"I only eat fruit," Teepee frontman and songwriter Erix S. Laurent (birth name Eric Lopez-Zareño) declared in an interview with New Times last summer.
"And I love it."
In addition to jazzing up his name and banning most food from his diet, Laurent has spent the past two years employing what appears to be a deliberate, hypermicromanaged strategy.
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He remains mostly elusive. But every now and then, we wonder: "What's up with Teepee? That Morals LP from 2009 was hot shit!" And then -- bam! -- dude appears in a puff of smoke like a mystical shoegazing magician.
This Thursday, Mr. Teepee and his merry three-piece (which features manager Andrew McLees and constantly gigging multi-instrumentalist Dion Kerr) will be supernaturally transporting themselves onto the intimate floor-stage of Midtown mainstay Bardot, where they plan to kick off a monthlong tour of the U.S.
Teepee's Distant Love U.S. Tour Schedule
March 28 Miami, FL, Bardot
March 30 Gainesville, FL, The Church of Holy Colors with Levek, Woset, Euglossine
March 31 Chapel Hill, NC, The Cave with Earthbound Misfits, Flesh Wounds
April 1 Asheville, NC, Blackout Effectors with Soft Opening
April 2 Charlottesville, VA, Tea Bazaar with Canary Oh Canary
April 3 Baltimore, MD, Golden West Cafe with Christopher Nobody and the Nothing
April 4 Philadelphia, PA, Kung Fu Necktie with The People's Temple, Southern Femisphere
April 5 New York, NY, Cake Shop with Herzog Rising, Lodro, Slow Warm Death
April 6 Brooklyn, NY, Silent Barn with Lea Bertucci, Silent Isle, Burial Shroud
April 7 Boston, MA, O'Brien's Pub with Guilty Party, Moontowers, Weak Stomach
April 9 New Haven, CT, Cafe Nine with Ghost of Chance, Florida=Death
April 10 Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Roboto Project presented by Draw Us Lines and Monalloh Foundry
April 11 Detroit, MI, PJ's Lager House with The Mahonies, The Intended, Church Shoes
April 13 Bloomington, IN, Culture Shock Fest with TBA
April 14 Chicago, IL, Permanent Records
April 15 Chicago, IL, The Empty Bottle with Purling Hiss (Record Release Party), AXIS:SOVA
April 17 St. Louis, MO, The Livery with Burrows, Spectator, Wildeyed
April 18 Nashville, TN. The End with Western Medication, Dirty Dreams
April 19 Atlanta, GA, The Earl with Dead Confederate
April 20 Savannah, GA, Graveface Records, Record Store Day with TBA
At Bardot, following the dissipation of the mystical clouds that deliver them, Laurent and company will be letting loose some meticulously crafted, fuzzed-out rock, drawing on emotion-laden heavies like My Bloody Valentine and Death in June.
Some advice to those who yearn to rock: Maybe you need to eat more fruit.
Teepee's Distant Love U.S. Tour Kickoff. With DJs Mikey Ramirez and Mr. Jolt. Thursday, March 28. Bardot. 3456 N. Miami Ave., Miami. The show starts at 10 p.m. and cover costs $10. Ages 21 and up. Call 305-576-5570 or visit bardotmiami.com.
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