Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Just to keep the blog ticking over
Right, so we had the last gig (for the forseeable future) with the band but we still have a load of new songs to record so we're going into the studio in a week or so. Foolishly this is at the same time as the England - France Six Nations game. D'oh! Ah well hopefully we'll win. I shouldn't mention the rugby as my Scottish girlfriend reads this and it's sure to bring comments. At least Wales are worse so AK can't gloat too much.
I'm not really too bothered. I love recording and it's going to be great to get our new stuff down so I can bore myself stupid listening to that!
I have a meeting with the Screwball gang tonight. I say meeting, more of a meal/piss-up where we'll talk about the next couple of Screwball nights. We're hoping to do one for Apparently Plug'n'Play are refurbishing so the layout of the venue might be a bit different for the next event. I think we can still do the two stage layout but it might be laid out a bit differently.
I'm not really too bothered. I love recording and it's going to be great to get our new stuff down so I can bore myself stupid listening to that!
I have a meeting with the Screwball gang tonight. I say meeting, more of a meal/piss-up where we'll talk about the next couple of Screwball nights. We're hoping to do one for Apparently Plug'n'Play are refurbishing so the layout of the venue might be a bit different for the next event. I think we can still do the two stage layout but it might be laid out a bit differently.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
What an awesome Saturday...
Ah, that Müf gig on Saturday was pretty special. First things first though, earlier in the afternoon I went to Dawsons to see Jewel and Wire Jesus play the in-store warm up show for the Josaka 7th Birthday Party gig. (You can get ticket info for that here). I can't make it to the birthday gig itself so I thought I'd at least check out the warm up.
It was a really good, if very odd, experience. It's a huge store with a big stage but, although there ended up with quite a lot of people there, it seemed quite intimate because they were spread out around the shop. The bands went down well and I really enjoyed it... although it would have been a lot better if there was a bar!
After the gig most of the crowd, the bands and the organisers headed to the nearest pub for a couple of cheeky pints. After that I had just enough time to nip home and grab my gear for our gig. We were playing at the BBBs with a band called Episode who are on a mini tour of the South of England, they were pretty good I thought.
I wasn't sure how good we were going to be. Lee was suffering from a bit of man flu, we hadn't had time to rehearse since the last gig because AK had been snowboarding and Sam had moved house. In the end it was great. The crowd included a lot of the people who'd previously been in the Dawsons gig and then at the pub all evening, there's nothing better than a drunk crowd to get a show really going. We opened with the Battlestar Galactica theme due to popular request from aforementioned drunken crowd - we'd opened our first gig with it and this was our last show for a good long while at least. We haven't actually played that since Lee joined the band but I hummed the tune and beat to him before we went on and he turned that into something that worked pretty well with it on the spot.
In the end we played really well I thought, mainly feeding off the crazy drunken antics of the crowd. Great dancing guys... you know who you were!
It was a really good, if very odd, experience. It's a huge store with a big stage but, although there ended up with quite a lot of people there, it seemed quite intimate because they were spread out around the shop. The bands went down well and I really enjoyed it... although it would have been a lot better if there was a bar!
After the gig most of the crowd, the bands and the organisers headed to the nearest pub for a couple of cheeky pints. After that I had just enough time to nip home and grab my gear for our gig. We were playing at the BBBs with a band called Episode who are on a mini tour of the South of England, they were pretty good I thought.
I wasn't sure how good we were going to be. Lee was suffering from a bit of man flu, we hadn't had time to rehearse since the last gig because AK had been snowboarding and Sam had moved house. In the end it was great. The crowd included a lot of the people who'd previously been in the Dawsons gig and then at the pub all evening, there's nothing better than a drunk crowd to get a show really going. We opened with the Battlestar Galactica theme due to popular request from aforementioned drunken crowd - we'd opened our first gig with it and this was our last show for a good long while at least. We haven't actually played that since Lee joined the band but I hummed the tune and beat to him before we went on and he turned that into something that worked pretty well with it on the spot.
In the end we played really well I thought, mainly feeding off the crazy drunken antics of the crowd. Great dancing guys... you know who you were!
Monday, February 20, 2006
He's over there..
WANTED: good home for rhythm guitarist, hardly used (1 year old?), unique, original style, previous bands include cartoon metal and quirky alt-rock band. Excellent company, fully educated and good with kids/lead guitarists (if a difference there be). Must go to a good owner as I have had to put musical project on hold for foreseeable future, and putting him in storage would be a waste of his talents. Serious offers only, new owners must collect. No timewasters or wedding bands.
Friday, February 17, 2006
I am here...
Hello. Someone asked where I was.
Last Müf gig for the forseeable at the weekend. It would be the end of an era but we're going into the studio to record some stuff in March! Cool. We should probably learn to play the songs we're going to record then at some point as well...
In the meantime I might need to find a new project. Any ideas?
What else is going on, oh yeah, went to the Reading Fringe Festival meeting the other day and I might have had too much to drink because I seem to have volunteered for loads of stuff! D'oh. I didn't get to go to the last meeting but it's amazing how much progress has already been made. We need to get more recruits but an incredible amount has been done already. I can't believe what we got done in 10 weeks last year but this year is shaping up to be amazing.
Oh and we should start sorting out Screwball III at the weekend too, god I'm going to be busy!
Last Müf gig for the forseeable at the weekend. It would be the end of an era but we're going into the studio to record some stuff in March! Cool. We should probably learn to play the songs we're going to record then at some point as well...
In the meantime I might need to find a new project. Any ideas?
What else is going on, oh yeah, went to the Reading Fringe Festival meeting the other day and I might have had too much to drink because I seem to have volunteered for loads of stuff! D'oh. I didn't get to go to the last meeting but it's amazing how much progress has already been made. We need to get more recruits but an incredible amount has been done already. I can't believe what we got done in 10 weeks last year but this year is shaping up to be amazing.
Oh and we should start sorting out Screwball III at the weekend too, god I'm going to be busy!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Shoulder the responsibility
Austria is amazing, having a great time. Swedish women pack out the nightclubs, and crazy Dutch snowboarding instructors helped me get the hang of boarding after about three hours. Another hour of leaping off a small bank at the bottom of the nursery slope saw various grabs and a few 180's before I wiped out at top speed and tore a rotator cuff muscle in my left shoulder. It's limited my boarding slightly, but painkillers and schnapps are seeing me through. We're heading up to some out-of-the-way location tomorrow to go off-piste and exploring, which will at least be fairly tame and mild-mannered for me. Ah well, so much for my hopes of backflips and huge jumps. Well.. I won't be doing any grabs, spins or suchlike anyway, I can still do jumps!
Dutch people are hugely sensitive to Austin Powers references, they have a complete sense of humour failure over "Schmoke and a pancake?" and none of them rate the Dutch chances in the world cup because they don't have a defence.
Adios!
Dutch people are hugely sensitive to Austin Powers references, they have a complete sense of humour failure over "Schmoke and a pancake?" and none of them rate the Dutch chances in the world cup because they don't have a defence.
Adios!
Friday, February 03, 2006
there's no boarding like snowboarding.. etc.
So, having picked up a load of clothing / pads / hats / gloves etc from the absolute legend that is Kurt Fullman (who has said I can keep them, as he never uses them.. Bottle of booze coming right up, Kurt!) I'm pretty much set for a week in St, Anton, Austria. My objectives are:
A) To perform a backflip off/down something.
B) To jump something, somewhere entailing at least 5 secs air time
C) Not to lose all my money at apres-ski poker
D) To race and explore with Mark, long-time bezzy mate and general co-conspirator.
E) If there is a half-pipe anywhere within easy distance of where we are staying, to try not to break my neck. 360 degree grabs here we come!!!! Hopefully get in a few 520's too..
F) get as many of the above committed to digital camera / camcorder as possible!
IIIIII CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIT!!!!!!!!!
A) To perform a backflip off/down something.
B) To jump something, somewhere entailing at least 5 secs air time
C) Not to lose all my money at apres-ski poker
D) To race and explore with Mark, long-time bezzy mate and general co-conspirator.
E) If there is a half-pipe anywhere within easy distance of where we are staying, to try not to break my neck. 360 degree grabs here we come!!!! Hopefully get in a few 520's too..
F) get as many of the above committed to digital camera / camcorder as possible!
IIIIII CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIT!!!!!!!!!
