'This Is My Everything', the superb new book about the life and adventures of a touring screamo band (Tidal) by Christian Späth, is now available to pre-order.
About the book: Five young men in their early twenties, carrying backpacks and guitars, climbed onto the bus in Mendoza, Argentina, that was to take them over the Andes to Santiago de Chile, where they would play the last show of their South American tour, and then board a plane the day after back to their home country of Germany. In spite of the South American winter, the weather in Mendoza was bright and sunny. The ride was supposed to take six hours, after three of which they would cross the border to Chile at a post called Cristo Redentor, at more than 3000 meters above sea level. Not long after the bus had left the station, the weather started to change for the worse. It started raining, and as the road wound itself higher up the Andes, rain soon turned to snow, and before long, white drifts were growing larger on either side of the road. When they finally reached the border crossing, a long line of trucks and cars was standing ahead of them, not moving an inch...
Starting a band is a lot like a romantic relationship. You spend time together, find that common spark, and live through emotions and experiences. You create music together. Songs, lyrics, entire records. You find a name for your band. Each member contributes to creating something uniquely your own. Then there's also the other side of the medal: fights, breakups, broken hearts. The entire emotional bandwidth of a relationship is contained within the complicated inner workings of a band.
‘This Is My Everything’ is about one forgotten screamo band's travels into and out of the worldwide DIY hardcore scene in the late nineties and early noughties, with guest appearances by Against Me!, Shelter, Refused, Ink&Dagger, Yaphet Kotto, Snapcase and many more.
About the author: Born in the summer of 1979 in provincial Southern Germany, Christian Späth's parents made him take piano and violin lessons from an early age. As a teenager, he started playing in bands and hasn't stopped doing so until today. He played in Tidal, Jigsaw Jackson, Abermals and many others and runs the label Memento. He has toured in Europe, South America and Mexico. Today, he lives with his wife, two kids and two cats on an island in the Mediterranean and works as a sound engineer for movie and tv productions.
Pre-order a copy of TIME now direct from Earth Island Books, or pick it up from any good book store or online reseller after 4th December.