• ASIWYFA’s Chris Wee on an Irish DnB Institution’s 11th Birthday @ Voodoo

    February 2, 2017 - By 

    The preservation of club nights and music scenes has long been a vital fabric at the heart of any city. For many of us, some of our fondest memories and most formative of years are down to the nights we went to and the venues that inhabited them. In today’s shaky climate it takes the most tenacious of gig promoter to overcome the social media overload and the general gig goer apathy to get people through the door. Many aspiring promoters have appeared and been quickly swallowed by the lack of enthusiasm for anything beyond a few drinks in a…

  • Sparks: Mental Wellbeing & Recovery on The Road with ASIWYFA’s Chris Wee

    August 3, 2016 - By 

    And So I Watch You From Afar drummer Chris Wee reflects on perspective, mental wellbeing and recovery on the open road. October 2nd 2015 : Santa Fe – Denver It is sometimes at our lowest points that we are the most open to experiencing something truly special and fulfilling. 9 shows left out of 31, feeling a little raggedy. We pulled away from last night’s accommodation, a truly soul destroying casino hotel, planted on the dusty nothingness somewhere outside of Santa Fe. Nowhere makes you more homesick than places like this. It was my turn to drive, and despite my…

  • And So I Watch You From Afar in Japan

    February 29, 2016 - By 

    And So I Watch You From Afar drummer Chris Wee reports from their recent stint in the Nihon lights of the Far East. With paper cup of coffee in hand I sat, knees wedged toward my chest in the first passenger row of our boxy Hiace van, the intrepid road warrior of many an Asian motorway. The whole thing shook and bumped at every contour of the Tomei Expressway connecting our last city of Nagoya to Tokyo. There are not too many certainties in life, but in terms of ASIWYFA, whether it was the 1000mile stretch from Edmonton to Salt…

  • US Tour Diary: And So I Watch You From Afar

    September 22, 2015 - By 

    Hello from Philadelphia! As I write we’re at tonight’s venue the Union Transfer, waiting for our soundcheck slot while the mighty The Fall of Troy are doing theirs. We’re on tour with them and a great NY based band called Slothrust at the minute, both serving up masterclasses in their craft each night, keeping us blow-ins from Ireland very much on our toes each night. After this we part ways to meet up and do the rest of the tour with our Sargent House label mates Mylets and Blis. We’re two weeks into the five week tour, having journeyed from…

  • Start A Van

    January 27, 2015 - By 

    The follow-up to his introductory piece – Start a Band – And So I Watch You From Afar drummer Chris Wee continues his regular column with some of the more interesting, occasionally perilous tales of a touring band on the open road. Hello again and apologies for the delay on this follow-up installment of my column. My friends, family and colleagues will collectively attest to my gross misuse of such phrases as ‘sorry for the late reply’, ‘sorry i’m only getting back to you now’ and ‘sorry I just saw this’. In truth, I am awful at correspondence. I feel like my pre-disposition towards…

  • Start a Band

    November 10, 2014 - By 

    Good day, readers! I’m Chris and The Thin Air have kindly provided me with this platform to talk about the wonderful world of touring and other aspects of life in a band. I began touring about seven years ago, the early days consisted mostly of performing to tiny amounts of people, being broke and sleeping on floors or in vans. Since then there has been no catapult to superstardom, more a gradual yet steady progression in my touring lifestyle and in many ways I feel very fortunate for this, as it has helped me develop a resilience to a lot…