I decided to listen to some Wu Tang on the short journey to Port Authority to try and acclimatise myself. We were all going to be staying in Brooklyn; Kev and I with a friend of a friend in Clinton Hill and Ziggy with his friend Monika in south Williamsburg. We took the A C E subway line and parted ways at Canal Street, where Ziggy left to get the J M Z. We carried on following the meticulous directions that our host, Dana, had given us and quickly found our way to her place. Once at Dana’s apartment she informed us that the MET Supermarket opposite her apartment was where Biggie had once worked packing bags, our first piece of bona-fide hip hop tourism. Dana was heading out to watch the baseball playoffs (her hometown team the LA Dodgers were playing the Phillies) so Kev and I went off in search of some food. Dana directed us to the appropriate subway a few blocks away. The streets round Clinton Hill totally reminded us of the Cosby Show, all brown stone tenements with stairs (stoops) outside the front doors.

In the subway station, I managed to make an arse of using the turnstile so it took us ages to actually get down to the platform. They’ve changed the system recently: if you swipe your card and go through the barrier then you can’t swipe it in the same station again for another 20 minutes. This is meant to stop people with 7 day unlimited-use Metro cards from handing them back through the barriers to their friends. Somehow I managed to swipe my card and not make it all the way through the turnstile before it locked. I had to go speak to the warden in the 24 hour booth, who looked down on me as if I was sub human scum (or at least trying to scam him). Eventually he let me through. Whenever I’m on the subway in New York I think of The Warriors movie, especially at nighttime when there’s no one else around. It makes the journeys way more exciting and I constantly have the intro music running through my head but this time that hip radio DJ was announcing: ‘bad news boppers Tommy’s not made it through the turnstile, he’s gonna get wasted’ . . .

We’d made a loose plan with Ziggy to meet him at a bar called Union Pool in Williamsburg where Monika was playing with, Chica Vas!, one of the many bands she plays in. We rode the G train up to Metropolitan Avenue and had a rough idea of where we were supposed to be going. Neither of us had eaten for a long time and we spied a Peruvian place, Chimu, over the road which looked good. By coincidence it turned out to be right next door to Union Pool. We sat down and ate two variations on rice with seafood washed down with cold Mexican beer. Delicious.

Afterwards we ventured next door to try find Ziggy and Monika. We paid $8 into the back room where the live music was happening. The room is small, my guess is it has a capacity of around 100. It has Victorian style decor and the stage is framed with ornately carved wood. Onstage there was a battle of the bands taking place with two groups set up either side, taking it in turns to play a song. Stage right: an all girl three-piece from Brooklyn; guitar / vocals; drums / vocals and keyboards / percussion. Stage left: an all girl four-piece from Japan; vocals, guitar, bass and drums. Both bands gave really energetic, entertaining performances. Although musically neither of them really set me on fire, it was fun seeing them play turnabout like that.

Next up was Monika’s band Chica Vas! (Go Girl!) and you guessed it, they’re an all girl percussion group with a lead vocalist who is also a highly accomplished trapeze artiste who performed her finale swinging upside down whilst singing and playing the drums. If you don’t believe me, we have video evidence.

Kev and I stuck around for a few more drinks then decided to call it a night. I think I’d been up for at least 24 hours at this point. Ziggy stayed on and drank some more.

Kev and I set off in search of Egg the small dinner we’d discovered on our last time in Brooklyn. We found it where it’s always been on North 5th and Bedford Avenue. Kev had the eggs Rothko with a side of ham, I opted for a grafton cheese omelet with broiled tomatoes and hash browns all washed down with coffee. To my body, Egg offers the best artery hardening breakfast that I’ve eaten anywhere. Ziggy joined us half an hour later and also sat down to the eggs Rothko.

After breakfast I decided to call Lisa, a Fence fan who’d answered a plea I’d given on the Fence ‘Beefboard‘ for help getting gigs in New York. Lisa had offered to organise a last minute show in her friend’s record store nearby. The show was going to take place the following night so I felt it would be a good idea to meet up with her and try and make some arrangements. She invited us to head over to where she worked and we’d grab a coffee. Her office is in an area of Brooklyn known as Dumbo (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass – an acronym that the locals seem particularly chuffed with).

We arrived 20 minutes early so took a stroll around the area. The weather had improved considerably since we’d arrived and it was now gloriously sunny and possibly 10 degrees warmer than the day before. We took a walk through Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is between Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges and offers stunning views of the lower Manhattan skyline. I called Lisa again and she came to meet us and took us for a coffee round the corner. We discussed what equipment we’d need for the following night, what time we should turn up and so on . . . over the course of the conversation she mentioned that she worked in the same building as Domino Records and knows Morgan who runs the US branch of the label and Jeff who deals with publishing over here. “Oh really” . . . we asked her if she’d introduce us and she agreed. Next thing we know we’re in the Domino USA offices being handed promo copies of their new Townes Van Zandt sampler and being told to pop back in half an hour when Jeff and Paul from publishing would be back from lunch.

We returned to the park and sat in the sun. While Kev sat and sketched the view, I was blabbered on about how this was going to be a great week for FOUND when Zig pointed out that a bird had shat on my jacket. Keep it in perspective Perman. We went back to Domino and met Jeff and Paul (who we already know from the London office). We handed them demo CDs and persuaded them to come along to our CMJ showcase. Jeff handed us more promo CDs, we left with grins on our faces and proceeded to get into the goods elevator by mistake . . . once we negotiated our way out of the building we took the train to Manhattan to meet Tam.

Tam and I met with Nadine. While Kev and Ziggy were let off the hook and went for a pint I tried awkwardly to describe what it is FOUND do, including a mumbled explanation of our ‘emotional robot band’ Cybraphon. I don’t think she really got it, but who does? More promo CDs exchanged and I joined the lads for a pint in the bar round the corner where a woman at the next table said I reminded her of the murderer in an Angelina Jolie movie called Taking Lives . . . but also that Beatle . . . um what’s he called . . . Paul McCartney . . . oops, no she actually meant the dead one, you know, John Lennon. I get this a lot. Not the John Lennon comparison, just generally comparisons to famous people. I must have one of those faces. Marc Riley proclaimed live on air that I resemble BBC Radio 1 presenter Colin Murray, and I’ve been stopped at music festivals and asked if I am the guitarist from The Rakes. Most of the time all that’s needed is for the person that I allegedly resemble to also have glasses.

Can you spot the real Tommy?

After much laughing at my chameleonic face, Kev and Ziggy decided it was time to return to Brooklyn so we walked down to the nearest J M Z stop and took the train over the Williamsburg bridge. The sun was setting and the view out of the train window was nothing short of breathtaking. It’s at times like these that I’m gutted I didn’t have room to pack my digital camera. Thankfully Kev did.

Over the bridge, we called in past Monika’s place and got invited to a pub quiz by her Brazilian roommate Jonny and his girlfriend Kristina. We accepted the offer but asked them to recommend a good place to eat on the way and they dropped us at La Superior on Berry Street, a great little Mexican cantina serving authentic street food. We dined on a selection of excellent tacos including a delicious Pescadilla (fish quesadilla). Their guacamole was amongst the best I’ve eaten – a chunky, flavoursome salsa rather than the smooth, green yogurty dips you often get in the UK.

Feeling suitable sated we marched on to The Gutter, a six lane bowling alley and bar where the pub quiz was being held. We made use of the drinks promos and offered Jonny’s quiz team some half hearted help. The questions had been set by a friend of Kristina’s and were nigh on impossible for us as they required an intimate knowledge of the local drinking establishments – we were learning fast, but cut us some slack – we’d only been in town for 36 hours. Kev and I had a fairly long journey home so we cut out at around after a few drinks to get the train back to Clinton Hill.

“One of Edinburgh’s, Scotland’s and possibly the World’s most underrated bands, FOUND return to the U.S. of A. with an exclusive performance at the annual CMJ Music Marathon which celebrates it’s 30th Anniversary this year across New York City’s coolest clubs and venues.

If the right people actually see FOUND, I sincerely hope they are offered an enormous record deal with complete artistic control, as they have more ideas in one song than most people have on an entire LP! Imagine the wonky psychedelia of The Beta Band, experimental electronica, 60’s beat-pop, old-skool hip-hop and a whole heap of funk coming together within a 5-headed beast!

FOUND manage to be one of the few bands who successfully marry technology and tradition, using samples in a genuinely inventive way while holding down a groove with guitar, bass, drums, keys and harmony vocals. Don’t miss the chance to see these true innovators in NYC before they justly become a huge Scottish success story!”

Tuesday was the first day of CMJ and we had to register at a church on Washington Square in Manhattan. But Kev and I were also moving on to our next sofa bed, another friend of a friend who lives in off Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, so we went via Monika’s place an dumped our bags. We met Tam and his girlfriend Elize at registration then Tam and I went off to meet a girl called Kate Landau who manages Bella Union band The Low Anthem. Once again Kev and Ziggy got to take the easy route and sat and ate a hearty breakfast in the sun. Tam was keen that I try and get some advice from Ms Landau on how a small UK band might start the process of building themselves up in the US. Kate’s dad is Springsteen’s manager so she’s got some hefty industry roots. She was very friendly and generous with her time but I don’t think she was interested in FOUND. Oh well, you’ve got to try these things.

After the meeting I finally got to eat some breakfast then we were off again – Kev, Zig and I went to find a recording studio called the Cutting Room where the Seattle college station KEXP run their CMJ live broadcasts from. We were meeting a KEXP DJ there called Shannon Sauter who happens to be friends with my good friend Vicky. Shannon is something of a fan of Scottish music and had recently been hanging out with The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks in Portland, Oregon. I’d been pestering her on Facebook in the hope that she might be able to swing us a live session on KEXP but sadly they were long since booked up with more established bands. We met Shannon in the foyer of the studios and chatted away to her. She then took us into the control room where we watched and listened to a live session from girl / boy two piece electronica band Phantogram (one of the buzz bands of the week). Like a lot of people, Shannon was staying in Williamsburg so we told her about our show there that night and she agreed to come along. By this point it was already time to head back over the bridge and begin getting things ready for the evening.

Kev and I took our bags up to our new home for the next few days. We were going to be staying with Jonny and Elspeth (friends of friends who used to live in Edinburgh and had kindly agreed to put us up, like Dana they’d never actually met us before). We found their flat, said a quick hello and then back out to find the venue we were playing in known as Monster Island Basement.

Monster Island is a an arts space on the corner of River Street, which is unsurprisingly right next to the river and we were playing in the basement which has also recently become home to an excellent little record store known as the Record Grouch (named in honour of it’s owner). The Grouch had a great collection at very reasonable prices and Kev picked up some nice dub 7″s.

Monster Island is a quirky place operated by an arts collective and it’s Edinburgh equivalent would probably be a cross between Forest Cafe and the old Bongo Club on New Street. When we arrived we were met by Lisa’s husband Hamish who was loading in backline. We helped him build the PA and soundcheck. It was a very DIY affair, but that suits us well and the gig had a distinctly ‘Fency’ vibe to it. Home from home for us.

The first act up was Theo Angell who played an acoustic set somewhere along the lines of Devendra Banhart. And then it was us. We were playing as a three piece, Kev on sampler and percussion, me on bass and Ziggy on guitar and vocals (Alan was arriving the following day). The set went quite well, although the atmosphere was a little odd and it was difficult to judge whether the crowd were into us or not. It seems like they were and after we’d finished Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) and Ben Goldwasser (one half of MGMT) came up and asked us for CDs.

Pete and Ben played an improvised noise set featuring an array of analogue synths and effects. They were joined by Lisa on bass, Hamish on drums and percussion and Hamish’s friend (who’s name I didn’t catch) on whistle and metal chair. It was very much a jam which isn’t always as fun for the audience to listen to as it is for the musicians to play but there were moments of real beauty particularly the interplay between Pete and Ben’s synths.

After they’d finished we decided we’d had enough music for the evening and a drink was in order. Ziggy’s friend Monika took us too a beer hall round the corner called Radegast and we enjoyed some German biers. Pete Kember and the others joined us there later. Pete entertained us with stories about the recording of MGMT’s new album and tunes off two iPods played through a yellow lego block speaker. Ziggy quizzed him about how he’d put together his recent, excellent compilation, Spacelines. Pete also sat there smoking a high-tech Japanese tobacco vaporiser, the end of which illuminates just like a real cigarette but produces no smoke so you’re allowed to use it almost anywhere. Apparently he frequently uses it on planes much to the annoyance and bemusement of the flight attendants.

Then we went for a walk in the park near Jonny and Elspeth’s flat, and then on for a stroll around Williamsburgh to find the bar we’re going to be playing on Thursday. It’s been really nice weather all week so it was lovely just taking a slow walk around. At 3 pm we ventured over to Manhattan to watch a band called Stricken City in a great venue called Pianos on Ludlow Street. They’re managed by my friend David who works for MTV in London. They’re really good, they play a kind of shoegaze Indie and have a charismatic female vocalist. They seem to have a bit of a buzz going on at the moment – the front row of the crowd was all photographers. Then we met up with Ziggy, Tam and Elize at a place on Bowery Street. There were a couple of bands playing and free drinks. So we drank some to get over our hangovers.

Back in Williamsburg, our hangover relief was quickly becoming retoxification as we holed up in a bar on Bedford called The Charleston who offer a free pizza with every drink. It’s a great little spot and they have a live room downstairs and appeared to be hosting CMJ shows (just like every other bar in the area).

Later that evening we hung out with Jonny and Elspeth. Jonny cooked us a really nice spag bol and then we popped out for a quick drink in a Czech bar round the corner – ending the night with a whisky on their apartment block rooftop with views of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. All very impressive. I could get used to this life, but I don’t think my liver’s up to it.

Alan had just purchased an incredible new digital camera – one of the Canon 7Ds which can take extremely high resolution still images but also stunning HD video. New York is the perfect place to try out a new camera and Alan was clearly in his element. The sun was beating down and so Al decided he’d head off and take the Staten Island ferry.

Kev and I on the other had decided it was time to do some shopping and decided to stay local as Bedford Avenue offers some great little shops. We ambled slowly in the direction of Jonny’s apartment and spotted a great little independent bookshop called Spoonbill & Sugartown. While I spent about half an hour browsing their selection of art, illustration and graphic design books Kev discovered that the side door to the bookshop led on to a small covered mall full of exciting boutiques. After another 30 minutes had passed I realised I’d not seen Kev for a while so I ventured out the side door to look for him. He was walking towards me clutching a small bag of records looking extremely pleased with himself – and rightly so – he’d just scooped a handful of 7″s including a Sesame Street vinyl with Burt singing his ode to his favourite bath time friend ‘Rubber Duckie’, Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’ and the one Kev was obviously most excited about . . . a rare copy of a Tron story book 7″ – one of those ones where you have to read along at the same time as the soundtrack and turn the page ‘when you hear this sound’. Kev love Tron. Kev happy . . . Kev had also spotted some gems during his foraging in the mall and took me to see some kit synthesisers but what we was most excited about was a case full of effects pedals and vintage drum machines in MeMe Antenna the shop he’d bought his records from . . .

Believe me this is in no way an advert, but MeMe Antenna has to be one of the nicest stores I’ve ever been in. It’s run by some very friendly, hip, young Japanese folks and the atmosphere was so relaxed and welcoming that I could have happily stayed there all day. Kev led me over to a small display cabinet in the corner of the shop that housed a tantalising selection of rare audio equipment. On the top shelf there was a Boss DD2 delay pedal and a rare Yamaha distortion pedal. I’ve been looking for a nice distortion pedal for my bass for some time now and I was instantly attracted to this one due to it’s simple rugged design. We asked how much – only $75 – with the current exchange rate that would be around £50. Not bad. I decided to run back to the apartment and pick up my bass so that we could try it out. Kev and I both had a shot through some headphones and it sounded great. An easy decision was reached, I bought it. The staff asked what band we were in and where we were playing so we gave them a CD, a flyer and said our goodbyes.

We were back out in the sunshine on Bedford Avenue and about to head in the direction of a guitar shop to buy some new cables when we bumped into Ziggy. When he heard about the shop with the vintage audio gear he demanded to see it. Less than 5 minutes after we’d last left and we were back in MeMe Antenna. The staff laughed really hard to see us again so soon. Kev had now been in the shop 4 times already. Kev and Zig eyed up the DD2 delay pedal. It’s rare apparently and they were strongly considering buying it. They asked to try it out – but of course they’d need to put some sound through it to make it work, so they selected an Amdek Drum Synth – just to test it. The assistant dutifully wired up the pedal, plugged in the headphones and handed them to Kev to have a shot. With one tap of the Amdek Drum Synth Kev was lost in a world of analogue. It was clear from that moment that we wouldn’t be leaving the shop without another purchase. For the next 20 minutes Kev, Ziggy and I indulged in what can only be described as ‘gratuitous synth bothering’. We were all clearly smitten with then Amdek Synth Drum and realised it’d be a great addition to our live setup. A credit card and $360 later, it was ours. We said our goodbyes once again to the staff and returned to the sunshine.

Time was ticking on and we had to get ready for the evening. Earlier in the day I’d checked my email and discovered another update from Peej informing me that our showcase had been previewed in Brooklyn Vegan: “There’s a good lineup at The Rose in Williamsburg which is usually a jazz club but tonight plays host to four electronic-leaning bands. The one I really want to see is FOUND who are an artist collective/band from Edinburgh, Scotland whose sound ranges from celtic to glitchy funk. They are a little odd, in a good way, and I hear are worth seeing live.” I’ve been told that Brooklyn Vegan is kind of a big deal and I write up on their blog can be a serious boost to your credibility. I was beginning to think that our showcase might actually be busy.

Ziggy went back to Monika’s to get his guitar and Kev and I made our way along to The Rose to drop off our instruments before moving the rest of our stuff to my friend Adam’s place where we would be staying for the remainder of the trip. We arrived at The Rose slightly before the load in time we’d be given by CMJ. We walked in and probably looked a little lost. A man sat at the end of the bar asked if he could help, Kev replied ‘I think we’re playing here tonight’. Big mistake:

‘You THINK you’re playing here tonight? You THINK? You think or you know? Because I’m Carlo and this is my place and I like the bands who play here to KNOW that they’re playing here. You know? So which is it? You think, or you know? Think or know. Think. Or. Know?’

I replied that I knew we were playing at The Rose and I’d even made flyers – I handed one to Carlo to prove it. Another big mistake. He took a quick look at the paper flyer . . .

‘It’s not called THE Rose. It’s just Rose. But WHATEVER.’

He forcefully held his thumb over the word ‘THE’ for the rest of the interaction. He invited us to hang out in the bar until the sound man arrived but we decided we’d rather go across the road and get some food. As we left we could hear Carlo mutter something to the man behind the bar and they both burst out laughing. We felt very welcome. But we quickly settled down with a beer and burger at a great place called Lodge just along the street. Kev and I were both keeping our eyes peeled for Alan and Ziggy as we’d arranged to meet them at The Rose (sorry Rose) at 6 pm. We were both secretly hoping they’d go into Rose and encounter Carlo. Within moments I received a text from Ziggy: ‘WHERE U AT?’. I ran back along to Rose to meet him.

‘How you doing Zig?’

‘Alright but this guy in there just totally bust my balls for the past 10 minutes.’

‘Oh yeah, how come?’

‘I dunno, all I did was go in and say “I think I’m playing here tonight”‘ . . .

. . .

After we’d eaten Kev and I hurriedly dropped our bags at Adam’s place and made it back to Rose in time to see a bit of the first band Binary Marketing Show who were amazing – they’re a four piece psyche-electronica band who reminded me of Caribou but with more youthful energy. They’re really tight and we all throughly enjoyed their set. It’d be great to get them over to the UK some time.

Then it was us. There was the usual stress of these industry showcases. You have very little time to set up, no soundcheck and everything feels rushed. Alan’s got an uncanny habit of disappearing to the toilet right before we have to play and I always seem to be standing on stage peering out into the crowd hopelessly looking for our drummer.

We played at tight 25 minute set. It went well and the audience seemed to dig it. As promised the Domino USA folks had come along and they made a point of telling Kev and Zig how much they’d enjoyed it and said they’d put us on the guest list to see their band Chief play the following evening.

Each of us mingled in the crowd afterwards, handing our CDs and chatting to friends and punters. Ziggy got chatting to this one chap called Nassir who’d read the Brooklyn Vegan write-up and had felt compelled to come and see us. Sadly he’d arrived too late and missed our entire set. Zig handed him a few CDs as a consolation. Nassir was heading home to LA the following date, so he bade him farewell and we went off to drink some at a dive bar further down the street known as Trash.

It was quite an uneventful evening for here on. We drank and listened to 90s rock at ear destroying volumes. Kev and I left with Adam at about 2 am.

We had some time to kill until lunch (we’d arranged to meet Alan for sushi before heading on to a day party at Pianos organised by The Planetary Group). We got a couple of take out coffees from this great little place called Oslo and I picked up a free paper about the Williamsburg and Greenpoint arts scenes.

There were a couple of local shows on that looked worth a peek and Kev was also keen to check out Buffalo Exchange for some girlfriend present shopping. We spent a mellow morning ambling around Williamsburg – picked up a few bargains in Buffalo Exchange, although sadly not this Sesame Street jacket.

Next stop a quirky little exhibition on North 6th Street at a gallery called Figureworks. The show was a homage to the life and work of Michael Jackson with one room full of portraits and another decked out like a church shrine. Entertaining but a little creepy.

After a filling sushi lunch we made our way into Manhattan and back to Pianos on Ludlow street. We bumped into Tam and Elize there and Tam pressed some drinks tokens into our palms. Time for hair of the dog again. We watched a few nice acoustic acts up stairs and ate some free food. Soon it was time to take a walk down to Santos Party House (what a name) on Lafayette below Canal Street.

We met Ziggy there. He’d spent the day trying to get over his hangover. Evidently he’d stayed out for some more drinks the night before and apparently lost an arm wrestle to a buff Swede before showing off his trademark yoga move in the street. Good times.

Ziggy also had another implausible story to tell. He’d received a couple of emails from Nassir, the guy from LA who’d missed our Rose showcase. Zig had received this email from Nassir:

“Hey ziggy,

We met briefly at the rose last night after I found out that I had missed your set. Thank you for offering your promo material to my friend emily and I…been listening to it non-stop on the way to the airport for my flight back to LA and was so excited about the music that when I got to the desk to check in my bags I realized I might never have another chance to see your music live….

So now I am writing to you from the airport to let you know I canceled my flight, with the intention of catching your show at central park tomorrow. Can you please share the details (w/set time) of the show so I don’t miss it again.” (If you don’t believe me, Nassir has written a very nice blog all about this on his site FoundTrack.com here).

I thought to myself, shit . . . this Nassir must need his hard drive defragmented, our music’s definitely not good enough to warrant canceling a flight to LA . . . but when I met him the following day he turned out to be extremely nice and completely normal.

. . .

Anyway . . . more on that later. Back in Santos Par-tay Haus, we watched Domino’s latest signing Chief who are an extremely tight four piece rock outfit with excellent vocal harmonies. We hung around to see a few more bands – none of whom were doing anything for me. There’s a hell of a lot of 80s synth pop revival going on and to be honest none of them are adding anything new to the genre so why bother? Then we made our way back to the Music Hall of Williamsburg where we managed to catch the biggest buzz band of the moment The xx and a little of School of Seven Bells set. The xx have nailed a really distinctive sound and we were particularly impressed with the guy who plays the beats live – he appears to use a couple of MPCs and pedals and it sounds tight. I think The xx are a great new band although they don’t really go in for much audience interaction and their stage presence is extremely dead pan.

Kev, Zig and I drank some more expensive beers in the bar downstairs before stumbling in the direction of home. It would have been a good point to call it a night, but we were coerced (without much persuasion) into a dive bar playing classic hip hop. Kev and I spent an hour our so rapping along to 80s and 90s tracks and sipping on ghetto tequila. Ziggy ducked out after half an hour. I think he was bored of me and Kev and I don’t blame him. I think I owe the DJ an apology. I kept going up to him, swaying all over the place and requesting tunes by Nas or Doom. From then the night gets hazy.

Kev and I did our best to get ourselves together and walked along to meet the others. I ducked into a Latin American greasy spoon to get us a couple of coffees and really struggled with the simple transaction. It took the poor woman about 10 attempts for me to understand she was asking if I wanted cream and sugar. I didn’t but I got it anyway. Oops. Kev can’t stand coffee with sugar so we went into McDonalds as I’d been told their coffee is good. It’s not. I got Kev to buy me a sausage McMuffin in a futile attempt to alleviate my throbbing head. What a crazy idea. I was clearly still drunk. The McMuffin set off a very strange reaction in my stomach.

We met Alan and Zig at the Marcy Avenue train stop and rode the train to Canal Street where we changed on the the 6 train and rode up to 77th Street. It was an ordeal. Our bags felt ten times heavier than they were. My mouth was so dry and I’m not going to lie, I was leaking toxic gusts from my rear. This was bad. I’m a borderline alcoholic and I stink. And we’re suppose to be children’s entertainers today. I broke into a clammy sweat.

I forgot to mention that it was raining. After a week of glorious sunshine and temperatures that rival the best day of a Scottish summer New York had finally remembered what time of year it was and the weather seemed to suite our inebriated state. We trudged out of the damp subway station, through the streets towards Central Park and struggled to find the bandshell. When we got there we were all decidedly moist and my feet were soaking. I went to introduce myself to Beth who runs Kidrockers and had booked us to play. I did my best to appear sober and normal. I think I got away with it. We set up our gear on stage and the sound men gave us a quick check through the PA. It sounded great and for a brief moment I started to feel okay again.

It was coming up for 12 noon and we were to play a three song set sometime between 2 and 3 pm. There was a tent next to the stage with refreshments and Kev, Zig and I necked a few litres of those vitamin water things in a vague attempt to cleanse our pickled insides. Our gig was part of a day-long family fair called Pumpkin Fest which included all manner of attractions including a haunted house and various stalls selling seasonal goods. It was part harvest festival, part prelude to Halloween (which is a much bigger deal in the US than it is in the UK).

There were various different performances taking place on the bandshell where we were playing, and the master of ceremonies was a man dressed as a werewolf whose booming voice echoed around the park. In the state I was in, it was all very surreal. We decided it would be wise to try and get a coffee and something to eat before we played so we plodded back out of the park in search of a cafe. There’s not much in this part of mid town and it took us ages to find sustenance. Eventually after what seemed like 10 blocks we found a small deli which sold toasted sandwiches and coffee. We dragged ourselves back to the park, sat on wet benches and struggled our way through our food.

We waited by the side of the stage. Before the Kidrockers bands, there was a performance from a local circus which included dazzling displays of juggling, hola hoops, unicycle riding and their grand finale: a dog show. Our support act in Central Park was a dog show. A poodle warmed up for us, and too be honest, he got a better response.

Then it was time to play. As promised Nassir had made it to see us, as had Tam, Elize and Shannon from KEXP. We’ve played some odd shows in our time, but this has to be up there. We’d watch the two bands who were on before us and they’d both been really good – although they’d received mixed reaction from the audience of young kids and their parents. The first guy didn’t really interact with the children and so he pretty much bombed. The second band were an electro pop group and their female singer asked the kids to take part in a dancing competition during one of their songs. This really worked and won the crowd over. Take note Ziggy I thought. In between sets the Kidrockers hosts (two cheery guys in their 20s) conducted Q&As with the band who had just played and asked the kids some Central Park and Halloween related trivia questions. So we began setting up while the band who’d just finished were grilled by the kids. It was all making me extremely nervous.

But before I knew it we were beginning our set. We decided to play Amidar, Let Fidelity Break and You’re No Vincent Gallo. We’d been asked to make sure and play child-friendly songs so we’d had to ditch the ones with swearing. A lot of FOUND lyrics have fairly adult content but we were figuring that the kids wouldn’t understand Ziggy’s brogue so it’d be okay. We pelted through Amidar and it went surprisingly well. Then we got set to play Fidelities and Ziggy made a plea for some kids to come join us on stage and dance along which turned out to be a very good idea and really made the show. As the song progressed more and more kids climbed the steps and started dancing. It was one of the funniest 5 minutes of my life. I really enjoyed it. Adrenaline kicked in and my hangover abated for a few short moments.

In the end, the set went down really well and the Q&A even worked out (although Ziggy managed to divide the crowd with his answer to ‘What’s your favourite part of the US?’ – ‘Brooklyn’). We got some funny questions from the kids. One girl asked: ‘Do y’all rock n roll in Scotland?’. Was this some kind of hipster code? I hope not! Then a more innocent question from a cute black kid who’d been standing on the stage for the last half hour: ‘Does the Loch Ness Monster exist?’. ‘Of course!’ I shouted. And with that we were done.

We stood in the rain for a while and had our photos taken with MC Wolfman, then we made our way to Pianos one last time to attend the Brooklyn Vegan party. By chance I got there at exactly the same time as Dent May and his band so I managed to catch their entire set in the upstairs room. I was over-the-moon as I’ve been listening to his album an awful lot since we played a gig with them in Edinburgh earlier this year. They’re a great pop band and they’re music definitely eased my headache.

We hung out at Pianos for a while with Nassir and Shannon and caught a few great bands, including The Wheel from Denver who played alt.country in a Micah P Hinson vein.

From here we started to make our way back to Brooklyn for the final time. On route we made a forced stop in Nassir’s sister’s shop to shelter from the now torrential rain. The shop is a very classy designer boutique named after his sister Maryam Nassirzadeh on 123 Norfolk Street, and Nassir says we can play a show there next CMJ if we come back.

Then we caught the J train back to Marcy Avenue. By this time the rain was falling in sheets and we ran to Monika’s place to dry off and plot our next moves. We needed to eat badly. Jonny was in and had cooked some fried mozzarella empanadas which he offered to us with hot sauce. I guzzled about four of them in quick succession but my stomach demanded a meal.

Jonny recommended a place further down Broadway called Moto and so we ventured out into the rain once more. It was a very good call and Moto was perhaps my favourite place of the entire trip. It’s a small Parisian style diner with charming, dilapidated decor. There was a queue for tables but the barman suggested that we could eat around the small semi-circular bar. I ordered a Schneider Weisse (one of my favourite German wheat beers) and Moto’s take on classic mac n cheese which was delicious and exactly the kind of thing my stomach was craving.

Not long after we sat down, a three piece jazz band set up by the door and serenaded the diners. They where singing some trad tunes in a New Orleans style on guitar, trumpet and tea chest bass. It was the first time I’d ever seen tea chest bass played live and I was in awe. It couldn’t get any better.

I texted Adam and he joined us for a drink and offered us a great plan for the end of the evening and the end of our experience – his friend was going to a club nearby where they were spinning exclusively soul 45s. It sounded like a perfect way to round off our trip to NYC. It was.