Men As Trees
 

I like them, theyre songs are literally over 13 minutes long on their newer E.P. On the Crows Nest, Looking Out. Theyre pretty good, CTTS like progression in their songs, the singing parts are normally accompanied with a sort of punk rock beat. Guitar is pretty good. Check em out.
www.myspace.com/menastreesmi

Men as Trees-Both EPs
Men As Trees.rar

gah. that made me want to go out and buy a delay pedal.

they sound cool :P

Were Getting A Split With Them! Woot

sweet =D, theyre pretty cool dudes.

They make sweet jams and when you guys know what's going to be on your side of the split you should definitely post that junk up.

we're gonna start recording soon enough. XD

whats your bands name?

oh yeah, this is the first time Capulette practiced since november of 2006, so it's a tad too sloppy. but here's what we did so far, a lot of freshly improvised parts. nice to know my vocals changed since the early Capulette days.

hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/9uskin

Capulette.
www.myspace.com/tsacore

we don't really have any recordings of our latter work. we were barely three months old when those recordings were done

I'll stick to CoC

Well theyre recording a full length with a total of wait for it......FOUR SONGS!!! haha

heres a little of my conversation with them

"pindleskin run - 20+ minutes
scenes from a voyage - recording on monday but i think its about 10-15 minutes
autumn - 10-15 minutes
what they were - 6-8 minutes

so its only 4 songs but i think it will qualify as a full length. so we'll have the cd on tour and like all our other music, ill have it up for free downloads, we definitely dont give a **** about making any money."

I really cant wait for this

This is really great music.

haha, agreed =)

the plans we have for a split are put on hold, i'll talk to them again once Caitlyn Bailey makes a few more songs. Capulette broke up at the wrong time

Any progress with the split?

i gotta talk to them, CB has some new material we just need to record

They have their Winter tour demo up right now. Two new songs, theyre pretty good.

I rather enjoy this. On a side note I like how on their shirts they use a virus lol. Like the upclose picutre of a single virus cell.

we played a show with these guys last night. they played some more new songs live, which are absolutely amazing. it was one of the better shows we've been on.

word has it these guys are doing a 35 day summer tour and trying to hit mexico for 2 weeks as well. look out for that.

awesome! I hope I can finally see them in Bmore again haha. Thanks for the info alliteration =). When is your e.p. officially coming out?

eh, sometime. we just need to do the artwork. i'll let everyone know when its going to be out, hopefully sometime in april or something.

haha, random link. Sometimes in April - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They posted a link to download their new album, Weltschmerz last night or today or something.

MAT Weltschmerz.rar

one guitar is tracked way too high. sounds good so far, then again, i've seen them play pretty much all these songs live, so i had a solid idea what it would sound like ahead of time. hooray for them not asking us to play any shows with them ever.

i know dude thats pretty rude, you guys are on the same label and seemingly pretty close so wouldnt they want to hang out with their friends and promote bands on their own label? Yea I just dled it last night, I really like it. Im glad its more than 4 songs. I finally get to see them in a month =). BTW, did you end up going to the capsule/furnace/letters in Binary show alliteration?

i did not make it, its like a 2.5 hour drive for me and with such a ****ty car, it really wouldn't have been worth it for me to go. i think thats one of the better lineups i've ever seen though. bummer to have missed out on it.

(PREPARE FOR LONG RANT)

and yeah, it is pretty strange. everytime i try and do a show here, i always think to ask them, but they never return the favor. andrew always invites us on facebook to go, but never to play, which really makes me wonder, he invites both evan and i to come hang out, when if we're already there, why not just have us play? its only two of us. whenever we do play shows with them, they always talk about having us down to play shows with them, but when they actually do shows, it never ever happens. they said one time they didn't think we would fit in and they were just trying to appeal to their friends who didn't like screamo, but they had wolve come out, which is a metalcore band. i tend to think we are more catchy and melodic and easier to get into than most technical metalcore, not to mention much less noisy, but whatever. the sad part is, its not just them. there is a neat house in kalamazoo which has been putting on shows a lot lately. we got onto two shows there and thought things would work out well in the future, only to be completely ignored. now, the kids who live there act like they don't even notice us, even at this is ours fest they completely ignored us most of the time, except right before we played our set.

its the most absolute ****ty and frustrating thing in the world. we play some shows and try to make some friends, things go well for a few weeks, then all of a sudden, it turns out everyone does the opposite of what they say and completely ignore us. considering the scene here is so tiny, its not like they just forget about us, it just seems like we're overlooked. i don't know if we come off as ****s, or they think our music is lame, or what, but its downright frustrating to be in somewhat of a band and try to make connections, only to find out the few people that have places to play **** you over constantly. i know i'm not the nicest person in the world, and i don't play the myspace game that well (i.e. millions of comments telling every other band how awesome i think they are and acting like we're best friends, when honestly, just because you make somewhat DIY-oriented music doesn't make us automatically best friends, it just means we share a common interest) but seriously, whenever i try to put together shows here in lansing, i do my best to remember who i thought were our friends and ask them to come out and play, since its the least i can do in this struggling scene. apparently others just can't return the favor.

i'm not sure what the reasoning is behind all of this, and to be honest, i really just want to ask everyone here in michigan if they have a bone to pick with us or not. ever since we're been a band, everything has been an uphill struggle, and its really not worth it. its supposed to be enjoyable and fun, but when its like pulling teeth just to get a show every six months, you start to wonder if its worth it. i like writing music and messing around, but every now and then, i would like to share it live with people. thats one of the main motivations to doing what we do, but apparently, its just not meant to happen. at this point, both of us really don't remain friendly with anyone, since it obviously doesn't pay off, so we're really done trying to make friends with hypocritical and two-faced *******s.

yea those are pretty bull**** excuses, I dont know dude, your stuff is catchy and your guitar is melodic and awesome. Why should you have to fit in for their friends, you guys have kind of the same sound and thats what shows are about is playing with friends helping each other out. How many people actually come out for Men as Tree's shows? Thats odd though, I play around/write a lot of stuff on guitar and it would be awesome to play live. It's no fun if you dont get other people to hear what you've worked on. From what I hear michigan is knee deep in ****ty metalcore lol so most people dont like music that lacks breakdowns I guess. Baltimore has an ok scene but most people at my work think that the hardest music out there is norma jean and that emo music is Alesana and they dont want to listen to anything different that goes against what they think is real music. anyone that doesnt play at a 500+ person venue is blacklisted for them haha.

wow, that really is the biggest bull**** excuse I've ever heard. Whenever we play shows, its usually with City of Ifa and Ilest. The three of us sound NOTHING alike (except when Ifa decides to rip some stuff off of us). We're friends, and even though we don't sound very similar, we support one another and whenever an opportunity arises to play together, we do it because we enjoy playing with friends.

No but really..what a stupid ****ing excuse! We played a show with GHOST MICE. If anyone knows anything about plan-it-x/folk punk, they know what the hell I'm talking about. Men as Trees and Ariadne's Thread have way more in common than Ghost Mice and The Greatest Pinball.

Lack of support within our community is probably what will kill whatever it is we're all doing. Florida's got some bands that we could play with, but its like we're non-existent. We're not friends with any of them really but still, they know we exist and they know we're up for playing shows. It really feels like no one takes us seriously, and that sucks.

definitely. i had no idea you played with ghost mice, but thats pretty cool, they are a pretty successful band as far as the plan-it-x punx goes.

it is a bull**** excuse, and i'm sure even Andrew knows it. I have no idea what their motivation is for constantly not asking us to play, but its not that reason, or the fact that they just forget, seeing as we always get invited to come hang out with them when they play shows.

i always thought it would be cool to play a bunch of shows pretty constantly with friends, especially when you're some of the only DIY bands in the state, but i guess i need to redefine the meaning of "friend" in order for that to happen. it makes it hard to keep going when you're constantly alienated, and that right there is pretty much the reason why we feel like giving up constantly. i always thought the DIY hardcore/punk scene was built around togetherness and honesty of some sort. these past couple years have proved me wrong. its so goddamn backwards, and i don't understand it.

So yeah...Andrew from Men As Trees here. I really don't understand why you dudes are so upset with us. First of all, we love you guys and consider you some of our best band friends, and it is really disappointing to have you guys speak so poorly of us. I agree that us few bands need to stick together, and it seems like you guys are trying to drive a wedge through our friendship over nothing.

I've only ever thrown 2 shows in Michigan. One was last July for l'antietam (which you guys played) and the other was our New Year's Eve show, which was more of a party and we only had 2 bands, Men As Trees and Wolve. I only wanted 2 bands for the show since our neighbour is really sketch and Wolve was not picked over Ariadne's Thread because your "screamo" sound wouldn't of gone over well. I love diverse shows but we have been friends with the guys in Wolve for over 5-6 years now, had never yet played with them, and they were all going to be at the party anyways since they live in the same town as us. It was never my intention to slight you guys, and I really wish you would of just picked up the phone and called me if you were pissed rather vent to randoms on the internet.

You guys might be mad about not being asked to play our CD Release show. If it was up to me I would have had everyone we are friends with from here to Chicago play, but after our New Year's Eve show, our neighbour threatened to call the cops the next time it looked like we were having a "party". So already with 4 bands slotted to play, I'm basically begging for a Noise Violation ticket. And the bands on the bill for our CD release have been slated forever since Wolve and Docile Bodies are again local friends who we've known for 5-6 years, and Lungs is playing since Mick recorded Violin on our new album and needs to be at the show anyways. I turned down a bunch of out of town bands because there simply wasn't room. Truly nothing personal.

I also had 2 more shows slated for summer, our June 8th Tour Kick Off with Mans, and our July 20th Osceola show. The band and I were talking at practice the other day about how it would be sweet to get you guys out here for one of those since they weren't booked yet and we didn't have local commitments but after reading the above posts I guess you guys are done with us for how ****ty we have been to you. I know always being really friendly to you guys and offering to help put out your EP for free must make me a real *******, right?

~Andrew/Men As Trees

PS - after hearing about this Frank says :-(

trust me Andrew, its really nothing personal. but you have to understand my frustrations. you know i don't think any of you guys are *******s, and i clearly never said that. when it comes down to it, like i said **** never goes well for us. ever since we've been a "band" nothing has ever gone our way. hell, we still don't have a drummer. there has never been any real support or anything there for us, so forgive me for being extremely disenchanted with the current state of things. evan and i have been writing together for years, its been something close and personal to us, and to be honest, all we've really ever wanted to do was share that with people. honestly, i don't know if its worth it though. its clear we're not welcome in k-zoo anymore, at least it doesnt seem like it, and i'm not sure why. it seemed like Russ liked us well enough, then one day, he acts like he doesn't know us. and to be honest, i never got the feeling that you guys sincerely wanted to have us out to play shows. i know we do a lot of talking, and a lot of it, you know, gets thrown out there and thats just that. i know that, and you know that. it just seems that we're quite invisible in this tiny scene. whatever. i don't know if i have to promote more on myspace, beg people all over for shows, or comment a lot and make friends on myspace, i honestly have no idea. i didn't think that i would have to kiss people's asses so much just to get a place to play. i'm not good at that at all, nor am i good at false friendships, so there's that. i can't pretend to be best friends with some band simply because we're both DIY. if thats what it takes, then i guess we won't be playing anymore shows. i am simply frustrated at the fact that you guys have been planning a few of these shows for awhile (according to myspace) but this is the first i've heard of you guys considering us to play.

you're right, i know that you never intended to slight us. i get it. sometimes though, after **** goes bad for so long, you start to wonder if anyone has your back. it just doesn't feel that way. perhaps i should've been up front with you about this. but oh well, i never once thought of calling you up to say anything about this, because i honestly never thought of it. my fault. i'm not the most personal of people out there, and even though the internet is a ****ty medium, for some reason i felt a tad bit more comfortable here. i apologize, its a bad place to bring out the claws. but i would've been less frustrated if you had just said then what you are saying now. if you just said, "hey, we can't do a lot of bands, and these are the reasons" that would be fine. i understand that. but simply saying we don't fit in and just inviting us on facebook to come and hang just seemed odd to me. i know you guys and Wolve go way back, and I understand how that goes, but when you talk about not fitting in or appealing to a certain crowd, i had no idea we were that out there.

and i know you guys have always been friendly towards us, and i feel like we have been back. you guys are good dudes and fun to hang out with. my purpose was not to say anything bad about you guys as a band or as people. my intent was purely to express my distaste at the fact that it seems we just have **** luck and nothing works out. you have my sincerest apologies if you feel i offended you as people or a band. that was not my intent. i cannot apologize for my frustration, only how i carried it out.

also, shows are up in the air for us, we have one of the 7th with Mans here in Lansing, but who knows what will happen there. This Is Ours fest resulted in severe injuries for our instruments, and we both have non-functioning equipment at the present. Oh well.

what about capsule and tunes for bears to dance to? Or do they live pretty far away?

I guess if you guys ever felt not welcome/invited to play, it is because I don't like to waste people's time. My friends don't know what DIY is. They hate screamo. They listen to bands like Men As Trees. Wolve and Docile Bodies because they are our friends and want to support us. We don't have random kids coming to shows like in real cities. There is no scene in Auburn Hills, MI and nothing would make me feel worse, than have you guys drive all the way out to play at my pad, only to have all my friends embarrass me and leave to go drink and smoke outside because they felt no obligation to pay attention. I can't get bands money for playing because if I charge no one will come. Usually I have to spend all my money on kegs to bribe people to show up. I already feel like **** that Lungs is coming all the way from Dayton, OH with a good chance that they will be leaving with nothing. This reality sucks and I am absolutely aware of how ****ty it is. There is a reason we never play shows in Michigan and try to tour as much as possible. We have always liked you guys and your music and I feel bad that we don't live somewhere more supportive. You guys know just as good as us that Michigan is dead.

And I'm sorry you guys feel frustrated but that is what comes with being DIY. It is hard and you have to work for everything, but so do we and I don't want you guys to think that we have gotten where we are, and toured as much have for any reason other than I am a slave to my computer. It sucks, but it is what it is.

I'm thinking seeing you guys in Greenville with Mans will be the best show I see all Summer.

Thanks dude, we're super pumped to play at the Spaz. I think Billy from Flames! Over Broadway said it was his favourite venue ever. Never played NC before but I've heard a lot of real good stuff. Definitely looking forward to it!

<3 Andrew/Men As Trees

we're the only active screamo band in this country as of the moment and being in a scene saturated with either uber-anarcho crust punks or nyhc surplus, there really isn't any room for a band of middle class kids to play 11 minute songs where people cry and roll over the floor and **** while talking about their feelings. i mean, look guys, i really have nothing to say here since i haven't been to your scenes but since i seem to have a relatively similar problem, so i just thought it would be a good idea for me to share some stuff. there's only one group of people who organize DIY punk/hardcore shows here, and that's the group of people who make up the COT crew which i'm sideways a "part of". it basically sucks every time you have to play a show and you have to shoo your bandmates away because one is a pretentious ******* and the other is popular in the city's local non punk band circuit and has been seen on tv. i mean, yeah. i got into a small argument with Pete from As A Whole a while back, and it almost pulled the plug on all of CB's plans to play a diy show again. luck hasn't been so good for us here since people only take you seriously if you play either d-beat or beatdown hardcore or something. it's disappointing to know that it feels like so much of a big favor to end up on anybody's lineup. nobody really pays attention when we play, and when we do, it's probably either scene kids who end up finding the show in the middle of nowhere or the kids who think we sound like Converge or whatnot. i feel really bad being an anomaly in my local scene and seriously wish that i could have this band up there in the US instead of here because i'm sure that regardless of the fact that your scene may be small, you have a good community of screamo bands who tour all over the place and that's always something to look forward to. face it, we got nothing. all the screamo coming out of this country is either by me or one of my friends who lives 900+ miles away all up in Manila and can't tour.

oh yeah, andrew. francis here from caitlyn bailey

Francis, you're a good man and really put our lives into perspective....although I do still really wanna do a Malaysia/Philippines tour one day. I figure as it is with lmany facets of life, the grass is always greener on the other side and much as I complain about "auburn hills, mi"..I guess it could be a lot worse.

New tunes of yours a sick dude, come tour north american someday!
<3 Andrew

i seriously want to and we seriously want to. we just don't have the means to get there as of yet. i'm the only one in the band with a visa, so it's going to be a bitch when the other members apply, also we don't really have much on the financial end, so we're going to have to work for a REALLY long time if we're going to save up for a US tour with tickets and travel expenses into account. we're still working on touring Malaysia this October though, hopefully we get to share dates with ...Who Calls So Loud and Conquest For Death. it's embarrassing to say the least that people in other countries pay more attention to what we do instead of the people in our scene who see us hanging around the city every now and then. i'd seriously kill to have an Ariadne's Thread or a Men As Trees here, if not, just a bunch of awesome dudes who get what we play and honestly like what we do because it's the kind of music we want. i dunno, i guess i'm frustrated that way in my own right.

omg emo fight! (ಠ_ಠ)













just playin guys. <3

-Raph
caitlyn bailey
guitarist
hopeless romantic
spock
pasta