Sunday, May 30, 2004
Bidgie Reef and the Gas
In the "Reading Band Scene" entry, I said that my one criticism of Bidgie Reef and the Gas was that they had two guitarists and neither of them was me. What I meant was "I wish I played for them" not "Neither of the guitarists are as good as me" - it was one of my more complicated complimentary turns-of-phrase, and one that didn't work.
Off to see Mike and Sonic Undermind play at the Newbury festival now. It's worth pointing out that as I sit here and type the rain is lashing down outside my window in a way that makes me think that world could come to an end this afternoon. Hope it stops soon.
Oh, and about the whole "I'll use this blog as diary to record my meteoric rise to the lofty heights of rock stardom" - not gonna happen, I'm afraid. I have to be really careful about what I say about the goings-on at Yankee 99er HQ, but I'll try and shoot mouth off about anything I can.
Off to see Mike and Sonic Undermind play at the Newbury festival now. It's worth pointing out that as I sit here and type the rain is lashing down outside my window in a way that makes me think that world could come to an end this afternoon. Hope it stops soon.
Oh, and about the whole "I'll use this blog as diary to record my meteoric rise to the lofty heights of rock stardom" - not gonna happen, I'm afraid. I have to be really careful about what I say about the goings-on at Yankee 99er HQ, but I'll try and shoot mouth off about anything I can.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Mmmmm.... sausage sandwichs
I'm not hungover. Does that mean I must still be drunk? Please excuse any consequential incoherencies.
Here's my traditional "Wot i'm doin this weekend" post.
Friday night: Senser at the uni. It's also Club Velocity tonight but I'm going to miss it. Oh well.
Saturday day: Rehearsal! Just a quickie at Impact to hone our tightness. Damn, I'm looking forward to that. Our last rehearsal was so much fun. I love playing in a band.
Saturday night: The Ukranians at South Street. Former Wedding Present Guitarists band who play in Ukranian. Weird but good.
Sunday: Newbury Fringe Festival the first time I've ever played an outdoor festival. BBC Weather report for Newbury seems to be saying it's going to be sunny. Fingers very much crossed!!!
Monday: Another gig! This time at Reading uni with Rough Cuts. We're the only band on so can play for 45 minutes which means we can play everything!
I'm sorry internal organs. If you can hold out until Monday I'll be eternally grateful.
We'll finish off our round up of the local scene soon.
Here's my traditional "Wot i'm doin this weekend" post.
Friday night: Senser at the uni. It's also Club Velocity tonight but I'm going to miss it. Oh well.
Saturday day: Rehearsal! Just a quickie at Impact to hone our tightness. Damn, I'm looking forward to that. Our last rehearsal was so much fun. I love playing in a band.
Saturday night: The Ukranians at South Street. Former Wedding Present Guitarists band who play in Ukranian. Weird but good.
Sunday: Newbury Fringe Festival the first time I've ever played an outdoor festival. BBC Weather report for Newbury seems to be saying it's going to be sunny. Fingers very much crossed!!!
Monday: Another gig! This time at Reading uni with Rough Cuts. We're the only band on so can play for 45 minutes which means we can play everything!
I'm sorry internal organs. If you can hold out until Monday I'll be eternally grateful.
We'll finish off our round up of the local scene soon.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
You asked for it part 2
The continuing adventures of AK and Mike in reviewingthelocalscene land.
Alfonse: Now, in my own revered and esteemed opinion, this is the
strongest genre out of all the styles being played in the dark, beer-soaked
crevices of Reading. My first exposure to this was when Yankee Nine Niner
played at the 3B's, we were acting as aural fluffers for a band called Trout;
not only did
they rock in a punk/metal (I was reminded of the Rollins Band for some reason!)
way, but they wore suits that Delbert Wilkins would have killed for, and they
were completely hatstand. Songs like "Plastic Bag" displayed the fact that they
prefer creativity to reality - think a cross between Primus, and a white van
man, middle-aged version of Mike Skinner. Who says insanity isn't
entertaining?
But perhaps the most electric of the "art" bands are Caged Baby - a band who I
think are the champions of anti-talent, a group who forge through the minefield
of mediocrity by trying to do something else, as badly as they can. Now these
guys are all about the stage show. A band of Barnum and Bailey stature.
Mike: Excellent call on Caged Baby and Trout. Summed up what I would have
said about them. There are other bands that come into this category. Melizer are
one that I haven't heard. Floodshock probably come in here with their Heat
Magazine Celebrity inspired lyrics sung to guitar fronted disco beats.
Actually one of their songs has the line: "You'll never get laid dancing to emo"
which is one of my favourite local band lyrics... which brings us neatly to...
AK Now just you wait one cotton-picking second, consarnit! I hadn't got
round to saying anything about Bidgie Reef and the Gas, who I saw a couple of
weeks ago and was mighty impressed with. You know that Kate Winslet bird? Her
dad sings for them, and very good he is too! Now these guys are far more
accessible and easy-on-the-ear than the other bands I've mentioned, they have
far greater "pop" sensibilities, and come armed to the teeth with lush chord
progressions and melodies, with some drum and bass lines thrown in for good
measure. In fact, if someone were to ask me what bands were worth seeing in
Reading (The Cooper Temple Clause not withstanding) - and they weren't wearing a
t-shirt that said "I listen to heavy, deranged music", I think Bidgie Reef would
be my suggestion. There are other bands out there worth pointing people
towards, but none would make me look as cool, knowledgeable and "cutting edge"
as Bidgie Reef and the Gas. My only criticism of them is that they have two
guitarists, and neither of them is me.
You have to write something again now Mike, or it will just look like me
rambling on and on and on. Now, I am aware that this is par for the course, as
it were, but for the reader's sake, just say something dry and reasoned to
counter-balance my wet and unreasonable comments.
The Heffernator
AK: Well, I'm not an expert in either Emu or Screamo, cos I think that
they're just a marketing man's idea of how to re-hash the same old gubbins that
has always been around. I mean "Emotional Hardcore" for fuck's sake! As opposed
to all that music that isn't intense and emotional, eh? "Hey guys! I've got a
great idea! Let's play music that is emotionally engaging! We can make it really
intense as well!" And who wants to listen to some heavily tattooed prat crying
into his beer about how upset he is at something? Pull yourself together man!
You big girl's blouse! It might be OK for Americans to be in touch with their
feminine sides, but quite frankly we're British, and we expect better than that.
*sound of "Land of Hope and Glory" playing out in background*
However, some good bands have played in Reading over the last few years that
have been unlucky enough to get tainted with the "Emu" brush - Flipcycle would
be one of the strongest, but I'm so diametrically opposed to the genre that
they're practically the only one I can remember. Mike? You know more about this
sort of thing than I do, I just end up ranting whenever I think about it.
Mike: Er... yeah. I don't think Flipcycle would consider themselves in
the same genre but what the hell.
AKSee? Told you I know nothing! Apologies to Al and the rest of
Flipcycle? you guys are great, now I think about it the CD I have of yours is
just metal, none of this emo rubbish! But your last set at the Fez (when all
your amps blew up! ROCK!!!!) seemed to stray into what I would normally
pigeon-hole as Emo?
HefflyInuit Monk and Dr Sid are the two that come to mind in the Emo
vein. There are a whole other bunch of them about that I don't know much about.
It tends to be more of an East Berkshire thing I think. I lumped punk in this
area as well but it's another area I don't know much about.
Lower Case J were really good, old school punk. I've seen plenty of new style
pop punk type bands but not many that really did very much for me.
AKThe punk scene in Reading is hella strong, Mandown promotions have put
on some awesome shows at the Roebuck, and the university provides an incessant
stream of students into their Ska and whatnot. Loads of bands could be
described as having "punk" influences, Sullivan do a great line in Blink
182-esque shouty chorus punk (and they really have grown and developed from
being "a bit crap" to a band that do that style of music pretty darn well. The
Josaka "Who?" CD starts off with two ska-tinged bands, which I thought was
probably appropriate given the strength of that scene at the time. Buggered if I
can remember either of their names at the moment (I write all this stuff
off-the-cuff, research and re-drafting are for wimps? and good writers). The
Brass Monkeys are also good, but probably the best ska-punky band I've ever seen
in my life, let alone seen playing local circuit gigs are Hedroom. Their first
single was a little puerile, but then that's what I want from young punk bands!
Now they've matured a shitload, written some awesome songs (I think you
described them as "the jazz-funk Rage Against the Machine", Mike?) and have a
blinding live show. Guitarist Alex is one of my favourite fellow plank-spankers
("..he reminds me of me. Now I know I hate him!" - Doc Holliday in
"Tombstone"), and "Levels" is a great track. Stup!d are another strong band
with a punk mentality, even though they are closer to straightforward rock than
punk.
to be continued...
3. Art Rock/Weird, Crazy People
Alfonse: Now, in my own revered and esteemed opinion, this is the
strongest genre out of all the styles being played in the dark, beer-soaked
crevices of Reading. My first exposure to this was when Yankee Nine Niner
played at the 3B's, we were acting as aural fluffers for a band called Trout;
not only did
they rock in a punk/metal (I was reminded of the Rollins Band for some reason!)
way, but they wore suits that Delbert Wilkins would have killed for, and they
were completely hatstand. Songs like "Plastic Bag" displayed the fact that they
prefer creativity to reality - think a cross between Primus, and a white van
man, middle-aged version of Mike Skinner. Who says insanity isn't
entertaining?
But perhaps the most electric of the "art" bands are Caged Baby - a band who I
think are the champions of anti-talent, a group who forge through the minefield
of mediocrity by trying to do something else, as badly as they can. Now these
guys are all about the stage show. A band of Barnum and Bailey stature.
Mike: Excellent call on Caged Baby and Trout. Summed up what I would have
said about them. There are other bands that come into this category. Melizer are
one that I haven't heard. Floodshock probably come in here with their Heat
Magazine Celebrity inspired lyrics sung to guitar fronted disco beats.
Actually one of their songs has the line: "You'll never get laid dancing to emo"
which is one of my favourite local band lyrics... which brings us neatly to...
AK Now just you wait one cotton-picking second, consarnit! I hadn't got
round to saying anything about Bidgie Reef and the Gas, who I saw a couple of
weeks ago and was mighty impressed with. You know that Kate Winslet bird? Her
dad sings for them, and very good he is too! Now these guys are far more
accessible and easy-on-the-ear than the other bands I've mentioned, they have
far greater "pop" sensibilities, and come armed to the teeth with lush chord
progressions and melodies, with some drum and bass lines thrown in for good
measure. In fact, if someone were to ask me what bands were worth seeing in
Reading (The Cooper Temple Clause not withstanding) - and they weren't wearing a
t-shirt that said "I listen to heavy, deranged music", I think Bidgie Reef would
be my suggestion. There are other bands out there worth pointing people
towards, but none would make me look as cool, knowledgeable and "cutting edge"
as Bidgie Reef and the Gas. My only criticism of them is that they have two
guitarists, and neither of them is me.
You have to write something again now Mike, or it will just look like me
rambling on and on and on. Now, I am aware that this is par for the course, as
it were, but for the reader's sake, just say something dry and reasoned to
counter-balance my wet and unreasonable comments.
The Heffernator
4. Emo, Screamo and punk
AK: Well, I'm not an expert in either Emu or Screamo, cos I think that
they're just a marketing man's idea of how to re-hash the same old gubbins that
has always been around. I mean "Emotional Hardcore" for fuck's sake! As opposed
to all that music that isn't intense and emotional, eh? "Hey guys! I've got a
great idea! Let's play music that is emotionally engaging! We can make it really
intense as well!" And who wants to listen to some heavily tattooed prat crying
into his beer about how upset he is at something? Pull yourself together man!
You big girl's blouse! It might be OK for Americans to be in touch with their
feminine sides, but quite frankly we're British, and we expect better than that.
*sound of "Land of Hope and Glory" playing out in background*
However, some good bands have played in Reading over the last few years that
have been unlucky enough to get tainted with the "Emu" brush - Flipcycle would
be one of the strongest, but I'm so diametrically opposed to the genre that
they're practically the only one I can remember. Mike? You know more about this
sort of thing than I do, I just end up ranting whenever I think about it.
Mike: Er... yeah. I don't think Flipcycle would consider themselves in
the same genre but what the hell.
AKSee? Told you I know nothing! Apologies to Al and the rest of
Flipcycle? you guys are great, now I think about it the CD I have of yours is
just metal, none of this emo rubbish! But your last set at the Fez (when all
your amps blew up! ROCK!!!!) seemed to stray into what I would normally
pigeon-hole as Emo?
HefflyInuit Monk and Dr Sid are the two that come to mind in the Emo
vein. There are a whole other bunch of them about that I don't know much about.
It tends to be more of an East Berkshire thing I think. I lumped punk in this
area as well but it's another area I don't know much about.
Lower Case J were really good, old school punk. I've seen plenty of new style
pop punk type bands but not many that really did very much for me.
AKThe punk scene in Reading is hella strong, Mandown promotions have put
on some awesome shows at the Roebuck, and the university provides an incessant
stream of students into their Ska and whatnot. Loads of bands could be
described as having "punk" influences, Sullivan do a great line in Blink
182-esque shouty chorus punk (and they really have grown and developed from
being "a bit crap" to a band that do that style of music pretty darn well. The
Josaka "Who?" CD starts off with two ska-tinged bands, which I thought was
probably appropriate given the strength of that scene at the time. Buggered if I
can remember either of their names at the moment (I write all this stuff
off-the-cuff, research and re-drafting are for wimps? and good writers). The
Brass Monkeys are also good, but probably the best ska-punky band I've ever seen
in my life, let alone seen playing local circuit gigs are Hedroom. Their first
single was a little puerile, but then that's what I want from young punk bands!
Now they've matured a shitload, written some awesome songs (I think you
described them as "the jazz-funk Rage Against the Machine", Mike?) and have a
blinding live show. Guitarist Alex is one of my favourite fellow plank-spankers
("..he reminds me of me. Now I know I hate him!" - Doc Holliday in
"Tombstone"), and "Levels" is a great track. Stup!d are another strong band
with a punk mentality, even though they are closer to straightforward rock than
punk.
to be continued...
Monday, May 24, 2004
A Piece of Creative Writing
She'd come home from a day's work so full of caffeine that she would not be able to sit down and relax straight away. At first this meant that she could get all the crappy little chores out the way, wash dishes, fold laundry - the little things that were needed to maintain order in her small one bedoomed flat.
But as the pressures of her job increased, she found that she needed to do more than unwind in the evenings, she needed to relax and enjoy herself. As she ran her fingers down its length, noting the ridges and imperfections underneath the soft stroking of her fingers, she smiled to herself. Some 6 inches long, expertly brought into being by her own fair hand and - by her own standards - quite a large one, she felt the tension lift out of her shoulders as she made herself comfortable on the sofa. She was always careful though; she had seen too many of her friends suffer and worry over "accidents" such as those that plagued anyone who indulged in the same elicit pleasures that she was about to enjoy.
She used to worry that her friends and acquaintances would find out about her habits, but now she merely wondered what they would say if they found out. Sometimes she felt that if she told them, it would help break her out of the boring, staid, rut of predictability that she felt she was in, but she knew that it would be a stupid idea - the risk to her professional prospects as much as the hassle of dealing with the persoanl fall-out meant that she would not be rushing to reveal any great secrets just yet. Besides, it wasn't as if she was the only person ever to seek refuge in "fringe activities". She knew for a fact that most of the people she knew had experimented. One friend of hers had all but gone off the rails in her teenage years, and although she had survived without any serious scars, she was still understandably "anti" to this day.
As she pulled the end into her mouth, she narrowed her eyes and sucked - gently at first, holding the lighter underneath the other end at just the right distance so that her inhalation caused the flame to flicker and flick away at the crocus-shaped bulge until it caught light and the paper twisted and contorted into ash.
But as the pressures of her job increased, she found that she needed to do more than unwind in the evenings, she needed to relax and enjoy herself. As she ran her fingers down its length, noting the ridges and imperfections underneath the soft stroking of her fingers, she smiled to herself. Some 6 inches long, expertly brought into being by her own fair hand and - by her own standards - quite a large one, she felt the tension lift out of her shoulders as she made herself comfortable on the sofa. She was always careful though; she had seen too many of her friends suffer and worry over "accidents" such as those that plagued anyone who indulged in the same elicit pleasures that she was about to enjoy.
She used to worry that her friends and acquaintances would find out about her habits, but now she merely wondered what they would say if they found out. Sometimes she felt that if she told them, it would help break her out of the boring, staid, rut of predictability that she felt she was in, but she knew that it would be a stupid idea - the risk to her professional prospects as much as the hassle of dealing with the persoanl fall-out meant that she would not be rushing to reveal any great secrets just yet. Besides, it wasn't as if she was the only person ever to seek refuge in "fringe activities". She knew for a fact that most of the people she knew had experimented. One friend of hers had all but gone off the rails in her teenage years, and although she had survived without any serious scars, she was still understandably "anti" to this day.
As she pulled the end into her mouth, she narrowed her eyes and sucked - gently at first, holding the lighter underneath the other end at just the right distance so that her inhalation caused the flame to flicker and flick away at the crocus-shaped bulge until it caught light and the paper twisted and contorted into ash.
You asked for it!
Mike: Hey AK, some Anonymous joker wants us to write something interesting and suggested that we write a summary of the Berkshire scene. Let's teach him a lesson by doing what he wants but being as boring as we normally are. What do you think?
AK: Yeah, they obviously deserve everything they'll get? The music scene in Berkshire is difficult for any one person to be able to sum up
Mike: ...which is why we're doing this together...
AK: Fair point, it's difficult for any one person to be able to sum it up as there are pockets of underground musical resistance all over the shire. The one thing that we can be sure of is that josaka is the central hub of much of the unsigned "scene", offering as it does resources, information, publicity, exposure, information and reviews on pretty much anything music-based in Berkshire (and further afield, such as the mysterious - and some say haunted - county of Oxfordshire). The chat room is a haven for musicians and fans stuck in either the classroom, the workplace or the studio, and the pages, articles and information are updated on an almost constant basis - and certainly would be on a daily basis, if only people would provide fresh updates and reports on a daily basis.
*cue Mikey's response in 3.. 2.. 1..
Mike: Er.. 321 then go or go on 1?
AK: Always 321 then go, never 3..2..go!
The Boy Heff:Ever since you sold your soul to Kevin Harrington you've been such a josaka kiss arse. Afraid he's going to tear it up and you'll have no-one to go rowing with?
AK:The thought does haunt me, like the sword of Damacles hanging over my head. And when have I ever gone rowing with Kevin? I hate water sports, I'm not tall enough to be in a boat with Ronnie Corbett, let alone Sir Steve Redgrave.
His Royal Heffness: No, you butthead, I meant go rowing with your soul. Don't you watch The Simpsons?
There are many aspects to the Berkshire scene, I think we should concentrate on Reading 'cause it's what we know best. Perhaps look at each musical area in turn? Starting in a completely arbitrarily order and certainly not entirely based on some list you might have previously sent me I say we start with the excellent metal scene.
Mike: Currently hiding behind their Marshall stacks are such excellent young metal bands as Sylosis (guitarist Josh is some kind of guitar god), Malefice (who's album is great and I must get round to reviewing...) and Exit 10 who are a bit more accessible but still very heavy. I'd consider those the big
three local bands. Then there are people like Blind Eye Policy (who I see are playing Uxfest again this year) but we don't get them in Reading very often these days. As well as the young bands there is School for the Gifted who are still rocking hard in a more old school way.
Mike's top three local Metal bands: Malefice, Sylosis, Exit 10
AK: Ah, metal? my specialist subject. Don't let my mild-mannered appearance and darkly exotic good looks fool you into thinking that I am anything other than a metal devotee. I'd have to agree with you, those are pretty much top metal dogs in Reading, and Exit 10 don't even have shouty vocals, they have nice, melodic, enunciated vocals which sound great. And Blind Eye Policy are very good, I prefer their music to Sylosis - despite Josh doing entirely worthwhile things on the guitar - and School for the Gifted are less death/shouty metal than they are "classic" metal, so are easier on the ear again as well as putting on a great show. Obiat are another band I rate highly, frontman Laz is one of the main local promoters with Readirockrevolution, and Obiat have a great stoner/doom sound, with some fantastic melodies and tunes. Their guitarist has probably my favourite tone/sound out of all the local "scene" bands; he plays a beautiful natural wood-finish Gibson SG through a Marshall, and it's a filthy, dark, awe-inspiring sound he creates.
Are you not going to mention DiscGuys at all, Michelle?
The guy who AK occasionally has the privilege of guitar teching for: Ah yes, Obiat. It's hard to tell what genre to put some of these bands in isn't it? DisGuys for me are more Classic Rock, maybe we'll put them in a Miscellaneous section at the end?
Mike: Sid from Club Velocity has to take a lot of the credit/blame for this scene. The Velocity nights have continually championed bands who tend to share a certain vibe. Quite a lot of them are out of town bands (or even international but some local bands have made repeated appearances. Three Litre, Off the Radar and Rebus to name three. I have to mention Return to Zero in this category as well. Their demo is excellent, they rock live and in Stupid people they have one of the best local scene songs out there.
the mAK daddy: Out of all the "scenes" in Reading, this is probably the one with the most celebrated bands playing, and the highest amount of respect being paid to it. Sid Siddle should be given the freedom of the city for bringing not only a wicked, well-loved and hugely cool gig to the Rising Sun Institute (or whatever it's called! The one near the After Dark, not the Forbury!) on the last Friday of every month, but also for being Reading's only truly credible link to the music industry. It's always upset me that my own bands don't fit the profile needed (i.e. being good!) to play at Club V, it's one of the few gigs in Reading I haven't played, and the one I want to do more than any other. Polar Remote are starting to snowball, I believe they've had links to Club V in the past, and other great acts like Yumi Yumi and The Suffrajets have all played stormers there. If anyone was interested in seeing what the really, really cool gigs in Reaidng were like, I'd automatically point them to Club V, I always feel like I want to make a film about Reading's music scene everytime I go there.
Return to Zero do rock a lot, I was amazed last time I saw them live, and can't wait to see them again. I hear their drummer is such a booze-sponge that he often wanders into Rebus rehearsals and absent-mindedly starts playing for them as well!
Brother of Pete I suppose Pete and the Pirates need to go in this section as well. Currently flying high (with Yankee 99er) as my favourite Reading band. Not sure if you've seen them or not?
AK: No, truth be told I haven't had the chance yet, but I'm dead keen, cos all their reviews are ace, and I never have any idea of what they sound like. If they sounded like someone else, it would be mentioned in the review but that hasn't happened yet, so I think they'll be pretty cool! I remember being at your house at a party with the guitarist from Pete and the Pirates and having a good time playing silly songs.
To be continued...
AK: Yeah, they obviously deserve everything they'll get? The music scene in Berkshire is difficult for any one person to be able to sum up
Mike: ...which is why we're doing this together...
AK: Fair point, it's difficult for any one person to be able to sum it up as there are pockets of underground musical resistance all over the shire. The one thing that we can be sure of is that josaka is the central hub of much of the unsigned "scene", offering as it does resources, information, publicity, exposure, information and reviews on pretty much anything music-based in Berkshire (and further afield, such as the mysterious - and some say haunted - county of Oxfordshire). The chat room is a haven for musicians and fans stuck in either the classroom, the workplace or the studio, and the pages, articles and information are updated on an almost constant basis - and certainly would be on a daily basis, if only people would provide fresh updates and reports on a daily basis.
*cue Mikey's response in 3.. 2.. 1..
Mike: Er.. 321 then go or go on 1?
AK: Always 321 then go, never 3..2..go!
The Boy Heff:Ever since you sold your soul to Kevin Harrington you've been such a josaka kiss arse. Afraid he's going to tear it up and you'll have no-one to go rowing with?
AK:The thought does haunt me, like the sword of Damacles hanging over my head. And when have I ever gone rowing with Kevin? I hate water sports, I'm not tall enough to be in a boat with Ronnie Corbett, let alone Sir Steve Redgrave.
His Royal Heffness: No, you butthead, I meant go rowing with your soul. Don't you watch The Simpsons?
There are many aspects to the Berkshire scene, I think we should concentrate on Reading 'cause it's what we know best. Perhaps look at each musical area in turn? Starting in a completely arbitrarily order and certainly not entirely based on some list you might have previously sent me I say we start with the excellent metal scene.
1. Metal
Mike: Currently hiding behind their Marshall stacks are such excellent young metal bands as Sylosis (guitarist Josh is some kind of guitar god), Malefice (who's album is great and I must get round to reviewing...) and Exit 10 who are a bit more accessible but still very heavy. I'd consider those the big
three local bands. Then there are people like Blind Eye Policy (who I see are playing Uxfest again this year) but we don't get them in Reading very often these days. As well as the young bands there is School for the Gifted who are still rocking hard in a more old school way.
Mike's top three local Metal bands: Malefice, Sylosis, Exit 10
AK: Ah, metal? my specialist subject. Don't let my mild-mannered appearance and darkly exotic good looks fool you into thinking that I am anything other than a metal devotee. I'd have to agree with you, those are pretty much top metal dogs in Reading, and Exit 10 don't even have shouty vocals, they have nice, melodic, enunciated vocals which sound great. And Blind Eye Policy are very good, I prefer their music to Sylosis - despite Josh doing entirely worthwhile things on the guitar - and School for the Gifted are less death/shouty metal than they are "classic" metal, so are easier on the ear again as well as putting on a great show. Obiat are another band I rate highly, frontman Laz is one of the main local promoters with Readirockrevolution, and Obiat have a great stoner/doom sound, with some fantastic melodies and tunes. Their guitarist has probably my favourite tone/sound out of all the local "scene" bands; he plays a beautiful natural wood-finish Gibson SG through a Marshall, and it's a filthy, dark, awe-inspiring sound he creates.
Are you not going to mention DiscGuys at all, Michelle?
The guy who AK occasionally has the privilege of guitar teching for: Ah yes, Obiat. It's hard to tell what genre to put some of these bands in isn't it? DisGuys for me are more Classic Rock, maybe we'll put them in a Miscellaneous section at the end?
2. Interesting indie / garage / no-wave scene (Club V, etc.)
Mike: Sid from Club Velocity has to take a lot of the credit/blame for this scene. The Velocity nights have continually championed bands who tend to share a certain vibe. Quite a lot of them are out of town bands (or even international but some local bands have made repeated appearances. Three Litre, Off the Radar and Rebus to name three. I have to mention Return to Zero in this category as well. Their demo is excellent, they rock live and in Stupid people they have one of the best local scene songs out there.
the mAK daddy: Out of all the "scenes" in Reading, this is probably the one with the most celebrated bands playing, and the highest amount of respect being paid to it. Sid Siddle should be given the freedom of the city for bringing not only a wicked, well-loved and hugely cool gig to the Rising Sun Institute (or whatever it's called! The one near the After Dark, not the Forbury!) on the last Friday of every month, but also for being Reading's only truly credible link to the music industry. It's always upset me that my own bands don't fit the profile needed (i.e. being good!) to play at Club V, it's one of the few gigs in Reading I haven't played, and the one I want to do more than any other. Polar Remote are starting to snowball, I believe they've had links to Club V in the past, and other great acts like Yumi Yumi and The Suffrajets have all played stormers there. If anyone was interested in seeing what the really, really cool gigs in Reaidng were like, I'd automatically point them to Club V, I always feel like I want to make a film about Reading's music scene everytime I go there.
Return to Zero do rock a lot, I was amazed last time I saw them live, and can't wait to see them again. I hear their drummer is such a booze-sponge that he often wanders into Rebus rehearsals and absent-mindedly starts playing for them as well!
Brother of Pete I suppose Pete and the Pirates need to go in this section as well. Currently flying high (with Yankee 99er) as my favourite Reading band. Not sure if you've seen them or not?
AK: No, truth be told I haven't had the chance yet, but I'm dead keen, cos all their reviews are ace, and I never have any idea of what they sound like. If they sounded like someone else, it would be mentioned in the review but that hasn't happened yet, so I think they'll be pretty cool! I remember being at your house at a party with the guitarist from Pete and the Pirates and having a good time playing silly songs.
To be continued...
If we can make but one small child cry...
Don't you hate AK sometimes? No posts for 10 days and then he's all like "Oh yeah, maybe getting signed to some major label soon." Don't worry, if he starts to get all big headed and rockstar I'll be here to take him down a peg or two. If I can think of a way to do that without him defeating me by just looking all smug.
So to more important matters. The new Sonic Undermind EP is finally finished! We had a great day hanging out and rehearsing on Sunday. The break has done us a world of good. We've come back totally refreshed. All the restrictions we subconciously placed on ourselves about what kind of music we were making seem to have vanished since we came up with Chimpcopter. I suppose it's possible that we'll alienate all our existing fans and everyone will hate us. I think that's unlikely but at least we'll be having fun! Or terrifying ourselves.
So to more important matters. The new Sonic Undermind EP is finally finished! We had a great day hanging out and rehearsing on Sunday. The break has done us a world of good. We've come back totally refreshed. All the restrictions we subconciously placed on ourselves about what kind of music we were making seem to have vanished since we came up with Chimpcopter. I suppose it's possible that we'll alienate all our existing fans and everyone will hate us. I think that's unlikely but at least we'll be having fun! Or terrifying ourselves.
Sunday, May 23, 2004
Diary of a dream
Yes, I know - it's been ages since I last posted here, but my only internet access is at work, and I'm too busy slaving away at the corporate bullshit lark to add anything worthwhile. But anyway, I'm hoping to turn this blog into a diary of my plan to become a rock star! Yeah, I know, you've heard it all before, but - without jinxing anything - let me explain.
We are meeting a manager this week who works as a talent scout for a major label, he has already said that he wants to sign us, and we don't think that he would want to sign us unless he thought he could convince the major label to give us a deal. But anyway, the important thing is that he loves our CD (cos it's great, quite frankly), and in the wake of other interest from other parties he is drawing up management contracts for us to look at. We've had him checked out, and he's all above board (a rarity in itself for music managers!) and he has already uttered the immortal words "Are you prepared to quit your jobs and do this full-time?" to which our response was "What the fuck do you think we've been wanting to do for the last two years!?". So, after a few band chats and some shopping (just to iron out some "image" issues), we're going to go and meet this nice man who wants us to be rock stars so he can cream 20% (or whatever) off the top. He's a major player, he won't want us to be playing toilet tours, cos he won't make any money off toilet tours, so we are all fairly happy that he's shown such interest!
For the record, I never wanted to be a rock star, I always wanted to be a musician - something I've been doing for about thirteen years now. I think the key to being a musician is realising that you won't make any money out of it, and plan accordingly. Hopefully now I might see some exotic parts of the world, well anywhere further than Whitechapel would be nice, and not have to worry about being at a desk at 9am every week day.
If it all goes well, I'll be using this blog as a diary to record my thoughts (as far as it would be wise for me to do so!) for posterity. However, rule no. 1 - it's not enough to achieve things in this life, you have to make it look easy and stylish. Therefore, the current "official" line is;
We are being hassled by some guy who wants to sign us, and although we are far too coool to pander to the needs of "THE INDUSTRY", he's really starting to bug Henry, so we've agreed to meet him this week, just to get him off our backs. It's another night when I could be out drinking and cavorting, but no - just because some guy smells a piece of the Yazzle Nizle Nizzle action, we have to go and let him buy us drinks all night. I just hope he doesn't want to sleep with me - I'm working hard to get to the point where I'm so bored of having meaningless and anonymous sex with women that I have to start exploring other avenues to satisfy my desires, but I ain't nowhere near there yet. Apparently Duran Duran actually got to that point in the mid 80's, so I shall persevere... I hear Robbie Williams has reached and breached that point recently, so perhaps I should just give it up, as it's already being "done" as it were. It's so hard to find new barriers to burst through, who'd be an innovator, eh? Me, that's who.
We are meeting a manager this week who works as a talent scout for a major label, he has already said that he wants to sign us, and we don't think that he would want to sign us unless he thought he could convince the major label to give us a deal. But anyway, the important thing is that he loves our CD (cos it's great, quite frankly), and in the wake of other interest from other parties he is drawing up management contracts for us to look at. We've had him checked out, and he's all above board (a rarity in itself for music managers!) and he has already uttered the immortal words "Are you prepared to quit your jobs and do this full-time?" to which our response was "What the fuck do you think we've been wanting to do for the last two years!?". So, after a few band chats and some shopping (just to iron out some "image" issues), we're going to go and meet this nice man who wants us to be rock stars so he can cream 20% (or whatever) off the top. He's a major player, he won't want us to be playing toilet tours, cos he won't make any money off toilet tours, so we are all fairly happy that he's shown such interest!
For the record, I never wanted to be a rock star, I always wanted to be a musician - something I've been doing for about thirteen years now. I think the key to being a musician is realising that you won't make any money out of it, and plan accordingly. Hopefully now I might see some exotic parts of the world, well anywhere further than Whitechapel would be nice, and not have to worry about being at a desk at 9am every week day.
If it all goes well, I'll be using this blog as a diary to record my thoughts (as far as it would be wise for me to do so!) for posterity. However, rule no. 1 - it's not enough to achieve things in this life, you have to make it look easy and stylish. Therefore, the current "official" line is;
We are being hassled by some guy who wants to sign us, and although we are far too coool to pander to the needs of "THE INDUSTRY", he's really starting to bug Henry, so we've agreed to meet him this week, just to get him off our backs. It's another night when I could be out drinking and cavorting, but no - just because some guy smells a piece of the Yazzle Nizle Nizzle action, we have to go and let him buy us drinks all night. I just hope he doesn't want to sleep with me - I'm working hard to get to the point where I'm so bored of having meaningless and anonymous sex with women that I have to start exploring other avenues to satisfy my desires, but I ain't nowhere near there yet. Apparently Duran Duran actually got to that point in the mid 80's, so I shall persevere... I hear Robbie Williams has reached and breached that point recently, so perhaps I should just give it up, as it's already being "done" as it were. It's so hard to find new barriers to burst through, who'd be an innovator, eh? Me, that's who.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Making music
Last night I made my first ever solo track! Well, kind of. I was entering a music competition at this site I frequent. The idea was to make a silly one minute song that was related to the site in some way.
I'm not claiming that what I made was any good, but I did learn a lot. I also (re)discovered the wonderful world of SIDs. Some (crazy) geeks have collected a whole load of Commodore 64 music into a format that can be played by PCs. With a bit of searching you can find and download songs from pretty much any C64 game you can remember! If you are as old as me that is...
It was good fun anyway. I had to learn a lot about making loops and using samples. I don't claim to be an expert but it's amazing what you can do with a bit of music software and a PC these days, it's also amazing how much free stuff is available. Loops and samples, all kinds of stuff. There is a lot that says it's free but is really there for you to buy but a bit of digging can unearth some great treasures. Then I realised I might as well make my own loops 'cause what's out there wasn't what I wanted anyway.
So now I need to get my amp back from Rob's house so I can start adding guitar to my own tracks in the same way.
I'm not claiming that what I made was any good, but I did learn a lot. I also (re)discovered the wonderful world of SIDs. Some (crazy) geeks have collected a whole load of Commodore 64 music into a format that can be played by PCs. With a bit of searching you can find and download songs from pretty much any C64 game you can remember! If you are as old as me that is...
It was good fun anyway. I had to learn a lot about making loops and using samples. I don't claim to be an expert but it's amazing what you can do with a bit of music software and a PC these days, it's also amazing how much free stuff is available. Loops and samples, all kinds of stuff. There is a lot that says it's free but is really there for you to buy but a bit of digging can unearth some great treasures. Then I realised I might as well make my own loops 'cause what's out there wasn't what I wanted anyway.
So now I need to get my amp back from Rob's house so I can start adding guitar to my own tracks in the same way.
Monday, May 17, 2004
By your command
Ok Kevin, as requested here's an update for today.
Highlight of the weekend was the Self Preservation Society gig at the Rising Sun Arts Center. In many ways it could have been a Club Velocity gig looking at the line-up, location and crowd. If I get time later in the week I'm hoping to write one of those conversational reviews with Jo from Caged Baby again.
Pete and the Pirates were really, really good. Lead guitarist Dave Thorpe played so hard he covered his guitar in his own blood. They got a massive shout for an encore despite being the first band on, Rebus were good, Jim Bowes as soundman nearly deafened everyone with the synth on Clone A though, I didn't know that PA went that loud! I also got my hands on a Caged Baby CD which I haven't heard yet but I'm sure will be very interesting. Didn't bother watching The Fades, had more fun chatting about music and 'the local scene' with various members of Caged Baby, Pete and the Pirates, Rebus and Sonic Undermind.
Tonight it's the National Music Network demo play thing at the BBBs. If I can somehow get hold of a copy of the CD Rob's making for it. The play at the BBBs is going to be the first I've heard of the final mixes!
Highlight of the weekend was the Self Preservation Society gig at the Rising Sun Arts Center. In many ways it could have been a Club Velocity gig looking at the line-up, location and crowd. If I get time later in the week I'm hoping to write one of those conversational reviews with Jo from Caged Baby again.
Pete and the Pirates were really, really good. Lead guitarist Dave Thorpe played so hard he covered his guitar in his own blood. They got a massive shout for an encore despite being the first band on, Rebus were good, Jim Bowes as soundman nearly deafened everyone with the synth on Clone A though, I didn't know that PA went that loud! I also got my hands on a Caged Baby CD which I haven't heard yet but I'm sure will be very interesting. Didn't bother watching The Fades, had more fun chatting about music and 'the local scene' with various members of Caged Baby, Pete and the Pirates, Rebus and Sonic Undermind.
Tonight it's the National Music Network demo play thing at the BBBs. If I can somehow get hold of a copy of the CD Rob's making for it. The play at the BBBs is going to be the first I've heard of the final mixes!
Friday, May 14, 2004
I am Spinal Tap
Mission: Oxford
Purpose: Watch Therapy? and The Wildhearts
Status: Complete
Embarassing Spinal Tap cock-ups: Many
Stranding in Oxford: Avoided
1. Dai drove all the way to Reading in great time with no problems, then got to the Oracle, a 5 min walk from my house, and got lost. No problem, there's a later train.
2. Later train was late.
3. Nearly missed next train due to it being much shorter than we were expecting and parking half way up the platform where we didn't notice it arrive.
4. Got to Oxford. Accidently went out the back way and thought it must be the only station in the world without a taxi rank (which we realised was pretty dumb when we got to the front exit in our taxi on the way back).
5. Decided to wander into town whilst finishing our beers and were passed by many taxis. We finished our beers and suddenly there are no taxis.
6. Stopped in a pub to ask directions to Oxford Brookes Union (15 mins before Therapy? are due to start). We are laughed at for the first time of the night. It wouldn't be the last! "It's the other side of town!". Great. We are then given helpful advice but decide that a taxi is very good idea.
7. Got to the union and as we were picking up tickets we were directed to "Go past that barrier" by the security guy outside. Naively we followed the bouncer's pointing finger and headed towards the totally different building he'd indicated. When we tried to enter said building we had an odd conversation with a confused security guard who wondered what the hell we were doing. He then radioed the guy who had told us where to go. "Who sent these guys down to me?" Turns out he just meant us to go to the other side of the door. Oops. Oh how they laughed at us.
8. Left a bit early (towards the end of the encore) to get the train. Couldn't find the exit to the venue. Wandered around confused for ages, asked 3 people. Eventually found out that that fire exit was actually the real exit. Oh how they laughed at us again.
The gig was great though, and they played Back in Black between the bands. Therapy? weren't quite as good as in Bristol (but we were right at the front this time) and there were a few wankers in the crowd. They were still excellent though, and played a totally different set to Bristol. Therapy?'s crowd in Bristol was just so good, I bet that was one of their best gigs on the tour. Gag of the set "This one's about a welshman in a joke shop... Die Laughing". Oh how Dai and I laughed.
The Wildhearts were absolutely on fire, better than ever. The audience was a good mix of old school Wildhearts diehards who know the words to every song including the obscure b-sides and kids who are just getting into them. Last gig of this tour, catch them next time!
Purpose: Watch Therapy? and The Wildhearts
Status: Complete
Embarassing Spinal Tap cock-ups: Many
Stranding in Oxford: Avoided
1. Dai drove all the way to Reading in great time with no problems, then got to the Oracle, a 5 min walk from my house, and got lost. No problem, there's a later train.
2. Later train was late.
3. Nearly missed next train due to it being much shorter than we were expecting and parking half way up the platform where we didn't notice it arrive.
4. Got to Oxford. Accidently went out the back way and thought it must be the only station in the world without a taxi rank (which we realised was pretty dumb when we got to the front exit in our taxi on the way back).
5. Decided to wander into town whilst finishing our beers and were passed by many taxis. We finished our beers and suddenly there are no taxis.
6. Stopped in a pub to ask directions to Oxford Brookes Union (15 mins before Therapy? are due to start). We are laughed at for the first time of the night. It wouldn't be the last! "It's the other side of town!". Great. We are then given helpful advice but decide that a taxi is very good idea.
7. Got to the union and as we were picking up tickets we were directed to "Go past that barrier" by the security guy outside. Naively we followed the bouncer's pointing finger and headed towards the totally different building he'd indicated. When we tried to enter said building we had an odd conversation with a confused security guard who wondered what the hell we were doing. He then radioed the guy who had told us where to go. "Who sent these guys down to me?" Turns out he just meant us to go to the other side of the door. Oops. Oh how they laughed at us.
8. Left a bit early (towards the end of the encore) to get the train. Couldn't find the exit to the venue. Wandered around confused for ages, asked 3 people. Eventually found out that that fire exit was actually the real exit. Oh how they laughed at us again.
The gig was great though, and they played Back in Black between the bands. Therapy? weren't quite as good as in Bristol (but we were right at the front this time) and there were a few wankers in the crowd. They were still excellent though, and played a totally different set to Bristol. Therapy?'s crowd in Bristol was just so good, I bet that was one of their best gigs on the tour. Gag of the set "This one's about a welshman in a joke shop... Die Laughing". Oh how Dai and I laughed.
The Wildhearts were absolutely on fire, better than ever. The audience was a good mix of old school Wildhearts diehards who know the words to every song including the obscure b-sides and kids who are just getting into them. Last gig of this tour, catch them next time!
Thursday, May 13, 2004
The Decision
I'm going to see Therapy? and The Wildhearts. If two of your all time favourite bands are playing half an hour away it'd be silly not to go! Who knows when or if they'll ever be touring again. I'm very excited! My friend (and LSB associate) Dai is coming down from Bristol for the night. Tomorrow expect a tale of drunken carnage, possibly involving being trapped in Oxford with no way to get home!
Had an amazing time at the Nocturne acoustic gig in The Square in Wokingham last night. Got talking to local scenesters Paul (ex-Chocolate Hostage), Dez (ex-Zeigler) and Anthea (official Rebus groupie) and we had an amazing spontaneous outpouring of creativity. Which sadly meant we didn't pay a huge amount of attention to the first couple of bands.
Back when Sonic Undermind started up we used to have sessions like that all the time, somewhere along the line they kind of dried up. Basically because Nik was in London and Pete was in Winchester so the times when we were all together are much rarer. It's hard to engineer something like that because the spontenaity is part of what's so important. The creative energy is still all there within the band, I'm very lucky to be in a band with some extremely creative people, we just don't get together as a group enough to talk random bullshit. The only times we are all together is when we get meet for rehearsals and gigs. Sam is always saying "we should go out for a drink as a band" and he's right. At the moment it's all work (fun work which I love!) and no play when we are together. Ok, so we have come up with a crazy concept EP idea and two new songs even during this dry period so maybe I'm talking out of my arse. (a tough trick!)
Anyway, rock should be about having the most fun you can, if it isn't you are doing it wrong.
This post written whilst listening to Hardy Hardcore and Mixmeister Blaumfeld, Senser and Yankee Nine-niner.
Had an amazing time at the Nocturne acoustic gig in The Square in Wokingham last night. Got talking to local scenesters Paul (ex-Chocolate Hostage), Dez (ex-Zeigler) and Anthea (official Rebus groupie) and we had an amazing spontaneous outpouring of creativity. Which sadly meant we didn't pay a huge amount of attention to the first couple of bands.
Back when Sonic Undermind started up we used to have sessions like that all the time, somewhere along the line they kind of dried up. Basically because Nik was in London and Pete was in Winchester so the times when we were all together are much rarer. It's hard to engineer something like that because the spontenaity is part of what's so important. The creative energy is still all there within the band, I'm very lucky to be in a band with some extremely creative people, we just don't get together as a group enough to talk random bullshit. The only times we are all together is when we get meet for rehearsals and gigs. Sam is always saying "we should go out for a drink as a band" and he's right. At the moment it's all work (fun work which I love!) and no play when we are together. Ok, so we have come up with a crazy concept EP idea and two new songs even during this dry period so maybe I'm talking out of my arse. (a tough trick!)
Anyway, rock should be about having the most fun you can, if it isn't you are doing it wrong.
This post written whilst listening to Hardy Hardcore and Mixmeister Blaumfeld, Senser and Yankee Nine-niner.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Old versus new
I bought tickets for Senser today for their gig at Reading Uni. I've also been talking about The Wildhearts and Therapy? who are playing in Oxford tomorrow night, part of the same awesome tour that I saw in Bristol. Something that was described as a has-been's night out.
Now to me Senser, Therapy? and The Wildhearts are all absolute classic bands from the mid-90s that I'd love kids today to get into so I'm wondering whether I'm seeing them all with the sheen of hindsight. I have been listening to Senser's Eject (as well as Brunt, the new track you can get from their website) and it's as lively as ever. Am I just remembering those nights jumping around in the After Dark with a pint of Cider or were they really good?
On the new front, not only is the Reading Festival the most exciting for years (yes, yes, the headliners are terrible but the Radio 1 stage additions are absolutely brilliant) but bands like Caged Baby and Floodshock! are starting to bring something young new and interesting in the local scene. They remind me what it was like when I was that young and in a band. With that in mind I created the embarassing blast from the past thread on Berkshire Live.
Tomorrow night:
The Wildhearts + Therapy? in Oxford
or
Yankee nine-niner at Gossips in Soho
or
Traditional Bar Oz Thursday night (Reading)
or
My Luminaries at Scruffy Murphys (Reading)
A tough decision.
Now to me Senser, Therapy? and The Wildhearts are all absolute classic bands from the mid-90s that I'd love kids today to get into so I'm wondering whether I'm seeing them all with the sheen of hindsight. I have been listening to Senser's Eject (as well as Brunt, the new track you can get from their website) and it's as lively as ever. Am I just remembering those nights jumping around in the After Dark with a pint of Cider or were they really good?
On the new front, not only is the Reading Festival the most exciting for years (yes, yes, the headliners are terrible but the Radio 1 stage additions are absolutely brilliant) but bands like Caged Baby and Floodshock! are starting to bring something young new and interesting in the local scene. They remind me what it was like when I was that young and in a band. With that in mind I created the embarassing blast from the past thread on Berkshire Live.
Tomorrow night:
The Wildhearts + Therapy? in Oxford
or
Yankee nine-niner at Gossips in Soho
or
Traditional Bar Oz Thursday night (Reading)
or
My Luminaries at Scruffy Murphys (Reading)
A tough decision.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
The Axe Man Cometh
Quote "I have no idea how AK copes with 3 bands + his top secret new project."
The top secret side project is the easy bit, as due to one thing after another we haven't been able to get together to swap ideas, jam around, etc. The other bands are managed through a subtle blend of psychology and extreme violence.
In all truth, the only hard part of my life is managing to hold down a day job without getting fired. The sleep deprivation, starvation, exhaustion and mental fatigue that comes from all the gigging, recording, rehearsing and travelling is hardly conducive to a high-powered and successful corporate career. I guess it all depends on where your priorities lie.
The top secret side project is the easy bit, as due to one thing after another we haven't been able to get together to swap ideas, jam around, etc. The other bands are managed through a subtle blend of psychology and extreme violence.
In all truth, the only hard part of my life is managing to hold down a day job without getting fired. The sleep deprivation, starvation, exhaustion and mental fatigue that comes from all the gigging, recording, rehearsing and travelling is hardly conducive to a high-powered and successful corporate career. I guess it all depends on where your priorities lie.
Caged Baby Featuring Andy Stedman?
So, I'm browsing the news on the NME website and I see that Josh 'no relation to Ken' Homme is claiming that the new Queens of the Stone Age album is going to feature the Disney marching band and Jamelia wants to team up with Justin Hawkins from The Darkness.
Anyway this pair of odd couples got me thinking what would happen if totally disparate local bands, for local people, started collaborating together. It seems to be relatively difficult to get working with people from other bands. If you are in an unsigned band you probably have a job as well and that can make juggling gigs and rehearsals tricky. That's just for a single band, I have no idea how AK copes with 3 bands + his top secret new project. This basically means it's tough to find time to jam with a new bunch, and even if you do write a great track what do you do with it? Can't really release it as a single.
Rob (SU drummer) and I had an idea a while back where we'd get a load of local scenesters together for a week in some secluded house somewhere in the middle of nowhere and write and record a load of material, for possible later release/download. Basically it's the same concept as Josh Homme's desert sessions, in a neat return to the origins of this post. We thought we might even be able to gig the results sometime after our return.
I will have to set about sorting that out.
Anyway this pair of odd couples got me thinking what would happen if totally disparate local bands, for local people, started collaborating together. It seems to be relatively difficult to get working with people from other bands. If you are in an unsigned band you probably have a job as well and that can make juggling gigs and rehearsals tricky. That's just for a single band, I have no idea how AK copes with 3 bands + his top secret new project. This basically means it's tough to find time to jam with a new bunch, and even if you do write a great track what do you do with it? Can't really release it as a single.
Rob (SU drummer) and I had an idea a while back where we'd get a load of local scenesters together for a week in some secluded house somewhere in the middle of nowhere and write and record a load of material, for possible later release/download. Basically it's the same concept as Josh Homme's desert sessions, in a neat return to the origins of this post. We thought we might even be able to gig the results sometime after our return.
I will have to set about sorting that out.
Monday, May 10, 2004
What I did over the weekend. By Alex Kaupa, 6
Mike made a fair point, it's been a while since I last excreted knowledge onto the blog, maybe even longer. But I've been busy!
Friday was spent helping Nat Antennae move into her new batcholerette pad in Henley - I was doing the pre-neanderthal thang, lifting heavy stuff, driving the van, etc. If a dinosaur had attacked, I'd have killed it with a bed frame. It was nice to get a bit of exercise, I haven't been to the gym for ages, and the weather was alright. Basically, I wasn't at work so as far as I was concerned everything was great!
It was also Nat's birthday, so we met up with a load of friends and Dan and Tim Antennae (who are more like family than friends), and got twatted in Henley. Everyone Crashed at Nat's pad, I eventually peeled my face off the floor in the morning just in time to see Nat bringing in a bacon and egg sandwich and a cuppa for everyone. I'm testimony to the fact that with patience, determination and the correct application of pressure you can teach a woman to think for yourself.
Dropped Tim, Dan and the lovely Zara off at Reading station, ran in my house to grab a guitar and some pedals, and straight down to Impact for a Yankee 99er rehearsal. I live on Reading Bridge, but I always get lost driving to Impact. I go round past the prison, onto the IDR, but just after the Kings Road straightens up I always seem to take a left turn. I have to head up there a couple of hundred yards, turn right up into this off-street and turn around in the car park by the bins. Puts an extra five minutes on my journey everytime.
Anyway, rocked up to room 3 with the Yazzle Nizzle Nizzle, got excited cos we're doing a showcase gig for our latest "big name interest" in Brixton at the Telegraph, rocked out for two and a half hours and generally had a great time. The full force of my hangover kicked in as soon as Tom started hitting drums though, and I felt sick as a dog. My strange and unavoidable detour meant that this pain was short lived though. And earplugs helped, too.
Back home, showered and changed, round to Tom Y99er's in Whitley and headed off to Salisbury; to Neil Y99er's house and the local hosteleries thereby. Another skinful later, and I was feeling fully recovered from my hangover as the brave remnants of the original drinking group staggered towards "Tremors", a club that was open late and sold booze, had women there that were out late drinking booze and a DJ playing hip-hop. I was Tom's wingman for the night - many successful sorties and raids were carried out under the cover of the darkness and the goggles of beer. Got back to Neil's pretty early in the morning, and promptly fell flat on my face on his sofa for a few hours. Woke up, more tea, more detour-related hangover medicine, listened to the final mastered mix of the new Yankee Nine Niner CD for an hour or so being overtly pleased and surprised and generally chuffed-to-bits.
Drove back to Reading, got treated to a proper feed by Tom at his place, headed back to mine to grab another guitar and bag of pedals, drove to Nat's new place in Henley, threw her over my shoulder and then into my boot before heading up the M40 to Camden to rehearse with Red Antennae for three hours. Another quality rehearsal, new songs coming along nicely and drummer Tim in fine form. Lots more hangover cure was needed after the previous night - two nights - though; wicked! I played OK, Nat sang like an angel too, and she was feeling as bad as I was after Friday, so it was a brave effort all round. I had to break it to them that I was going to have to bail on a really cool Red Ant gig that we had in our diary, because Yankee 99er had been offered a showcase gig (by the latest "big name interest") on the same date. They were very understanding and stopped shouting after a minute or two. However, as it turns out, the very cool Red At gig is hopefully *crosses fingers* being re-scheduled anyway, so maybe I won't have to miss it after all...
Bit of a weird one, having to choose between gigs like that. I've always had a first-come-first-served attitude towards that sort of thing, I didn't really appreciate not being able to have it all my own way - I'll have to make sure I always get my own way in the future, I think.
Finally finished at 9pm, quick group hug and we dropped Tim off in Ealing before heading up the M4. Dropped Nat back home, came home, cup of tea in front of the Gran Prix highlights and then up the wooden stairs to Bedfordshire.
Lovely.
Friday was spent helping Nat Antennae move into her new batcholerette pad in Henley - I was doing the pre-neanderthal thang, lifting heavy stuff, driving the van, etc. If a dinosaur had attacked, I'd have killed it with a bed frame. It was nice to get a bit of exercise, I haven't been to the gym for ages, and the weather was alright. Basically, I wasn't at work so as far as I was concerned everything was great!
It was also Nat's birthday, so we met up with a load of friends and Dan and Tim Antennae (who are more like family than friends), and got twatted in Henley. Everyone Crashed at Nat's pad, I eventually peeled my face off the floor in the morning just in time to see Nat bringing in a bacon and egg sandwich and a cuppa for everyone. I'm testimony to the fact that with patience, determination and the correct application of pressure you can teach a woman to think for yourself.
Dropped Tim, Dan and the lovely Zara off at Reading station, ran in my house to grab a guitar and some pedals, and straight down to Impact for a Yankee 99er rehearsal. I live on Reading Bridge, but I always get lost driving to Impact. I go round past the prison, onto the IDR, but just after the Kings Road straightens up I always seem to take a left turn. I have to head up there a couple of hundred yards, turn right up into this off-street and turn around in the car park by the bins. Puts an extra five minutes on my journey everytime.
Anyway, rocked up to room 3 with the Yazzle Nizzle Nizzle, got excited cos we're doing a showcase gig for our latest "big name interest" in Brixton at the Telegraph, rocked out for two and a half hours and generally had a great time. The full force of my hangover kicked in as soon as Tom started hitting drums though, and I felt sick as a dog. My strange and unavoidable detour meant that this pain was short lived though. And earplugs helped, too.
Back home, showered and changed, round to Tom Y99er's in Whitley and headed off to Salisbury; to Neil Y99er's house and the local hosteleries thereby. Another skinful later, and I was feeling fully recovered from my hangover as the brave remnants of the original drinking group staggered towards "Tremors", a club that was open late and sold booze, had women there that were out late drinking booze and a DJ playing hip-hop. I was Tom's wingman for the night - many successful sorties and raids were carried out under the cover of the darkness and the goggles of beer. Got back to Neil's pretty early in the morning, and promptly fell flat on my face on his sofa for a few hours. Woke up, more tea, more detour-related hangover medicine, listened to the final mastered mix of the new Yankee Nine Niner CD for an hour or so being overtly pleased and surprised and generally chuffed-to-bits.
Drove back to Reading, got treated to a proper feed by Tom at his place, headed back to mine to grab another guitar and bag of pedals, drove to Nat's new place in Henley, threw her over my shoulder and then into my boot before heading up the M40 to Camden to rehearse with Red Antennae for three hours. Another quality rehearsal, new songs coming along nicely and drummer Tim in fine form. Lots more hangover cure was needed after the previous night - two nights - though; wicked! I played OK, Nat sang like an angel too, and she was feeling as bad as I was after Friday, so it was a brave effort all round. I had to break it to them that I was going to have to bail on a really cool Red Ant gig that we had in our diary, because Yankee 99er had been offered a showcase gig (by the latest "big name interest") on the same date. They were very understanding and stopped shouting after a minute or two. However, as it turns out, the very cool Red At gig is hopefully *crosses fingers* being re-scheduled anyway, so maybe I won't have to miss it after all...
Bit of a weird one, having to choose between gigs like that. I've always had a first-come-first-served attitude towards that sort of thing, I didn't really appreciate not being able to have it all my own way - I'll have to make sure I always get my own way in the future, I think.
Finally finished at 9pm, quick group hug and we dropped Tim off in Ealing before heading up the M4. Dropped Nat back home, came home, cup of tea in front of the Gran Prix highlights and then up the wooden stairs to Bedfordshire.
Lovely.
ComEnts Comments
It seems that with the Blogger update we are now allowed to have comments. I have just enabled them, you can either post anonymously or register with Blogger to reply.
Feel free to use the anonymous function to express your love for us without the embarassment of anyone else finding out.
Feel free to use the anonymous function to express your love for us without the embarassment of anyone else finding out.
I remember when AK used to post on this blog!
So we come to the end of another great weekend and the start of the build up to the next one. Saturday night at the Bull and Gate was a really good night. Left Side Brain played a few of the new songs they are writing for their upcoming album on Saturday and they rocked hard!
I would also like to take a moment to praise the Irish Coffees we got at the Whetherspoons in Holborn. Double whiskeys and extremely strong coffee somehow came to £10 for 2, which we thought was a rip off until we tasted them. At which point they blew our heads off. Brilliant. If Andrew WK drank a coffee, that's the coffee he would drink.
Sorry about the lack of updates to the blog recently. I have been very busy. I spent some time yesterday doing a sonic undermind website update. You can now enter a competition to win a copy of our new EP! Woooo. More importantly you can also read a load of utter gibberish about chimps. The Bar Oz electronica night review is finished so hopefully that'll be up on Josaka soon.
This blog entry written whilst listening to Aliens and Refugees, Sonic Undermind's lost song.
I would also like to take a moment to praise the Irish Coffees we got at the Whetherspoons in Holborn. Double whiskeys and extremely strong coffee somehow came to £10 for 2, which we thought was a rip off until we tasted them. At which point they blew our heads off. Brilliant. If Andrew WK drank a coffee, that's the coffee he would drink.
Sorry about the lack of updates to the blog recently. I have been very busy. I spent some time yesterday doing a sonic undermind website update. You can now enter a competition to win a copy of our new EP! Woooo. More importantly you can also read a load of utter gibberish about chimps. The Bar Oz electronica night review is finished so hopefully that'll be up on Josaka soon.
This blog entry written whilst listening to Aliens and Refugees, Sonic Undermind's lost song.
Friday, May 07, 2004
Got to... stay... awake... Tigra... needs... me...
Today has been tough. One too many ales last night at Bar Oz Electronica night. Review coming soon hopefully, I'm going to write it with Jo from Caged Baby (for the first time) and our e-mail schedules need to get in synch. Was an interesting night in the end. Caged Baby blood was spilt! Not much to look at in Electronica bands.
This weekend I'm off to London for a Left Side Brain gig at the Bull and Gate on Saturday which I'm looking forward to a lot. Tonight I'm staying in to watch Poker Million. One of the best things on TV ever. Sky sports 1 - 10pm till midnight. I'm looking forward to it more than I look forward to some nights out.
It seems people have been reading this blog - unexpected - and someone (I won't embarass them by naming them) even said it was "a good idea" and "interesting". They also said, in response to my concern that it could get too self-indulgent that that was, in fact, the point and it should be more self indulgent. So if it does go that way you'll know who to blame!
Stuff is actually happening with Sonic Undermind, not that you'd know it. Rob is hard at work on mixing songs and the new CD artwork is looking pretty great. CD launch gig organisation is all over the place. Not sure what's going to happen with that at all at the moment.
This blog entry written whilst under the influence of Yankee nine-niner. Rock and/or funk.
This weekend I'm off to London for a Left Side Brain gig at the Bull and Gate on Saturday which I'm looking forward to a lot. Tonight I'm staying in to watch Poker Million. One of the best things on TV ever. Sky sports 1 - 10pm till midnight. I'm looking forward to it more than I look forward to some nights out.
It seems people have been reading this blog - unexpected - and someone (I won't embarass them by naming them) even said it was "a good idea" and "interesting". They also said, in response to my concern that it could get too self-indulgent that that was, in fact, the point and it should be more self indulgent. So if it does go that way you'll know who to blame!
Stuff is actually happening with Sonic Undermind, not that you'd know it. Rob is hard at work on mixing songs and the new CD artwork is looking pretty great. CD launch gig organisation is all over the place. Not sure what's going to happen with that at all at the moment.
This blog entry written whilst under the influence of Yankee nine-niner. Rock and/or funk.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
A weekend of rock!
Friday: I went to see Yumi Yumi at Club Velocity. I keep meaning to review Club Velocity, Reading's most consistently good gig night, but never quite manage it. Something to do with it being on a Friday. This time I was convinced I'd be able to but in the end missed the first two bands because I was talking to Tim and Annie (from and associated with Off the Radar) about their experiences promoting gigs in Reading and setting up gigs in foriegn lands. Which was most interesting and informative. Yumi Yumi were excellent and had me and most of the rest of the crowd dancing around, something that rarely happens at Reading gigs. Japanese poppy rock-tastic!
Saturday: To Bristol in preparation for Therapy? and the Wildhearts on monday night. With a few days to kill Saturday night was spent watching Idle Tuesday and Stud Lisa at the Engineer's Arms. We went down to check out Stud Lisa's last gig with Left Side Brain on their recommendation. Stud Lisa were very good. Bristol's answer to Three Litre? Maybe. I think that'll probably be their last gig though. Idle Tuesday were an impressively tight (and very young) ska punk band. I am not a fan of ska punk if you are in a ska punk band you have to be amazing for me to like you. Idle Tuesday were good, not amazing.
On the way home from the gig I realised I'd left Therapy? and Wildhearts tickets in Reading. Bugger.
Spent the rest of the night discovering that if you have a very rock CD collection, a collection of rock loving people and you allow each person to choose one track in turn a party will develop. Also, all Andrew W.K. songs might sound the same but every single one will get people dancing.
Sunday: Bought replacement Therapy? and Wildhearts tickets via interweb. That solution was cheaper than going back to Reading to get the tickets I'd left behind. In the evening we had a great lebanese meal and played poker before descending into more one song rock partying.
Monday: Got up late, played Super Monkey Ball 2 a lot. Went to get some beers, started drinking. Went to see the most amazing gig I've ever been to. Therapy? were amazing for 45 minutes, The Wildhearts were amazing for an hour and a half. Danced for two and a half hours solid, then more back home after the show. If I had to pick my dream line-up for a gig I'd pick these two again. I wonder if there are still tickets for their london show? I even bought two new t-shirts.
The most rocking weekend I've had for years!
Saturday: To Bristol in preparation for Therapy? and the Wildhearts on monday night. With a few days to kill Saturday night was spent watching Idle Tuesday and Stud Lisa at the Engineer's Arms. We went down to check out Stud Lisa's last gig with Left Side Brain on their recommendation. Stud Lisa were very good. Bristol's answer to Three Litre? Maybe. I think that'll probably be their last gig though. Idle Tuesday were an impressively tight (and very young) ska punk band. I am not a fan of ska punk if you are in a ska punk band you have to be amazing for me to like you. Idle Tuesday were good, not amazing.
On the way home from the gig I realised I'd left Therapy? and Wildhearts tickets in Reading. Bugger.
Spent the rest of the night discovering that if you have a very rock CD collection, a collection of rock loving people and you allow each person to choose one track in turn a party will develop. Also, all Andrew W.K. songs might sound the same but every single one will get people dancing.
Sunday: Bought replacement Therapy? and Wildhearts tickets via interweb. That solution was cheaper than going back to Reading to get the tickets I'd left behind. In the evening we had a great lebanese meal and played poker before descending into more one song rock partying.
Monday: Got up late, played Super Monkey Ball 2 a lot. Went to get some beers, started drinking. Went to see the most amazing gig I've ever been to. Therapy? were amazing for 45 minutes, The Wildhearts were amazing for an hour and a half. Danced for two and a half hours solid, then more back home after the show. If I had to pick my dream line-up for a gig I'd pick these two again. I wonder if there are still tickets for their london show? I even bought two new t-shirts.
The most rocking weekend I've had for years!
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Great rehearsal
You know those rehearsals that are so good and so much fun that it makes you remember why you love playing in bands, why you put up with so much shit and hassle, why you drive hundreds of miles and use up all of your free time to do it? I had one today, at Zed One studio in Camden. It was amazing, most rehearsals are kind of a case of getting down to just playing the songs in the set (unless you are writing new ones) and ironing out the problems, thinking of new bits to add to "the show" and can be annoyingly repetitive. Not today. We played really well (despite not having got together for ages), finished off a new song - which sounded great and is great fun to play - and had a great time doing it. Then we headed out for food, hoping to find a pub that would do a roast dinner and we ended up having a gastronomical experience at the Lord Stanley in Camden. The food was amazing, and it just topped off a wicked day.
I feel as though my spirits have been lifted, my energies renewed and my chances of not sucking at our upcoming gigs are rapidly increasing. Beautiful!
posted by Alex
I feel as though my spirits have been lifted, my energies renewed and my chances of not sucking at our upcoming gigs are rapidly increasing. Beautiful!
posted by Alex
Old posts restored!
Friday, April 30, 2004
The Heff Interview
AK: Michael Hefferan plays guitar for Reading cartoon-metallers Sonic Undermind, was (and probably still is) the most regular poster on the Berkslive message board - although these days he is a moderator - and has been a reviewing/gigging associate of mine for about two years. In a desperate attempt to try and make the most of this blog, I thought it was about time we found out about the real Heff, one of Reading's music scene's most amiable and least-stupid characters.
Mike: Cartoon metallers indeed. Sepultura are a metal band, Slayer are a metal band. School for the Gifted or Malefice are metal bands. We might have heavy guitars but so do many other bands that aren't metal. Nikhil occasionally might sneak a metal riff into one of our songs but very rarely. Not that I mind us being called a metal band, and we do well on metal bills, I just think it's misleading. Cartoon on the other hand, I certainly hope so. Mind you cartoons range all the way from Itchy and Scratchy to Akira so what does that really mean?
AK: *shouts* I’M ASKINK ZE QUESTIONS!!!!!!! I was simply referring to the subject matter of most of your songs. “Chimpcopter" (“Catch the simian! catch the simian!") and “Zombie Wedding" would be prime examples of the creative and engaging writing style you seem to enjoy. If you were a cartoon, I think you’d either be “Transformers" or “Ulysses 18-30". You’re all action, but based on some quite trippy cognitive reasoning. So, Mikey; what brings you to be playing guitar-based music in Reading?
Mike: Guitar based? We're a drum based band, just ask Rob (our drummer).
AK: Yeah, maybe I should have interviewed the organ-grinder… but don’t let me interrupt you. *shuts up*
Mike: A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, Earley, I was at school and started playing guitar. I walked to school with Nikhil (SU lead guitarist) who happened to live across the road from me and was in the year below me at school. He started a band and I joined. I was about 16 probably. Couldn't play the guitar at all, had only just barely mastered barre chords! (I know, nothing's changed right?!) We were called The Unholy and we had a great time playing music. We didn't care that we were rubbish, it was a great fun time and kept us out of trouble. "Yeah... right!" I hear all those that know us from back then say, but imagine the trouble we might have got in otherwise? We did a few gigs at "The Stage" which was in that youth club by Asda. 50p to get in, everyone getting drunk outside. Brilliant. Then we all went to uni and split up. A few years ago we were all drunk at a party and probably listening to one of our old Unholy tapes when our mate Phil said we should get the band back together. Rob and Sam (bass player) were there and they used to play bass and drums together in a band so they got roped in. Phil said he'd give singing a go. The Unholy were back!
AK: How long have Sonic Undermind been going? How did you get together?
Mike: Well, we pissed around as The Unholy for a year or more. Managed to write about 5 songs. Our crappy 3 track demo even got played in the After Dark. Rob recorded it and the DJ said that we were a lot better than he expected and he didn't believe it was recorded on a 4 track. Rob's very good. Left Side Brain also heard it and loved it. They booked us for a gig in Frome which scared us into actually rehearsing well enough to actually perform. Phil had a lot of other stuff going on at the time and the band going from a very infrequent laugh to a regularly rehearsing and gigging band was a big commitment he didn't have time for at the time. With a month to go we were singerless. Pete had been to a few of our early rehearsals and we begged him to come along and do this gig for us on a temporary basis. We played the gig in Frome, Pete was great and everyone was surprised at how un-shit we were. We wanted to do more gigs but the name "The Unholy" was turning people off so we had to change it. After months of arguments we came up with Sonic Undermind. At around that time I got to know Luisa through writing for her new Unsigned Showcase magazine. She booked us for Bar Oz, we filled the place and she booked us again. The rest is history (as was that).
AK: What do you think of the Berkshire "scene"? Where do you think it will be in five years' time?
Mike: I think it's amazing. Compared to where it was 18 months ago when we started playing it's unrecogniseable. There are regular nights at venues all over town. We have touring bands back at The Fez. When I started reviewing you'd be lucky to get one average gig a fortnight. Now you get at least one good one a week, often more. Who can tell about 5 years time. It could all collapse again, it could carry on getting stronger. If the promoters we have keep pushing things the way they are or one or more of the bands from the local scene make it on some level then hopefully it'll blossom even more.
AK: Tell us about your own musical development;
Mike: I'm almost the opposite of you when it comes to musicianship. Where you might spend long hours practicing and perfecting your skills and playing everything possible the thing that interests me about the guitar is picking it up and just playing. Seeing what weird sounds come out and how they fit together with other ones. It's very much a luxury to be able to do that. Ok, I do know a lot of the basics that you need to be able to do anything and I can play tightly in time but I'm lucky to have a band that can deal with whatever weird stuff I might be playing and fit around it or improve what I'm playing when we write. I came to the guitar pretty late, around 16, and didn't play very much at all at university so it's only really since Sonic Undermind came back that I've been actually developing in any way. I consider myself very much a novice but prefer to learn by experimenting with sounds and then learning what it is I've been playing rather than learning to play something then hearing how it sounds.
AK: Who are your favourite bands at the moment?
Mike: The last few months I have mostly been listening to Coheed and Cambria, Mew, Velvet Underground, Apartment 26, Dizzee Rascal. Many others but those are the ones that really stand out. Locally Yankee Nine-Niner, Return to Zero, Rebus and Pete and the Pirates are the ones that really stand out for me. My all time favourite bands are At the Drive-In, Smashing Pumpkins and Rage Against the Machine. My biggest recent guitar influence is Queens of the Stone Age. If I had to force everyone who didn't get Sonic Undermind to listen to one album it'd be Dr Octagyneacologist by Dr Octagon (AKA Kool Keith). Actually it's interesting that you, as one of our biggest fans, already loved that album.
AK: You like a tipple: where are your favourite places to imbibe in Reading?
Mike: Bar Oz local bands night on a Thursday, the BBBs at the weekend and, of course, The Legendary After Dark Club. It's always been an ambition of mine to play there.
AK: How do you feel about Reading, the jewel in Berkshire's crown?
AK: It's not as shit as Bracknell, Slough or Swindon. I am very fond of Reading despite it's shitness, I was born here and have lived here most of my life. Since the local scene got back into shape it's also started to be a nice place to go out again.
AK: What would you change/like to see happen to Reading?
Mike: Sesame Street at the After Dark to get over the obsession with "The" bands and back to being mainly proper rock like it did a couple of years back. Ok, that's just fashion. It'll come and go, other than that... more decent independent shops.
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Shut your bitching, woman!
Does your husband play in a band, too?
Only joking Mike - I hope you feel better soon!
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Greetings from bed
Ha! The gods of fate play a cruel hand. A mere couple of days after I was all set to post a whinge about there being too many good gigs this week they have stricken me down with a sickness that means I might miss all of them. What's more my new Mew CD has been delivered to work but I am not there to listen to it! I appear to have read every book in the house, daytime TV has been so poor today that I've just watched the whole of Big Fat Liar with Frankie Muniz (aka Malcom) and actually quite enjoyed it and I'm too apathetic to do anything musical. Guitar heavy... must lie down again. Just spotted the special edition Spinal Tap dvd on my desk... that should keep me going for a while.
I hope everyone has fun at Unsigned Showcase@The Fez tonight, for me it's about the best line-up they've ever had. Maybe I can dose myself with paracetamol and make it for the Pirates at least.
Have re-read that... it doesn't make much sense. I'm obviously delerious.
Ramblings about being in lots of bands
I used to think that I was on a pretty sweet deal, but now I'm not so sure. The piece of musical obligation that I am currently chewing is slowly starting to get larger and larger, and I'm wondering if I will be able to chew it for much longer.
When I came back to Reading after my student years, I kind of dragged my feet musically for a year or so, before putting ads and contacts out to try and find a band to play guitar for. I went to a few auditions, tried out a couple of different bands before I found one that I enjoyed and wanted to pursue - this was All Wrapped Up, a locally-based function band. Keyboard player Tony dropped off 3 CD's of material that they played in their set for me to learn, and I turned up to rehearse with them a week later. They were nice people, really talented musicians and performers, and they played some songs that I really liked (interspersed with ones I didn't really like much, but they stretched me as a musician and took me out of the "comfort" zone", which was all good). So, three years down the line and my AWU gigs are ticking along nicely, plus I get to sing backing vocals - something I love doing, but rarely get to do. We learn new material regularly, but because we've gigged so much we don't have to rehearse all the time, just enough to maintain a tightness and a professional attitude.
Then I got asked to audition for Yankee Nine Niner, who were playing bluesy, classic rock with a lot of funk influences. Well, I just knew straight away that I wanted in on this one, and we set about rehearsing, writing and trying to record whenever possible. The band are now also my close mates, more like a family than mates really, and I'll always want to play guitar in Yankee Nine Niner. Cool, I had found a rock band! I was looking for something slightly more thrash metal, but I wouldn't swap Y99er for any other band at the moment.
Then, a few weeks after I had met Y99er, I got an email from Natalie O'Neill asking me if I was available to play guitar for her new band, Red Antennae. They were based in London, but I hadn't seen Nat for a few years and wanted to catch up and see what she was up to, so I said I'd come down and take a look. Before going to university I had played in a trip-hop/techno band called Breeze, and had really enjoyed writing and recording songs based on loops, samples and computer-aided creativity. I'd been clubbing in London since I was about 17, and the dance culture was the one I most closely associated with; I'd grown up listening to all sorts of music, but in terms of who I was and the times I was living in, I dreamt of playing guitar for the Prodigy, Underworld, Leftfield, Orbital - bands who were DJ-based but who would have been using live instruments in their shows. Well, maybe not Orbital so much, but you get the idea. I liked to dance, I liked to play guitar, I wanted to merge the two. When I heard what Red Antennae were doing I knew I had to be involved, as although they were still closer to the traditional "band" format than they were to The Prodigy, the tunes were great, Nat's vocals were amazing and all they needed was someone to play guitar without making too much of a racket.
So I was in 3 bands. Fine if you are a full-time musican, slightly more complicated if you have a full-time job to hold down because you made a decision that you would support yourself through your music (i.e. not go on the dole, not have to starve on a regular basis, etc.) because you could, and because you didn't want to end up playing songs I hated with people I didn't like in order to pay the bills. I gave up playing rugby in order to try and make life easier on my fingers, as well as my schedule. So now I was starting to make real sacrifices for my music. I had played rugby since I was 14, and loved the game; I represented Oxfordshire at Under 21's level, as well as playing for local clubs and at university. Oh well, if I was going to take my music seriously (I figured the more I took it seriously, the more I would enjoy it - this turned out to be true!) I thought I could always go back and play rugby later in life. No biggie.
However, now I find myself having to write songs for the two bands, as well as learn new material for the function band (which is pretty easy usually, but as I'm trying to play jazz "properly" as much as I can, there is a bit of studying and figuring out to do). I'm also about to start writing for a secret project I've been invited to contribute towards which will hopefully be up and running in a couple of months, and summer always means lots of gigs and shows, so I'm basically looking at no free time for the next 3 months.
I think bands and musicians worry too much about what they are doing and the way they are doing it. I always advise people to work with as many other musicians as they can, to find out about how they like to work, how they like to play different music, who they like to play it with and most importantly to learn how to develop and grow as musicians and performers. You can never get too much of the right experience. I play in several bands because I want to play lots of different music, and I wouldn't be able to do that in just one band. But I guess you have to work a lot harder to remember 5 different sets of music, and be able to rehearse them whenever necessary. I seem to have sacrificed my summer this year to do just that! But how many bands split up because of "musical differences"? Would that happen if they had other bands to play in? If they did, surely bands would stay together because of musical similarities?
Anyway - my point is this; a musician who doesn't play a variety of music with a variety of different people is like a chef who only ever cooks one meal. Not much of a chef. But be prepared to have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen; not such a bad place to be, but not much fun if you'd rather be out and about in the garden enjoying the summer. There's a great ancient Greek expression - "Everything in moderation". But you have to remember that this should also include moderation.
Monday, April 26, 2004
Bands and politics
I normally have a big(ish) stack of random CDs sitting on my desk at work, I took them all home on Friday so I could replace them with a different stack of stuff, otherwise I just listen to the same album over and over again for weeks. Recently that album has been the excellent In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 by Coheed and Cambria which I recommend everyone buys. Anyway, I forgot to bring any CDs with me this morning so I am going through my mp3 collection (all legal!) on random. A track by Miss Black America came on. An event that triggered the thought: "Oooh, Miss Black America, I wonder what they've been up to recently?". Which, in turn, took me to their website, and that answered my question regarding what they have been doing.
Amongst other things they've appeared on a recent Anti Racism compilation and associated tour. I suddenly got to thinking. Most of the time when you have bands who are overtly political they are pretty left wing, rebellious and anti-authority. I'm thinking the Manics, Rage Against the Machine, Asian Dub Foundation, System of a Down and any number of others. Even Sonic Undermind considered getting in on the act with the "Save the Sparrow" campaign. Until we found out that it was already a real campaign and sparrows were actually endangered which removed any humour value.
You hardly ever get very politically active bands that are vocally expousing really dull middle of the road politics. Ok, so kids do tend to be quite radically idealistic before world weary cynicism starts taking it's relentless toll, and kids do tend to buy a lot of records so maybe that answers my question. Or maybe it's just that it's only the rabidly political that feel they need to get their message across in their music. I get quite annoyed by people preaching. Even if I agree with them. You're a band, why should I care any more about what someone in a band thinks about some political situation than what a random person on the street thinks?
So, I don't really like it when bands are being overly political but I have a problem. I happen to be in a band, if I start going around saying that I think all bands should keep their opinions to themselves then the very act of expressing such an opinion would clearly make me a total hypocrite. Also I generally agree with a lot of the ideas that the bands I mentioned are supporting. So I should shut up.
For those of you concerned at my lack of CDs situation I have attempted to solve it by ordering (at long last) the amazing Frengers album by Mew.
Writers block
The Sonic Undermind songwriting session on Friday night didn't go exactly as planned, despite great inspiration from the King's Road Crane Angel. We did manage to get the bonus track for the EP recorded, sans vocals, but creatively we had one of those frustrating evenings where everyone was going in different directions. Being in a band with 4 people with completely different music tastes to each other is great because you have a huge variety of influences to draw on. On the other hand it's terrible because you can start writing something that half the band love and half the band absolutely hate. It's good because you get plenty of different perspectives on what you are writing and you get to be quite ruthless about cutting out the bad stuff, on the other hand sometimes something great will be discarded because it doesn't fit with what people like playing. Anyway, Friday was a little frustrating. Loads of interesting ideas were pouring out but they were pouring in four seperate directions. We couldn't pull it all together to make any of it work as a song. Unless anyone out there really wants a tedious and confused heavy drum'n'bass indy metal track. Rob summed it up best with "it just isn't Sonic Undermind" and he was right.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Pure Reason Revolution
So, a Reading band is starting to climb the charts - fantastic! I hope they open the way for other local bands to start making a name for themselves with a wider audience. Especially mine!
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Kaldera review
Hey! What a great Saturday! I'm off to Bristol in the sunshine, bottles of tequila rattling around in the back of my car - lovely stuff. I'm sending a review if Kaldera's CD to Kev to post on Josaka too - hope it makes you all want to go out and see them, play live and buy their CD's.
Peas. Owt.
