which, and how I got started out drumming. They were pretty excited when I told them I get to travel the world with our band. The best was suddenly when kids started making requests for me to play Rihanna’s “Umbrella”, Green Day’s “American Idiot”, and for some reason “The Ozzy Osbourne Beat”. I had no idea what they were talking about until they hummed the melody to “Crazy Train” which barely has drums in the beginning… it was hilarious. These kids knew about three rock songs total and it was actually cute they were trying to bond with me. I started playing a simple beat then a girl asked if it was a Michael Jackson song. I told her it could work for a few of his songs then she covered her ears and told me she hates MJ. Her classmates proceeded to berate her with insults at how dumb she was for not liking it. I then went to find out the girl hated drums completely and walked out when I started playing. Everyone was laughing at her and I tried to hold back a smile. These kids DO NOT hold anything back. I then told her the same beat wasn’t a Michael Jackson song, but an AC/DC song and she was not amused.
After talking I did a little drum solo for each class and then let the kids come up to learn a beat for themselves. At first it was awkward trying to not only get the kids’ attention when they’d turn away to start talking to their friends or use their cell phones (don’t even get me started on kids using cell phones these days, I swear I’m too old). I played a straight beat and told the kids to add their own part to it on their drum pads so we created a big drum circle in the room. Think less of a hippie drum circle and more of a cool STOMP kind of deal. As we started a girl started rapping over it out of nowhere and it was really really cool. The craziest part was watching these kids learn a cool beat within minutes. They struggled and were ready to give up because of how weird it felt to play the proper way, but I made them sit down and try again until they got it. Whether or not they want to go on playing, at least I got about 15 kids going home and telling their families at school they learned how to play a drum beat. Maybe they’ll go on to music? Who knows? The girl who rapped told me her stage name was Alex and she wanted to sing in a band, asking if she can join mine. She swore she only needed one dollar a day. She is a record label’s dream. I played some more and she rapped in front of the class then the kids helped me take my drums down the hallway to my car. They were awesome.
It’s pretty amazing being able to teach people something, especially at a young age. That’s why I have so much respect for teachers because I know I wouldn’t be able to do their job. Every little thing impacts someone’s life and who knows, maybe music can keep these kids off the streets, off drugs and even one day get them some kind of scholarship to an awesome college. It’s all about baby steps, but I’m glad I got to be a part of it.
Jono
(Source: fueledbyramen)
from Jonathan Diener of The Swellers:
We’ve been having an incredibly eventful time in Sydney… I guess having a show and 3 days off in the city makes that a little easier. We’ve been hanging out with our band buddies nonstop getting breakfast at the same spot each morning (a normal meal is MINIMUM ten dollars here.. craziness!)
We went to Bondi Beach where they film the show Bondi Rescue. Saw some amazing scenery, felt some freezing water, and walked all over for hours. The next day we went to the aquarium, the Sydney Opera House and… saw Hugh Jackman! Pretty crazy stuff going on and it’s all been an amazing time.
OH! Almost forgot, we got to play an in-store acoustic show at Resist Records in Sydney! The place was awesome and Nick/Ryan played with Forrest from Hellogoodbye going back and forth between songs. Pretty amazing time. Off to Melbourne next!
- Jono
Additionally, today is the 2 Year Anniversary of The Swellers first Fueled By Ramen release, Ups and Downsizing. Click HERE to read a note from Jono about this release. Make sure you send some love to The Swellers today on Twitter or Facebook! - Fueled By Ramen
(Source: fueledbyramen)
from Jono Diener of The Swellers:
After 4 flights in a day, and time traveling enough so The Swellers never experienced the day September 22nd… we landed in Brisbane, Australia! We walked into the hotel and got to see 4 bands we’re friends with waiting in the lobby… sort of a pre-cursor to how awesome this tour is going to be! We checked in to some nice rooms then in a few hours we headed to the animal sanctuary!
Swellers, Hellogoodbye, Yellowcard, Young Guns, Make Do And Mend and Set Your Goals packed in a shuttle bus and we ended up in a place full of koalas, kangaroos, tasmanian devils, dingos, wallabies, and many other cool animals. This place is where you see every band get their cliche picture taken holding a koala. Apparently it’s been going on since 1927! We even got to see a picture of Marilyn Manson holding a koala which was the funniest thing ever.
We held koalas, laid around with kangaroos and tried to free the dingos to have as our own. It was an awesome day. The next day we played the first show in Brisbane and it was a blast! Huge outdoor festival and got to see so many of our friends.
Shout outs to our friends on this tour: Terrible Things, We Are The Ocean, Young Guns, This Providence, Make Do And Mend, Hellogoodbye, Set Your Goals, Story Of The Year, Yellowcard, All Time Low, Face To Face.. and we’re making even more buddies. This is awesome!
-Jono
(Source: fueledbyramen)
