We’re coming back home to Shoe Fest this year.
There’s something about this fest. The music, the woods, the community. It’s everything, and we get to be part of it again.
Broken Robots crew:
Kat Baker, Elix Smith, Ari Augustaitis, Johnny Reed, and Brennan Quinn
…maybe a special guest or two, we’re still figuring that part out 👀
Come camp with us. Stay up too late. Wander into sets you didn’t plan on seeing.
Harley will be there too, making friends and supervising 🐶
It’s going to be a beautiful weekend. Get your tickets before they’re gone 🎫🫶🏻
Hey everyone, this post was from yesterday but as I’m sure you can imagine it’s been a wild 24 hours. Funeral arrangements have been made. Thank you all so much for the incredible outpouring of love and support.
We are holding a viewing for Tony on Monday, April 6th from 6pm–9pm at Cappetta’s West Suburban Funeral Home (39 N Cass Ave, Westmont, IL 60559).
Tony loved Westmont. It’s where he grew up, and it feels right to bring him home one last time.
I know for a lot of my Chicago people this might be a bit of a trek, but I’m asking you to show up and show out. Let’s pack the house so Westmont can see just how much Tony meant to this city and to all of us.
He got a legendary send-off at Martyrs’, and I know we can carry that same energy into this next moment.
Come celebrate him, share stories, and give him the kind of send-off he deserves.
Let’s do it up y’all.
Yes, Tony’s urn is a tiny guitar.
Yes, I keep it on my studio desk.
Yes, I hold it multiple times a day while working.
Tbh he would think this is cool as hell.
Thank you Tony Cappetta at Cappetta’s West Suburban Funeral Home for helping me find something so perfect.
Always with me.
I also have additional ashes set aside for close friends and loved ones who want a small portion to keep or memorialize in their own way. Once I’m fully moved and settled into my new place, I’ll start reaching out. If that would be something meaningful to you, feel free to comment or message me.
Tony died and I had a very strong urge to do something reckless.
The old version of me probably would’ve picked drinking, drugs, or some chaotic rebound situation and called it “healing.”
Thankfully, I’ve already done enough field research on self-destruction to know exactly how that story ends.
So instead I got a crocodile tattooed on my back.
He’s half submerged and staring directly at whoever is behind me, watching my back like Tony always used to.
Grief is strange. Survival is strange. Sometimes growth looks less like making perfect choices and more like finding new ways to be a little unhinged without burning your life down.
I’ll take permanent crocodilian body art over ruining my sobriety any day.
4 months, 11 days old today 💗
Too smart for his own good and growing way too fast
I might be biased but I really think he’s the coolest looking dog I’ve ever seen
A moment from “The Needle The Thread and The Hospital Bed”
This song was written right before and during Tony’s diagnosis. It opens with a fever dream he had just weeks before everything changed. Playing it now feels like stepping back into that moment and seeing it with new eyes.
Brennan Quinn really did this song justice on guitar. Vijay and Johnny on keys and drums brought so much depth and power to the set, it was incredible to have them up there with us. And Elix, as always, steady and solid, holding down both the bass and the entire vibe.
Thank you to everyone who was part of this night. Truly. It meant more than I can put into words.
Special thanks to @maxwilliamsvideo for coming out to the event and getting everything in 4K. I was a bit disheveled on this night, but the footage he captured is so beautiful that it doesn’t even matter 🫶🏻
I’ve been thinking a lot about Tony Baker.
He faced life with a kind of quiet courage that showed up in how he lived, how he kept going, and how he held onto what mattered.
This is one of my favorite memories. I had the honor of playing a Broken Robots single on the radio and sharing a bit of his and Kat's story.
I’m going to miss him a lot.
