I’m here with some sad news – Please Do Not Fight will be playing two more shows and then breaking up. Moving on. Saying goodbye.

This is not a decision I make lightly. However, after five years of putting all of my energy into PDNF, this year finally felt like the right time to move on and start something new. Please Do Not Fight started as a project based around songs I had written in the years prior to it’s inception in 2007 – that makes some of the songs from our library almost 10 years old. So much has happened since Erin and I first began working on our first song, ‘These Are The Sounds Of Days That Are Passed’, and I’m a much different person than I was then. Bottom line: The artist within me is calling out to create something fresh and different from what Please Do Not Fight represents and this is the first step in that process.

I’m incredibly proud of everything this band has accomplished and I have been honored to work with some of the greatest musicians and friends I could possibly ask for. The best times of my life have been with this band. So much of my gratitude goes out to everyone who has made this what it was - Spike, Beau, Erin, Kubes, Matt, Scott, T, Geoff, Kyle, Chris - I love you and am eternally blessed to have had you be such a big part of this. Thank you for Anna and Loni for being our biggest fans and great friends. Thank you to Aaron Hellam for mixing and mastering almost everything we ever did. Thank you to Picture Atlantic and Rin Tin Tiger for believing in us and playing with us all the time and being incredible inspirations. Thank you to Craigslist for bringing Kubes, T and Kyle to us. Thank you to our families for lending us money when we needed it and buying way more merchandise than they could have possibly ever needed. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us, come to shows, taken photos, purchased CD’s, let us crash on their floor, bought T-Shirts, shared our videos, pledged your hard earned dollars and been a part of making this all worth it. We couldn’t have done it without you and we will truly miss it when it is over.

Until then, we still have two really great shows to play. The May 26th Rock Hop and our farewell show at Bottom Of The Hill on July 14th. More details for the farewell show will be released as the date draws closer but suffice to say, it’s going to be huge and we will basically be letting you pick the entire setlist. The line-up for both shows will be the most recent line-up of myself, Geoff, Erin, Kyle and Chris.

We also have recorded one last song that we will be releasing at some point soon. More details to follow on that also.

That’s about it. We are all feeling both sad and very excited as to what the future holds although I am sure come the day of the final show we will all be a mess of emotions. It’s going to be hard but I’ve always been a firm believer in pushing your boundaries and doing things that scare you and I’m truly looking forward for what is to come.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Much love,

Zen

P.S. If you’re interested in keeping in touch with future projects from the members of Please Do Not Fight I highly recommend you follow us on either Facebook or Twitter. We will post a couple of follow ups through there so that you can keep in touch with all of our new projects!

Buy tickets here. Share the event on Facebook here.

Reasons to not miss this:

1) The Mod Theme – Dressing up like a Mod means dressing up very nicely, like the Mod couple on our flier. How can you miss an event full of super attractive people dressed to the nines? It also means dancing to awesome Mod music DJ sets courtesy of Danny from The Frail!

2) The Blumenbooth – Our first Rock Hop in San Jose had an amazing photo booth provided by Aaron Blumenshine and it was a huge success (See photos from the last one here!). It only made sense to have him return for the San Francisco Rock Hop to capture everyones awesome Modwear.

3) The super solid line-up. Aside from yours truly this Rock Hop features performances from Finish Ticket, Picture Atlantic and Coast Jumper. It doesn’t really get any better than that.

Can’t wait to see you there! Over and out.

-Zen

First off, I don’t care what my spellchecker says. They’re ‘Mixtapes’. Not ‘Mix Tapes’.

Second off, these videos came about originally as a way to describe the different themes associated with The Rock Hop Concert Series we put on. Part of the challenge of having a rotating theme for each show is explaining to the audience what the theme actually means.  As a big fan of Mixtape Culture growing up I thought it only appropriate that I create a little presentation to explain the history a little bit and get everyone in the mood for the Rock Hop Record and Mix CD Swap this coming Saturday.

Third off, I have to give credit where credit is due. I’m a huge fan of Podcasts and my absolute favorite is ‘Stuff You Should Know‘. While they’re mostly an audio-only venture, occasionally they do neat little minute long videos that I always find painfully endearing and so I basically totally ripped off their format. If you aren’t a Podcast convert yet that’s a train you need to hop on asap.

Finally, big thanks to Spencer West for shooting this bad boy, Maggie Levin for helping me figure out how to write them and Anna Larina for doing our initial shoot. Yes, there will be more of these (expect to see one relating to the upcoming San Francisco Rock Hop), yes I will write a blog about how much I love Podcasts soon and yes, we would love if you were to share this video with your friends.

Hope to see you San Jose-ites this Saturday!

-Zen

[ RSVP on Facebook | Buy Tickets ]

We are so stoked for the theme of this one, it’s going to be lots of fun!

MIX CD SWAP -
Bring a Mix CD to trade and discover some new music! Drop one off when you arrive and then pick one up when you leave. Your CD must have a minimum of 10 tracks. You can decorate the CD however you like but you MUST INCLUDE A TRACK LISTING. You can only take a CD if you bring one!

DJ SET’S BY BLACKLIGHT FINDINGS -
Want to help create the playlist for the night? You can! DJ Lia of Blacklight Findings will be spinning REAL VINYL throughout the night. Bring your own Vinyl marked with the appropriate track you wish to have played and we’ll queue it up! You can submit up to three songs.

See you there!

-Zen

I used to fear April 1st in the days leading up to it every year. I was always fooled as a kid by my sisters, and I took it seriously and personally every time. Thankfully, I have lightened up a lot since then, and have embraced the foolishness and hilarity!

Although Zen says he has a hard time not giving away a prank too quickly by laughing or getting overexcited about it as it is being played, I have seen him pull some excellent ones on bandmates (including myself) over the years… April 1st or not!

A Good One:

Just the other day we were in practice, and Geoff went to use the restroom. When he got back we started a run through of Silence My Skin to rehearse for an upcoming show. Zen, Chris and Kyle start out the song, and then Geoff came in with his guitar riff… and it sounded horrible! It was out of tune… like a half step, so it sounded completely hideous. Naturally, Geoff checks his guitar with his tuner pedal, and it checks out — clearly in tune. He is really confused, checks his capo and the frets where he’s playing… tries playing it again.
Then Zen reveals that while he was in the restroom he and Chris tuned a half step off, so that they would sound fine together, until Geoff’s part came in.

I was cracking up! Geoff is Geoff (the chillest guy in the world), so he just shrugged and said “whatever.” But we got a kick out of it

What are some of your favourite April Fools (or any day) pranks?

- Erin Keely

A somewhat little known fact about me is that I’m really, really into fitness and nutrition. Lately I’ve been making some pretty rad protein shakes, full of tasty and healthy things, but today I made one that was so insanely delicious that I realized it would be a real shame not to share it with the world!

I absolutely love coffee, chocolate and things pumpkin spice. This is what I came up with, combining these elements:

Pumpkin Mocha Protein Shake

• About 2.2 oz cold brew coffee
• About 0.2 cup organic 1% milk
• About 0.2 cup Lifeway lowfat vanilla kefir
• 1/4 cup pumpkin, canned
• 1/4 cup So Delicious (made with Coconut Milk) German Chocolate Ice Cream
• 1.5 scoops Jillian Michaels Triple Chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 tbsp Stonewall Kitchen Maple Pumpkin Butter
• Vietnamese Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Nutmeg

Add ice and blend until smooth! It makes a LOT, so it’s a really full meal!

The basic nutrition involved: About 343 calories; 41g Carbs; 10g Fat; 29g protein; 167mg sodium, 11g fiber!

Get your nutrition on and ENJOY!!

<3 to you all,

- Erin Keely

We’ve got a slew of home-base shows happening throughout March and April that’re worth checking out! Here’s the run down.

March 24th @ San Pedro Square Market (87 N. San Pedro Street, San Jose, CA)

9pm. Free. All ages, with a full bar. Will Sprott from The Mumlers will also be playing an acoustic set. This is ERIN KEELYS FIRST SHOW BACK.

[RSVP on Facebook!]

March 29th @ The Stork Club (2330 Telegraph Ave., West Oakland, CA)

9pm. 21+. $5. A night of 21+ fun with our pals in Evolutia, Sunrunners and Coast Jumper.

[RSVP on Facebook!]

April 8th @ The Hemlock Tavern (1131 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA)

9pm. 21+. $6. HELL&LULA (featuring ex-PDNF bassist Matt/Russell Henson) from Los Angeles joins us and Girl Named T for this very special San Francisco show!

[RSVP on Facebook!]

April 13th @ The Apple Store (1 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA)

6:30pm. All ages. Join us for a free performance AND grab some free digital downloads while you’re at it!

[RSVP on Facebook!]

If you wanna get snuggly and personal with the PDNF crew now is the time as soon summer will be here and the time of extravaganza’s and tours will be upon us!

Love,

Zen

As you may remember in July of 2009 Erin Keely had her ‘last official show’ with Please Do Not Fight, leaving me the only remaining founding member.

Those of you who are observant may recall that that wasn’t her LAST appearance with us however – she returned to give Kubes a proper send off and stood in when T was absent on a handful of occasions. She also joined us in the studio, lending her keyboard skills to ‘Something Here’ and ‘Take It Back’. Which is as it should be, since she wrote the parts! We all remained friends of course – Erin and I frequently play Dungeons and Dragons with the boys in Picture Atlantic and she remained an avid fan of the local music scene, attending shows left and right.

But none of the less, her departure pushed Please Do Not Fight in a decidedly more guitar-driven direction and when T left we even lost the female vocals. And while PDNF is certainly my baby, Erin has been a crucial component of it since it’s inception. As well as just lending her musical talents she has always been a primary songwriting partner. It was almost beginning to feel like PDNF was an entirely different band, which lead us to releasing ‘pastpresentfuture : part 1′ as both a reflective look back and also a sort of ‘restart’ point.

Anyways, a month back Erin asked me to join her for coffee at The Grind and she asked if she could rejoin the band.

I, of course, said yes. Her first show back with us will be on March 24th for a free show at San Pedro Square Market in San Jose. She is already posting over on our Twitter (@pdnf) page and you can expect to see some blogs from her, as well as some new songs featuring her, soon. We couldn’t be more thrilled.

Welcome back Erin!!!

-Zen

[ RSVP on Facebook | Buy Tickets ]

In 2004 I spent a fair amount of time going to rock shows with my friends Matt, Josh and Huck. One band we got really into it and saw on multiple occasions was The Jealous Sound.

I don’t remember how it all started but after catching them opening for another favorite band of ours, probably at Bottom Of The Hill, my friends started raving about them. That year we caught them in force – playing main support for Cursive at The Great American Music Hall, Piebald at Slims and then later headlining their own show at Bottom Of The Hill. I fell in love with their EP during this time and it became a huge influence on the songs I was writing at the time as well as the lead guitar parts I wanted to hear.

I remember being stood in line early to get into their show at The Great American Music Hall with Cursive and Pedro – their lead guitarist – came out to smoke a cigarette. He recognized Matt and Josh from an earlier show and came over and said hi and chatted with us for a while about music and guitars and other things we were really into. He really gave us his full attention and said thank you for coming. We were all very impressed – now, not only with the music but also how kind they were as people. That really stuck with me and in a way changed how I thought about approaching people who’re interested in my own music. I really began to identify with the bands that were down the earth and friendly and ‘like me’ and lean away from the bands who had the arrogant ‘rockstar’ image going on.

Last year when I saw they were active again on Facebook I posted about how excited I was to see them back at it. Pedro almost immediately hit me up with a thank you and then posted on our Facebook page saying that he had checked out ‘MOVE’ and loved the guitar on BAMF. The fact that he not only thank you but went out of his way to check out our music (without me prompting him!) it a testament to how friggin’ nice these guys are.

If you haven’t already you absolutely must check out their new album ‘A Gentle Reminder’ (You can stream it now on Spotify). To me it has all the markings of what made me fall in love with The Jealous Sound in the first place right alongside all the signs of a band that has truly grown and evolved.

I’m honored to get to open for them as they swing through San Francisco and what better place than at Bottom Of The Hill? I really hope we’ll see you there.

-Zen

Please share it on Facebook and Twitter won’t you? We’re awful proud.

-Zen