We love the stories Jack, our bassist + aspiring astrophysicist, shares with us. Once he turned to Spencer and me during practice and said, “So, when you were little, did you make foghorn noises back at the boats?” He then let out his best foghorn imitation. Having grown up in SF, he was pretty good at it.

Another time he was telling me about a conversation he had with his friend wherein he was trying to say ‘I dig it.’ Unable to remember the phrase, Jack instead told his friend, “If you dug a hole, I’d jump in it.”

Most recently, Jack picked me up to drive to our rehearsal space.

J: So do you want to listen to Parliament, Parliament, or maybe Parliament.

E: Um . . . I was wondering if you have that band Parliament?

J: You’re in luck! Actually, it’s currently the only cd one can listen to in my car. Last week my car was broken into and the thieves tried to take my stereo out. They couldn’t get it out and just ended up breaking it. So now I can’t change the cd, skip songs, adjust the volume or turn the stereo off. I just listen to this Parliament cd every time I drive.

E: Well, at least the cd stuck inside isn’t something really intense like death metal at top volume.

J: Yeah, or that pop cd you have where you only listen to that one song you like when you’re driving by yourself . . . On the bright side, one of the cds they took was the Middle Maki cd. Now there are roaming thugs driving around bumping Port Adieu.

(Later, driving back after practice)

E: Wow, Parliament is so good. I could listen to it all the time.

J: I feel the same way. And I do.

And that, really, is the best we can hope for our ep; that somewhere in Oakland thieves are rocking out to ‘Cocaine.’

heart.elizabeth