Hi everyone!

I want to start by thanking everyone for their patience (again) during this crazy time. As promised, there is major news in all aspects of the Saints camp, and we bring it all to you now.

Firstly, it is with a heavy heart that I announce that The Mercenary Saints are on a semi-permanent hiatus. I know that you're thinking, "Scarfo, put the corporate double-talk bullshit aside and tell me what the hell this means." I must say, that while you have a right to know, I don't appreciate the colourful language (he he he). What this means is that for all intents and purposes, The Mercenary Saints are no more. The reason that it is worded as a "semi-permanent hiatus" as opposed to "broken up" is that if there is one thing that I've learned in this lifetime, it is to never say never.

Despite what you may think, this actually is a very positive thing. In closing one door, as a group, we are opening many windows. As mentioned in earlier blog postings, original singer Deion is working on a record with a project that he is calling "The Vinyl Revival". I can tell you that the recording portion of that album is finished and it is now onto the mixing and mastering stages.

What of the rest of us, then? What is to happen with Euro, Stroker and yours truly? After an exhaustive search to find a new voice of The Mercenary Saints, we stumbled onto the perfect situation. Originally brought on board to fill the rhythm guitar hole upon Irish's departure, a special guest suddenly made all of these difficult decisions very easy. Dan Adair of "Snatch" has filled the final hole in our quartet and we are moving forward at a lightning pace. Initially, we had toyed with the idea of continuing on as the Saints with Dan in the mix, but as we began to write together, we realized that this was a completely different beast. Returning to our heavier, more aggressive roots, we realized that the things that we were creating, while something that we are exceptionally proud of, are decidedly not TMS tunes. So, in saying this, it is with the greatest of pleasure and pride that I introduce you to For The Hard Way. Firstly, please pop over to the FTHW myspace site, www.myspace.com/forthehardway and join us as friends. Until this announcement, not a word has been leaked about it's existence, so please jump in on the ground floor and be the first to be our pretend internet friends. Who knows, in time, we might become actual real world friends. There are tons more details there about the new venture and everything going on with FTHW.

As for the Saints themselves, if there is any news to post, I will post it here, but make it known that there is a posting through the For The Hard Way site. On behalf of everyone involved with the Saints over the years, I want to thank you all for your continuing support. Before I go, here are the top ten things I learned while in The Mercenary Saints (I swear, every last word of this is true):


10. Despite the feeling being less than mutual, many divisions of varying police services in Ontario are huge fans of The Mercenary Saints. That's the only reason that I can think of to explain why they showed up at so many of our shows. That and the law breaking. Come to think of it, mostly the law breaking.

9. Sound travels over water like there is no tomorrow. I used to think that the best part of playing a show up at a cottage is that there was no one around to phone in a sound complaint. However, it seems that if you get cranked up loud enough, the cottage across the lake just might make that call.

8. Nothing brings friends together again like kicking someone's ass. At the infamous March Fourth Massacre, two old friends on the outs found themselves reunited after beating a common enemy within an inch of a hospital visit. The things that I find touching ....

7. Ain't no girls like Laurier girls. While playing a show on campus at WLU, I was stopped by a fan after our second song and the following conversation occured (though I admit it loses something in the translation without the slurring):

Me: What's wrong?
Drunk girl: I just needed to tell you that your drummer is hot.
Me: What? We're trying to play a show here.
Drunk girl: I mean, you're all hot, but your drummer ... he is f*ckin' hot!

Go Euro.

6. If, while shooting stick before a show, you come across someone with a sword, tell a grownup. Stroker, at the Massacre, played some eight ball with the guys who were mostly responible for the brawl, during which, they showed him the 24" blade hidden in the one guys cane. It explains why during the brawl, Stroker put down his bass, looked at Deion and said, "I'm going in" before jumping into the pile.

5. Such a thing as too many free drinks does exist. Before one of our shows at Phil's, the owner placed an open sixpack in front of each one of us. Might I note that Deion doesn't drink during shows as it affects his voice, leaving Euro and I to help. We're givers, it's what we do.


4. Don't count on promoters from the "dirty shwa" for professionalism. The one gig we played there had horrendous sound problems. While these things do happen, usually the promoter is looking into the issue instead of disappearing to the back parking lot with the drummer from the second band.


3. The importance of being right there on 'one'. After a brutally setup gig in Guelph, the sleazy promoter decided to give us some tips on our sound. Don't get me wrong, we're as receptive as anyone to constructive criticism, but the only thing that he could come up with was to suggest that we all be playing the same part at the same time. Anyone who has ever seen us live knows that if nothing else, we're tight. The acoustics in the place where we played were built for classical solo performances, so the sound bounced off of the walls repeatedly, which the promoter failed to notice. Maybe I'm being picky, but you'd think someone who puts on rock shows would know something about a venue's acoustics. Jackass.


2. Nothing says sorry like letting a guy punch you in the head. After our very first show (even pre-Deion), Phiffe felt pretty bad about drinking 3/4 of a bottle of Jagermeister before hand and playing terribly. Being the smallest of the crew, his way of apologizing was to pick a fight with each of us so we'd have a chance to kick his ass. The next morning at breakfast, very quietly and with a look of violation on his face, we had this conversation (and I swear, word for word)

Phiffe: How bad do I look?
Me: You have a bit of a shiner, I'm pretty sure that was me.
Phiffe (quietly): Who gave me the wedgie?
Me: What?
Phiffe: My ass is bleeding, who gave me the wedgie?

Between gales of laughter, I was able to tell him that it was, in fact, Euro who gave him the wedgie.


1. If sleeping at home the night after a show, the rock 'n' roll tradition of trashing your hotel room is not advisable. On a night of heavy drinking (see #5), we returned the house where Deion, Phiffe, Euro and I all lived and broke a lot of the things we owned. The feeling of 'What did I do last night?' is scarier when you exit your bedroom to a floor invisible under a layer of broken glass.


See you at www.myspace.com/forthehardway

-Scarfo

	When Does This End This is a song about desperation and a call for redemption. It is best known among Saints fans for the hooky "Whoas" in the chorus. This was a rare song in that it all came together in one night at the jam hall with Phiffe writing the lyrics for the verses and Deion chiming in with the choruses.		Rock
	Caroline This is a story about a girl who finds herself on the wrong end of a heroin habit. The speaker in the song is a friend reaching out to try to help the addict. This is the first in the three (so far) song story following this character through the depths of her addiction ...		Rock

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