My good pal and design co-pilot, Dave Journeaux, is now officially out of the office and off to the States for the next month on tour with his [very talented and handsome] band, Today I Caught The Plague, supporting our old friends, Protest The Hero. I'm tempted to take a trip south of the border to catch one of these shows.

Best of luck, Dave — Bring me back some In-N-Out burger!

Photo credit: Kathy Roussel

As you may have noticed, things have been quiet with us since the fall, and apologies are due, as we have been holding onto this bit of news for a few months now. To make it short and sweet, This Is A Standoff is done. Touring has become harder and harder, and everyone's lives have been heading in different directions for quite some time now.

We set out to be a part-time band, but somehow we ended up playing 322 shows in over 25 countries across 4 continents. Along the way, we were lucky enough make amazing friends in all corners of the world and play along side some of our favourite bands.

It's been an amazing and surreal five years, and we owe endless thank you's to every single one of you that helped us out along the way by checking out a record, attending or promoting a show, letting us crash on your floor, giving us food, or simply taking five minutes to come chat with us.

It's been swell, friends... Thanks for everything.

I have been touring in bands for the better part of 8 years between my own bands, This Is A Standoff and Forty Cent Fix; filling in on guitar duties for Carpenter; and merching for Protest The Hero once upon a time. Throughout those years, I played somewhere around 600 shows and have had the opportunity to travel to around 25 countries, including Japan, Brazil, Russia, and many places in between.

I never imagined I would get to tour so much and visit so many places. I met some of my best friends through those years on the road, and am so grateful for each and every experience that came out of picking up a guitar when I was 12 years old.

Simply put, I left the Standoff back in November to spend more time focusing on Melodic Creative, and because I found that the touring life and the workload that went into band had become very hard to manage. On top of playing, I was writing a big chunk of the music, designing the artwork, creating promotional materials for tour and records, running the website, and maintaining an online presence. Overload.

I will never quit playing and writing music, but only time will tell whether or not it will be on a stage or in my bedroom.

For those who have been asking what the next step is, there is not much to report. I have been writing with a friend for a project called Many Small Places for the past year or so, but at the moment, we have no plans to turn it into a full band or hit the road. We are simply writing music for the love of music, without deadline or an audience in mind, and we've been having a blast.