It’s been quite the run for the Hip Priests what with their final live shows on the back of their final vinyl record being the ten-inch EP Swan song. Still, it doesn’t end there my friends because frontman Nathan Von Cruz has only gone and put pen to paper and taken notes of the final run as a Hip Priest and documented it all in this easy-to-read and thoroughly enjoyable book made of paper. However, I’d happily buy the audiobook on cassette for the crack where Nathan says it as it is in hushed tones.
I will say right here right now it’s a light book nothing too heavy or out of control and Nathan doesn’t really tell tales nor divulge tour secrets and While it is a tour journal he does stick to the time-honoured premise of what goes on tour stays on tour apart from having beer belly and the perils of only taking one pair of strides for a whole tour (schoolboy error by anyone standards).
It’s an easy reader but in a good way Nathan’s style is personable and uncluttered – you get the picture of touring in a van with a few other hairy dudes but it doesn’t gloss over what can effectively be chaotic and whirlwind time. Now the Hip Priests aren’t immune from tour mishaps like hospital visits and such like but this final shindig across Europe paints a fair picture of the frustrations of being a DIY band and how narrow the margins are and the fact they made it to the end without killing one another is a testament to the people you read about in the book. They were on the right side of history that’s a fact and there might be obvious reasons why they couldn’t break through the glass ceiling of rock n roll and move to bigger better more lucrative companies but that’s for directing another day This is about rejoicing in the good times and the fact that half a dozen music enthusiasts kicked ass on stage and in the studio for almost two decades should be regaled and rejoiced and most importantly because they did it their way which might also be part of the reason it had to be the way it gets described in the book.
It’s not war and peace nor is it ‘Get in the Van’ or ‘Sin After Sin’ from Alvin Gibbs but it is a different beast altogether and the modest Von Cruz should be enthused by the fall out of his written work because I certainly enjoyed it immensely even with my single criticism that there aren’t any accompanying photographs to go with this book so casual readers could put faces to the names. That aside it’s only a minor gripe what is important is the fact he got to document the final tours of such a great band.
‘Haus Blues’ is an insight into the scattergun mind of a rock n roll frontman and his weird and wonderful world as two very different worlds collide that of the rock n roll one and the other of the family man who has chores and everyday things to do like you and I. If you ever wondered what his favourite films were or his top 20 albums then Haus is where you’ll be enlightened. Again it is an easy read nothing too heavy apart from some of the content but it dovetails with some of the flip side book ‘Road Kill Blues’. Nathan is good at this and I feel that the purpose of a journal/diary book is to engage with the reader and he certainly does that.
In conclusion, I’d suggest if you are a fan of his beat combo or music writing in general this is a no-brainer and if you’ve never heard of his band and want a general insight then this is perfect. Top marks Von Cruz your book/books were a thoroughly good read now get to work on a follow up and whatever you do next I wish you every success. Buy It
Author: Dom Daley
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