The Cab

game time.

so here’s how it goes… i love my mother more than words can’t nor will ever explain. this lovely woman is the only reason for my pursue of a dream, this band. she was the only one who believed in us when the cab had been formed. tho we sucked at the start, i’m talking baaaaaaad, my mom was a positive motive that drove me to at least keep trying.

its hard being on the road away from the home cooking, getting a random snack i love just cause she’s thinking of me or even the tiniest of things like taking car rides and bumpin’ eminem with her. i think she may love him more than me. but that’s okay, i won’t fight her for the title.

my parents divorced between my 5th going into 6th grade summer. it wrecked me… being 10-11 thats hard on a kid… i didn’t know how to take it/ didn’t know how i’d live without having both parents in my life at once and at all times.

i lived with my mom as my steady home after it had all happened to stay where i grew up to have my friends in my life. she gave me the feeling at all time that everything will be/ is okay. she still does to this day.

you can’t purchase or buy having a mother that loves you more than anything in the world… nor can you put a price on it. i’m blessed to have her.

i remember one time my baseball team had made it all the way to the championship… i was more excited than honestly i think at the time i had ever been in my life. i was huge into baseball before the cab if someone wasn’t aware of that. but anyways… it was my cousin’s first birthday (which in my defense, kids don’t remember the first birthday, they can’t even talk) and no one came to my game :-( but i look up in the stands to take my first swing and there’s my mom cheering me on as loud as she could.

that’s just one example, everyday i see my mother by the end of the day there’s a great memory that follows.

so i still keep going and to this day, she’s still cheering me on in all i do.

thank you for all and everything you will continue to do for me. i love you mom.

-cash money.

so here’s one of bass guitars that i started using this tour.

i call it ‘THE 443’ in memory of my great friend, who i called my brother, Adam M. Stokes.

This was a man who held my head up when needed, my inspiration for my first and all tattoos, my bodyguard. you ever have the one man in your life who would never let a fly, let alone some asshole with no morals, lay a finger on you? 

he died in late april of this year and i wake up everyday with thoughts of him hanging from heart and memories attacking my mind. but the thoughts form my face into a big smile. you can’t take the horrible things you feel when you loose someone to feel better, that doesn’t work. i remember the best and greats that this man brought into my life.

he taught me to be tough, to never take shit. a huge part in forming my personality of what i am today. 

being an only child, like myself, its hard to find someone you can call a brother. i found him and his two brothers. a family with faith in some random kid allowed me through their door when i had no one to have my back at a new school and a new area of town.

this man was my blood and will never leave my side.

he always wanted to go on tour one day to look after me and the boys as a bodyguard, now he is always by my side. i love you buddy.

-cash money.

my friend kyle cooper through this together/ tho he can’t spell san francisco, i still love him.

-cash money.

what happens in vegas 3

so as you know by now, alex and i started the band acoustic… now we needed members.

hitting up a show at where i worked at the time, the rock n’ java, we went to watch alex’s ex-band member from a hardcore band who played drums, yes you guessed correct… johnson. he was a bamf, so we talked after his set.

we had originally just ask him to record demos for us til we found a drummer, luckily for us his hardcore went through “hard times” or whatever bands call it nowadays… broke up and he gave us a chance to for him to play drums but on one condition… our new guitarist, johnsons great friend would be in the band, also from the ex-hardcore band… we got paul garcia.

we had no bassist, i was on the guitar at the time so johnson’s cousin, “little mikey,” a 13 year old badass would join the line-up… until we got to the point knowing when we graduate he would be a sophmore he was a great addition to the band. 

after recording a demo cd, we replaced mikey with a classmate, kent. it was the one time all 5 members of the cab had gone to the same school, liberty high. we were offered to play a school assembly because of it. we blew ass, but it was a great 15 min ego booster for us for sure!

after awhile an ep was in production and as we got deeper and deeper into it, our engineer was looking for a band… he was better than paul and i at guitar so ofcourse we thought hell ya… kent would then leave the band and hello to me on the bass.

we felt a year or so after the ep, playing shows a year or so with it and with a change in musical interest we thought, “hmm, maybe a piano?” yep, hello alex marshall of the smash hit vegas band paramount victory (for a video see singers blog)… i’ll run was written the first practice and has never left our site since.

our line up now going into our senior year of highschool was:

alex deleon- vocals

myself on bass

alex johnson- drums

marshall- piano

paul- guitar

we began to be approached by labels after our second semester of senior year and when choosing fbr/decaydance and only having on guitarist we felt as if it needed to be a lead guitarist, through a friend we were then introduced from Seattle a man named Ian Crawford.

after 2 years, Ian left and we found sir Bryan Dawson through our great friends mercy mercedes. he’s the fuckin’ bomb.

we couldn’t be happier with where we are now and its only getting better :-)

much love,

-cash money.

cash the insomniac reporting for duty.

a lot on my mind i guess? i’m just anxious and excited. i hope everyone is ready for a tour devoted to great times and summer nights you won’t forget. we are.

we want to share everything we’ve known and grown up on, the ropes. 

let the games begin.

-cash money.

what happens in vegas 2

the night the cab became the cab.

alex deleon and i began a conversation via myspace while ironically both visiting our dads in northern cali (we didnt know they both lived there, weird?). i remember clicking my online friends to see who was on to start up a friendly convo with haha and saw his face… i had been taking guitar lessons bored up there trying to motivate myself in music… what better way to do it then to start a band and wing it? i can’t think of one. so the question was dropped and the answer was yes. vegas had a new baby, welcome the two-pieced acoustic afi/something corporate loving acoutic group, the cab. granite we weren’t the rolling stones… but we were 2 dudes with the same interest. music. 

the name had sparked from absolutely nothing actually haha. the formula in finding the name was “hey, lets think of whatever random shit comes in our head… and we’ll keep it. haha the names for the most part were hooooorrible…. almost as if we were starting and presenting ourselves as a death metal band who hated fathers and mothers. but anywho, the cab popped out of my mouth and it was the only one that came up before we were tired and hating life from speaking too much that didn’t seem completely idiotic. no meaning, no thinking… just a name. just the cab.

i think back a lot on everything this band has been through and the sweat and blood that has been spread throughout the years. i feel so accomplshed and fortunate to be where i am and with the people i am here with. 

now, a headliner tour for a band ready to show you what there hometown is about.

im in love.

i want to hopefully through blogs have you understand the steps this band took to get here. 

being in a band, no matter what band it is isn’t easy, its hard. it involves love, hate, stress, ups, downs and the best moments and memories of your life.

at the end of the day you think back on these memories to know where you came from and think…wow. we did it together and look where we’ve come.

using my band is just an example but to me when you put 100 percent of 5 hearts on the same page into something… i feel you can’t fail.

we will never leave you because you have never left us.

more stories to come, i will make you guys know myself inside and out as well as my amazing stories growing up with my best of friends, the cab.

with love,

-cash money.

last night was pretty insane. i went with my friends bryan and sonny to our friend Keltie’s (sweetest person in the world) show on the strip called Peepshow at the Planet Hollywood Hotel. Keltie decided to pull a fast one on me and had Mel B (yes…Scary Spice) pull me onstage. Mel proceeded to tell me she liked my hair, which i responsed with a “Because it looks just like yours”, ask me a few questions, and then decided to grab and smack my rear end as I left the stage. If you would have told me in 4th grade that a Spice Girl would do that to me, I probably would have died. She was a really sweet and fun girl, and deserves every ounce of success she’s received. The show is really awesome. The dude in the show has a killer voice, I was pretty jealous and the dancing and visuals were breathtaking haha. After the show we all hung out and I got to meet the other star of the show Kelly Monaco. She’s famous for winning Dancing With the Stars, Maxim and Playboy covers, General Hospital, etc. She was hilarious. One of the coolest people I have ever met. It’s so nice to meet real, genuine people in this industry. She told me my hair was too neat to be a “rockstar” so she kept messing it up and giving me sex hair. She convinced me to sing her some Justin Timberlake on the escalator and told me that she wanted to be in our next video as my love interest. hahaha How could I say no!? Overall, it was a great night and I made some really cool new friends. Keltie…thanks for everything, even though I’m going to get you back real toughhhhhhhh. Also…Bryan is one of the best people you’ll ever meet. Introduce yourself to him on this tour :) Another post coming soon… let you guys get to know Bryan a little better ;)

-Alexander Michael

just so you all know, after this tour you will hear a big shocker. be anxious.

in⋅spire [in-spahy^uhr] verb, -spired, -spir⋅ing.

–verb (used with object)

1.to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence: His courage inspired his followers.

2.to produce or arouse (a feeling, thought, etc.): to inspire confidence in others.

3.to fill or affect with a specified feeling, thought, etc.: to inspire a person with distrust.

4.to influence or impel: Competition inspired her to greater efforts.

5.to animate, as an influence, feeling, thought, or the like, does: They were inspired by a belief in a better future.

I know it’s been a very long time and my blog posts have been few and far between, and i apologize for that. i am twenty years old. i’m at the point in life where i’ve been walking down this path, and i’ve gotten to where the road splits into 10 different directions. i am confused. sometimes i feel rather lost. i never seem to know what i want or where i need to be. i took some “me” time and kind of relaxed. shared some laughs with friends, shook the hands of some amazing people, slept on the beach and counted the stars, went for 4 hour long walks for no reason, and wrote songs. one night while in L.A. i got to sit down and talk to John Mayer for a little bit. He taught me a lot. He taught me how to be strong and to be myself. He taught me that the unknown things in life are sometimes the most powerful and meaningful. He talked to me about fighting for your dreams…about working hard, and about growing up. To say the least, he inspired me. 

The word “inspire” has grown increasingly meaningful to me. Other than love, is there any more powerful word than inspire? How amazing is it to inspire someone? To provoke feeling. To make someone feel love…hope…sometimes pain…happiness. That’s what life is all about. One day we’ll all be gone, but while were here, why not pour someone a glass of inspiration. Why not pick someone up when they’re down? Can you measure a life by the amount of days you live? Is that life? Because if ticking noises were really used to measure this there would sadly be a lot of disappointments and letdowns. I say we measure life by the amount of smiles we put on the faces of those around us, both strangers and not. 

I have been inspired by many different things. Seeing children battle back from Leukemia to live long healthy lives. Talking to an elderly couple who have been married for 54 years. We all need to dig in our pockets and find the will to inspire a little bit more. A short conversation with somebody truly can change their life. In the next few days i hope to get “inspire” tattooed on my body…reminding me to always attempt to bring as many smiles to others as i possibly can, because if we don’t have love, hope, or inspiration, we don’t have anything at all. 

-Alexander Michael

P.S. Tour starts soon and it’s going to be amazing. I can’t tell you how excited I am!!!

my room? -what happens in vegas.

so this was urie hopping up on stage with us back before even teachers at our schools new our names.

as everyone hears/knows panic had a huge involvement in getting us signed, but no, we were not friends who got a homie hookup. alex deleon, ironically enough, was at a cobra starship show here in las vegas where he ran into jon and spencer. deleon for some damn reason, never did before, had a demo on him.

its funny because ross hit him up on aim a day or 2 later… deleon thought it was me… but here you go having me and alex in high school hovering over his sidekick approving everything we said back to him.

long story short we were invited up to a cabin in the mountains, walked through a door and sure enough… it was them. i thought it was funny.

.. we jammed each others songs together. we heard some new stuff (at the time) and just, kicked it. haven’t stopped since.

so patd thank you for a step in the door to where i am today.

‘what happens in vegas’

-cash money.

so i had a thing or two on my mind so i decided to use my fingers to type and tell.

anyway by now anyone who knows me, reads about me… etc knows about the restaurant opening here in las vegas, johnny and harry’s.

this opportunity came from hard work and you guys. without motivation you have no way of having a feeling in your head and heart to get shit done. you guys are my ‘get shit done’ food. kinda like breakfast, the most important meal of the day.

i want everyone who knows me an especially las vegas that i have great plans for us, i just need a team. i want to bring something back that has been lost now for over 2 years, a scene. 

i want people to be envious of how music is out here, in the town i love… but how can we do it?

there’s no reason why shows shouldn’t be full, for heaven’s sake its the thing that can make a person happiest when in the shittiest of times… people, kids, all eyes please spread this like fire, did people forget that music can save lives?… we need music back, i’ve been home a month just upset at going to these 20 kid shows when bands deserve a lot more than that. 

all these fucking kids out here work hard, there’s no reason why someone can’t watch someone express themselves for 30 minutes on a stage… 

so next time you say ‘hmm, i might go to a show tonight,’ follow through ;-)

johnny and harry’s will be a step in bringing a local music scene back, trust me with my plans for it are ready for action… but it’s only one baby step of many. 

bands stop trying to top everyone. 

fuck that, be a team.

for everyone who read this, i love you.

-cash money.

so this is my second time writing this cause my laptop died, so this time i’m typing short and sweet, but here we go again.

as everyone may know by now ian crawford is no longer the guitarist for the cab.

the directions we as a band werent what his intentions were to move forward musically. hes a great guy who taught me alot about music and helped me push myself at times even when i was like… ‘ok dude whatever kiss my ass im not doing that.’ but, you cat put up a red light at a car heading a different direction… so we didn’t. we wish him the best of luck with his future in music.

but with that said, its the same ol’ cab. dont be upset, be anxious.

we have a lot in store and with this new ep and the headliner hopefully we can show you musically what we feel are on our way to becoming, ourselves.

thank you for reading.

with love, cash money.

Dear friends,

       Wow… it has been far too long since I’ve gotten on here!! How have you guys been? Hopefully well. I wish you knew how excited we are for our tour this summer. We FINALLY have a chance to play for longer than 30 minutes, and I promise we are going to have a blast. The tour is called the “What Happens in Vegas Tour” and we invited some of our close friends to share the stage with us.  On this tour we are having a very good friend named Bryan Dawson come out and play guitar with us. He is one of the best guitar players I have ever had the opportunity to play with, and also one of the best writers I know. This summer is going to be a huge step for us, and we are so thankful that we are going to have you guys to share the moments and memories with us every step of the way! We’re going to play songs that we have never played live, and we are going to hang out after shows more than ever. That’s something that is really important to us since you are the ones waiting out in the rain before shows to get a good spot to watch us play. You are the ones buying our record and posting Youtube covers of our songs. In case you don’t know, you keep us strong and inspire us as much, if not more than we can inspire you.

 

I have been staring at my ceiling for hours now trying to figure out a way to do this..and to be honest… I still don’t really know how to. The only way I know how to do this is to just be honest and extremely straight forward. After all, you guys are my family just as much as anyone. Our dear friend and brother Ian Crawford, is no longer going to be pursuing this dream with us. He has made the decision to leave the band, but before you guys get mad or anything.. I need you to listen. Ian is one amazing dude. He is a class act, and obviously one of the most talented musicians down. I am proud to have gotten to stand next to him on a stage for as long as I did, and I wish him nothing but the best. This was not easy for us, or for Ian, but it needed to happen. I don’t have to say much about him, you know how Ian is. He is a free spirit, and was born in the wrong era. Ian should be playing next to Jimmy Page or John Lennon. His heart was simply not in this genre of music. He didn’t want to play pop or music suitable for the radio. I was heartbroken when I heard the news, but how can you be mad at someone for following their heart? How can you be mad at someone for following their own dream? We’re young, we’re still growing and figuring out who and what we want to be…Ian is no different. We wish him the best and always will.

 

That is the bad news. Well,  I am excited to say that there is also some amazing news!! This whole week I’ll be in different studios writing and recording pieces for our next record. We have been writing some of the best songs we have ever written and though Ian has parted ways, we will not let it slow us down or stand in our way. Let me be the first to tell you, that our music will not be any different. We are the same band. We will write the same songs and we will be back stronger than ever. The writing process is still the same… and I promise, we will not disappoint you. Our friend Bryan who we wrote about earlier recorded on our EP that comes out in a few weeks, and he did a phenomenal job! You’ll see that though there might be a different face, there will not be a different  band. I love you guys more than ever, and I know that you will stand by us through thick and thin just as we would you. That is only one of the many reasons we have the most amazing fans (and family) in the entire world. Keep your chins up…and we will see you very, very, very soon. Be ready :)

-Alexander Michael DeLeon

The Cab