'Bout time I told you peeps about this ..... I applied to go on the programme London Ink via a message on Facebook. I never expected to hear anything back..... But last week I got an E-mail asking me to send my phone number to them which I did... and today had a call to have a chat about what tattoo I may want and other information, age, interests etc...
Now all I need to do is get together a couple of vids together that can be forwarded for a screen test! One vid of myself talking and giving some info about myself and the other a short vid of The Guttercats in rehearsal, as the Tattoo I want is conected to them. I want a picture of a caricature that was drawn of me a few years ago while in the band with a logo design also in it. So there ya have it!
2008! And I wasn't quite finished with the last century, but despite my written protests, this one keeps creeping forward. I can't be the only one who's noticed that years are surreptitiously speeding up, passing 'go', and pocketing the £200 for themselves. I signed a cheque the other day and dated it 2002. (Cheques were what we used to use before evolution gave us rectangular plastic and Paypal). One year out is a simple mistake to make but six is just peculiar and unexplainable.
I don't seem to have stopped traveling since Jan 3rd so inevitably, my attempts to keep up with a regular dose of this self-indulgent pap have fallen short of perfect yet again. Mind you I've no idea whether any of my contemporaries bother to bore the world on a regular timetabled basis, with their every thought and ill-conceived opinion, laid out naked and crudely carved on their own bands websites. I'm assuming that if a job is left to a musician, particularly if typing is involved, tomorrow is always a better day to do it, so you'll forgive me if I don't seem contrite or apologetic for the months that pass without my adding to the ever-filling universe of cybercrap.
So what have I been doing since last I 'blogged', aside from moaning at the level of Olympic medalist? Well since you ask, at the beginning of January, I was recording an orchestra in Sophia (that's in Bulgaria for our geographically-challenged friends) for a film titled 'Caught In The Act', for which I've written the score, (out later this year). Then off to London to tart it up, Shepperton to mix it, Berlin to sell it, and occasionally back to France to try and forget all about it.
And now the dust is settling, what next? Well a few things actually. First of all check out the website next week for a video filmed live at the Soho Review Bar last November. I'm sure it will be on YouTube, MySpace and the shiny reflections of dustbin lids over the whole country before too long, but you'll see it first on the band website.
'Bipolar Diversions' has been picked up by Cargo for distribution and will therefore be in some UK record shops (record shops….remember them!) on Monday April 7th. To make a small fanfare of triumph around this date, we've decided to return to the scene of our last oh so enjoyable crime, and do a repeat performance at the Soho Revue Bar on Friday April 11th. The last show was sold out so at the risk of sounding like a cocky little shit, I'd advise getting your tickets early. I'm guessing they will be sold through Ticketweb again - details to follow shortly. If you're half as excited as I am at this prospect, then I'm twice as excited as you, which is exactly how it should be of course.
Incidentally, those of you who've seen us live a few times will know that we often encore with a cover song. We were pondering what to do next time we play when I thought that I might just ask you if you've any good ideas... or bad ones. Choose wisely. There's a lot of shit out there to step in.
Jackdaw4, who include in their line-up, one of my favourite songwriter's/musicians, Mr Willie Dowling.
This guy has been involved in many bands over the years and has always seemed to miss out on the big time. He started off with The Grip and then moved on to the Catpeople with Mark Keene (RIP) from the Grip.This faded away until next he joined up with the Wildhearts for for a short time. This seemed to be the perfect song writing partnership for a while with Ginger. He then broke off with CJ and formed Honeycrack (My all time fave track Animals there). He drifted into limbo for a while before returning with a great little album with his band the Sugar Plum Fairies. But again disappearing for a while, before returning with another new band, The Celebrity Squares, releasing 2 singles before a name change for the band came about and Jackdaw4 emerged. Which brings us to the present with a couple of vids from the 1st album (the 2nd is following this year sometime).
Sad, but true, Mark Keene was killed a few years back now, while out on his motorbike! From memory it was around the time Honeycrack were around. I knew Willie very well during The Grip years and was in contact with him regular on the phone. We supported The Grip a few times too and covered for them when the band couldn't make it to some gigs they had booked. I joined The Grip on a couple of occasions on stage and did some backing vocals with them. Contact with Willie declined when The Grip split. I met up with him again at a Honeycrack gig some years later, by which time I had recorded an old Grip song, Old Getting Older, with my own band, The Gutter Cats. Upon that meeting I gave a copy of the song to him to cast his ear over. He gave his seal of approval to the track shortly after when I met up with him again at a later Honeycrack gig in Coventry.
I never saw Willie again after that in the mid 90's and never expected to again as he lay low after Honeycrack and my need for involvment in the music scene dwindled also. But Ginger's 40th Birthday gig at the Marquee in London got me to meet up with him again and talk about the old days. Of course he still remembered me and was very surprised to see me. He now lives out in France where he records and makes music for his own pleasure and does music for TV shows. He still has his band Jackdaw4 but I think it's more of a sideline thing,although there is a second album on the horizon.
The last time I saw him was supporting Ginger on one of his acoustic gigs. He was on top form although playing acoustic. He was surprised by the reception he got. They played a mix of old and new songs (see my review elsewhere on this site) including The Ballad of Vera Daydreamer. Never thought I'd hear that tune live again! The Grip had some great songs!
Although not my work of writing, the following blogs are quite interesting reading, and are from the original posts on Jackdaw4's My Space page.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Blog or whatever (Week 1)
So I've come out of hiding. Not for long . Just thought I'd taste the air.
Thought you might want to look at videos we made for Gramophone Logic. We shot Happy and King For A Day and I hope that by the time you read this, they will be accessible at "You Tube" or something.
"Why now?" I hear you grumble. " This makes no sense at all" you continue.
Well. The answer which makes no sense at all, (you were right all along) is that several months ago, we started a new album which is nearing completion.
So I thought you'd like to see the videos we shot for the last album since virtually no one ever has. Just plain forgot to do much about them.
See. I told you it made no sense at all.
If there seems to be an erratic nature to the way I've made music over the last ten years or so, think of it as a metaphor for how daily existence is for me.
I don't mean that in a 'hand to mouth' 'scraping the pennies' sense, but more in a self-indulgent, pompous, 'too much free time given to disappearing up ones own arse, while contemplating the universe' fashion. My aim this year is to join up the dots a little and unify the effort. Of course it will never happen. I know him too well and we're not to be trusted. Either of me.
I'm writing from a barn in France (more of which I'll tell you another day), and viewing Britain from a short distance has been an interesting experience. It is said that even the most reluctant Englishman succumbs to some smallest of patriotic fervors when spending time abroad. Can't say that's ever been my experience.
All I can tell you is that it seems a nonsensical idea to think of ones self as anything more than a human on planet earth. I try and think of all towns, cities, nation states, races and religions as equally abhorrent. This way I'm rarely disappointed.
Not the healthiest view of the world I grant you, but at least it makes sense.
I'll be bothering you again soon.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Blog or whatever (Episode 2)
There is something pointless and meandering about making an album when there isn't a specific deadline to work to.
One spends hours, days, weeks, months and, I'm ashamed to say, years toying with various arrangements, satisfying yourself that you've realised and recorded the perfect guitar parts, only to return to the song a few months later to decide that they were poorly conceived and badly executed, and your new improved guitar parts should replace the existing ones.
This of course, is a dangerous cycle and makes finishing an album virtually impossible.
Somewhere along the way, through sheer exhaustion/boredom with the tracks/external grief from those who give a toss, the decision is made to complete the thing, and during that lasted concerted push towards the end, one again convinces oneself that the correct decisions have been made, and that the songs in their finished, mixed state, sound as close to perfect as is possible.
Of course this is an equally stupid observation since inevitably, after not hearing the old albums for years, on the rare occasions I can bear to listen to them again, all I notice is the flaws; the song lyrics that are a little clumsy or lazily rhymed, the musical and vocal parts that should have been better performed, and the sounds and balances between the instruments that could have been improved with a few more tweaks.
Conclusion? Nothing is ever finished. Ever. Not in my head anyway.
Can you imagine how irritating and dull that can make life?
Well I'll tell you. If nothing is truly ever finished, then life becomes pointless and meandering.
And as pointless meanderer's go, I guess I'm going.
p.s. I am convinced that the correct decisions have been made, and the new tracks in their finished, mixed state, sound as close to perfect as is possible.
Album by late spring? It's possible I suppose.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Blog or whatever (Episode 3)
Those of you familiar with the first Jackdaw4 album 'Gramophone Logic' will probably be familiar with the names John Steel and Kate Stevenson, both of whom made various contributions – Kate on drums and John on guitars, saxophone, harmonica, Kenwood chef and various other household appliances. Well I've just waved goodbye to them as they set off back to England, having spent the last few days here in France, making similar worthy contributions to the new album.
These are the occasions when I'm not playing/recording myself. Instead, I'm sitting in the producer/engineer chair, hysterically singing guitar lines for John to perform, flailing my arms in the air miming drum parts I'd like Kate to try, or barking musical orders of one kind or another at the two of them, before demanding that they try something completely different, just to satisfy my curiosity.
It has occurred to me on occasions like this, that I'm far more demanding of other people's performances than of my own. When I'm all alone, recording myself and there is nobody in the studio to try and impress, I'm far more likely to adopt a 'that'll do' attitude.
In between takes, we discussed which songs would or wouldn't make the final cut and I think we're close to settling. I'll probably leave it to someone else to select the running order since I've never been particularly good at that, aside from deciding on the opening and closing tracks.
If you remember, it was 'This Is Your Life' that was the first song on the last album, and I am often asked about the meaning and intent of this song.
On tour, in my usual half-arsed attempts to be witty, I used to tell a brief story on stage, leading to the rumour that I wrote the song specifically about Midge Ure. Not strictly speaking true, although it was seeing him on the British television show, 'This Is Your Life' that started the train of thought.
You're familiar with the format of the show I'm sure: In a well meaning way, his friends and associates from over the years were trotted out on to the stage to tell a funny or moving Midge related anecdote. But, as the show progressed, it felt more and more to me as though it were performing the function of a star-studded, showbiz, fond farewell. As if the contributors were writing his obituary in front of him in a manner that suggested his best moments were behind him, and it was time for him to wander in a dignified manner, into the 'Gone But Not Forgotten' folder.
Now I happen to think, that long after 'Vienna' (which lets face it, is why most people are familiar with Midge Ure), the man wrote and continues to write in my opinion, songs that are easily as good and better than his Ultravox efforts. (Check out 'Breathe'). Then again, I suppose, that 'This Is Your Life So Far, Here's A Taste of The Bits The Public And Press Didn't Seem So Interested In And We Look Forward To The Next Bit' is not nearly so catchy a title or premise for a TV show.
Anyway, rather than a joyous celebration I thought the whole thing rather depressing and it lead to the thought that none of us gets to choose the way we are thought of or how we are remembered. Forget pop stars and celebrities for a second. The fact is that ultimately, we are all defined by consensus of majority, and there is no right of reply or complaints commission to appeal to.
I don't know why that should bother me so much but it does, so there you are. I think that over the years I have probably developed a rather too active sense of injustice. I've tried screaming at the heavens and demanding some sense of balance and redress from the skies, but with no deity putting in an appearance, whom I can impress with my impassioned demands for fairness and equity, I quickly give up and settle in for a brief spell of inertia. That'll do.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Blog or whatever (Episode 4 - Lost in France?)
I've been asked a lot recently why I moved to France. This is complicated. Firstly, I haven't. Well not exactly. I still come back to the UK once every month or so, for meetings and what have you.
Quite why I bought in France at all is really the question, and with the benefit of hindsight I have three main reasons for this. Well four actually, but I'm saving the fourth for another time.
Reason number one: the bleeding obvious. Property prices in the UK were and are so ludicrously high, that for roughly the same amount of money that would have bought a two bedroom flat in West London, we were able to move into a beautiful working water mill next to a trout stream, with seven acres of land and a handful of outbuildings - the largest of which contains my studio. We're only a two and a half hour drive from London via the tunnel, so if I need to go back, which I'm inclined less and less to do, I can drive to the UK and back again in a day with relative ease.
Reason number two: I had reached a point of exasperation with the political situation in Britain. The cherry on the cake and the reson that actually inspired the decision that very night, to look across the water for a house, was the day that war against Iraq commenced. This, despite the fact that two million British people, myself included, had marched to signify their opposition to war (representing the opinion of 90% of the population if statistics are anything to go by) and were roundly ignored, despite the fact that the so-called evidence for war was clearly then, and provably later, a tissue of lies. Lies constructed to serve the purposes of the long stated aims of the 'Project for The New American Century', authored by Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz et.al. This information and erstwhile statement of intent, had long been in the public domain and yet they still got away with it.
Someone said to me recently, "Well at least Rumsfeld got his just deserts when he was fired". This is ludicrously short sighted. It matters not to Rumsfeld and co. that they lose a job here and there. The fact is they have already hand picked their like-minded replacements. They are willing to suffer the various indignities of political life so long as their cause is advanced and more importantly, their nests are adequately feathered. Which they invariably are. Those bastards were waiting for any chance to start the military ball rolling, and when they couldn't produce facts, they simply invented them. Well, you know the argument. You've heard it a thousand times before so I won't replay it in any more detail than I have done already.
Anyway, I was intensely depressed by all of this. That a Labour government could dupe the nation so blatantly, in amongst the hundreds of other Thatcherite decisions they had already made and continue to make. Furthermore, it caused me to wonder, that if these are the visible signs of the way that democracy has been rendered impotent, what lies beneath, as yet undiscovered? (Perhaps I should shut up now – I swear I could go on forever).
Not that the political system in France is perfect, but at least the French had the strength of character to stand up to the Americans and question their motives. Now some of you won't share my political views and I understand that, but I'm an intolerant fucker so piss off...
The third reason is a little more personal. Post-Honeycrack, I'd spent the following seven or eight years writing music for television and film, which involved me getting out of bed and walking the fifteen yards or so to my London studio, where I would lock myself in until the break of dawn, day in day out, rarely seeing daylight. The only times I would break from this admittedly self-imposed routine, would be to go into the west end of London and get so drunk that the next couple of days were pretty well a write off. Frankly, after so many years of this repetitious and predictable pattern, life was becoming very, very dull. I felt that I was in a serious rut and needed a radical change. So as radical changes go, moving to a different country where I couldn't even speak the language struck me as a fairly abrupt way to shake things up a little.
The fourth reason is pertinent to the new album and it's a tough one for me to address so as I said earlier, I'll bring it up on another occasion.
You know, when I was asked to write this blog, I wasn't at all sure what it was supposed to be. On reflection, it appears to be some kind of self-examination combined with elements in the style of 'Mein Kampf'. In short, probably not worthy or suitable for sharing. Ah well, if you're bored with my on-line ranting you can always check out some porn. According to statistics, you were probably about to do that anyway. And if you are patient enough, psychiatrists will invent a new vocabulary to encapsulate the blog, and a profitable sideline in drugs designed to quell the urge to ever write one.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Blog or whatever (Episode 5)
So I was back in the UK last week, for the most part to record the last couple of bass parts with Andy (Lewis). He came in to London from Bath or thereabouts, for a couple of days, to do some rehearsing and then to play the 'Al Murray-Pub Landlord' TV show, with Mel C, which you might have seen last Friday. He stayed with me in West London, and we finished the bass parts when he was free.
Some of you have spotted Greg (Hatwell) playing guitar and singing with Mel C over the last couple of years, which is largely why he's been absent at the last few gigs. Greg, Andy and I went out for a drink after they had finished rehearsing last Sunday and I realised I hadn't seen Greg for over a year.
In response to my recent postings, I have been asked which TV shows I've written music for since Honeycrack folded. It would take me a long time to list them all and I still squirm when remembering some of the less imaginative drivel I've laboured through. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to refer you to my website (www.williedowling.co.uk) which lists most of the stuff I've done. It hasn't been updated in a little while but you'll get the idea. Then, if there are any specific questions about particular shows, I guess I could answer one or two.
I have done a lot of TV work with Pete Baikie over the last six or seven years. You might recognise his name from the sketch comedy show 'Absolutely'. Aside from his various, acting/writing/directing/producing duties, he's also king of the TV theme tune and I jumped at the chance to work with him in 1999, when he asked me to write music with him for the ITV topical animation show '2DTV'. Very quickly he became a good friend, and we subsequently worked together on a number of shows.
Pete and I also co-wrote 'Violent Streak', the extra track after 'Happy? (Dumka)' on 'Gramophone Logic', and it fell to Pete to sequence the running order of that album. We met up last week and I played him rough mixes of the new songs since in all likelihood I will ask him to select the running order of the imminent album, which I can now reveal will be called 'Bipolar Diversions'. Clinical and yet catchy at the same time, don't you agree? And about as broad and obvious a clue as I can offer, as to the fourth reason I moved to France (see Episode 4), which should take some of the sting out of it for me when I go in to this in more detail at a later stage.
Incidentally, the video for 'Me & My Machine' should be up on 'YouTube' by this weekend. You might remember the song from the SugarPlumFairies album, 'Fruit Karma'. And if you're wondering why it's taken so long for us to bring it to you, I refer you to the ludicrous reasons I offered you on the first blog of five weeks ago.
Monday, March 19, 2007 Blog or whatever (Episode 6 - SOOMA?) So much for the collected thoughts of chairman Wilf on a weekly basis. You'll have gathered that I'm a little late with this current, no doubt thrilling installment. No good reason. There just seemed to be other things to do. I've just finished mixing 'SOOMA' and am suffering the usual deflated insecurities as to whether it sounds any good or not. If I start tweaking it now, I'll go round in circles and screw it up completely so I'm determined to let it be….(watch this space) I was back in the UK last week to see my old chums Armstrong & Miller record material at the BBC for their new series, which should be on BBC1 in the autumn. I wrote music for three of their previous Channel 4 series. However, I guess I'll miss it since we don't get British TV over here in France, so if anyone's near a DVD recorder when it goes on air I'd be grateful for a copy. I co-wrote one of the songs on the new album with Ben Miller. It's called 'Heimlich's Manoeuvres' and at this moment in time it's one of my favourites. Actually, there are quite a few co-writes on 'Bipolar Diversions'. There are a couple with John Steel - with a few extra lyrical tidbits thrown in by Kate Stevenson - 'My Little Gangsta' and 'Jesus Wants My Soul Back', and a song I wrote with Tim Arnold (Honeycrack fans will remember him as the singer/songwriter from Jocasta) called 'The End Of The Party'. I saw the album artwork the other week, and it's looking pretty good, the Jackdaw4 website is currently being updated, so as ever, I'm the one holding things up by taking so long on the mixing front. So many knobs to twiddle and so few fingers. I've had to take long breaks recently due to repetitive wrist/elbow strain. I'm currently strapped up to the gills, with acupuncture needles stuck in to my elbow. It's been a recurring problem for the last couple of years, and is evidently nothing to do with my nocturnal hobbies, just a creak in the machine caused by the computer mouse. I've tried gripping less hard but you get stuck in your ways don't you find? On a less 'Kenneth Williams' note, we're discussing doing a gig somewhere in London to officially launch the album sometime in late May/early June. I'd say 'book now to avoid disappointment' but since I haven't got a clue where or when, we'll have to keep you posted. Finally, by way of answering a couple of questions that have come up: Working with Steve Coogan on 'I Am Not An Animal' and 'Dr Terrible's House Of Horrible' was very interesting. He's actually got a very good singing voice and knows his musical onions. Armstrong & Miller used the song 'Anyway' as their title music for the last two of the three series I did with them. We re-recorded it and they sang it. Incidentally, we may put the original SugarPlumFairies version up on the Jackdaw4.com website as a free download over the next couple of months. I've no idea where Tony Hawks lives in France. Since we finished his last album/TV series we've only spoken a few times. If you haven't seen it yet, download or buy 'Loose Change – Second Edition'. Essential viewing. We'll discuss it another time.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 Blog or whatever (Episode 7 - Ann Coulter vs Henry Rollins) A quick trip to the UK, and a bit of a discovery in the absence of anything to watch on TV. I was back in London again at the weekend to see the final Armstrong & Miller studio recordings at the BBC. Very funny of course, but I've still to regain any feeling in my buttocks which went numb after the first couple of hours. I think the BBC have had the same seats in their studios since the 1930's when men and their buttocks were made of sterner stuff. I was going to head back across the channel on Saturday, but postponed when John (Steel) rang to say that he could come over for a couple of days if I could wait until Monday. I'm always grateful for a second pair of ears that I can trust, particularly when mixing so I decided to wait for him. Having nothing of great urgency that I could do while in London, and failing to find anything on TV of interest on Sunday, I turned to YouTube. I guess I should confess, that although I'm aware of Internet phenomena like YouTube and MySpace, I rarely venture that way. I know I should but there always seem to be other things to do. So, out of pure boredom I thought I'd check out YouTube for anything on Ann Coulter. As I'm sure you know, she's is the pin-up girl for the American right wing. She's well educated, conventionally attractive, media savvy, quick with a sound-bite and one of the nastiest pieces of racist, extreme right propagandists you'll encounter. She features a little in the song 'My Little Gangsta' that John and I wrote for the new album. So, the very first thing I came across was a piece by Henry Rollins on Ann Coulter. I'm vaguely familiar with Henry Rollins, I think I've played on the same bill as him and the Rollins band at a couple of festival gigs in the mid 1990's, but I'll admit I never looked or listened hard enough to hear any lyrical content of interest, behind the barrage of sound and intense screaming. Don't get me wrong, I have always enjoyed the odd intense track by metal bands, but after a few tracks, when the only emotion coming through the music is anger, (occasionally very unfocused) I get bored, simply because I think there are other musical ways to reflect that anger, and other emotions to explore. Anyway, to return to Henry Rollins; I was dimly aware that he had written poetry, (certainly unusual for a tattooed, muscular man of metal) and that he was renowned for his intensity and his principled work ethic, but the stuff I found on YouTube really opened my eyes. I confess I've spent the last six to seven years nursing what might be called a vaguely anti-American sentiment. When Bush stole that first election I resolved not to go to America until he and his puppet masters were gone. (I bet that decision really upset the authorities) OK, I know one shouldn't tarnish a whole nation with the same brush, and we all know the first Bush victory was at best, highly questionable, but it seemed from this side of the globe, that he went on to legitimately win the second election. Which meant that unbelievably, people in America were actually voting for him and his militaristic, homophobic, socially unjust, neo-fascistic policies. It seemed like an immense step backwards in time, after the tiny, faltering promise of the 1990's. Had Americans learned nothing from 20th century history? Christ, wouldn't the majority of voters have lived through it and seen how with Captain Cuckoo holding the steering wheel, that it was about to repeat itself? (Trust me American readers, I realise that to a large extent, the same accusation can be quite fairly made of myself and fellow countrymen) Where was the outraged and angered voice of opposition? Michael Moore and Al Franken were doing their bit, but nobody seemed to be throwing foam-mouthed punches of righteous anger from within the evil empire. Well as ever, it seems I've been wrong. Having enjoyed his Ann Coulter piece, I followed links for the best part of four hours and saw Rollins in numerous interview and performance clips, occasionally performing what I believe he calls 'spoken word' but I think could equally be called stand-up. Not in the gag-telling, or observational "have you ever noticed" sense. This guy has picked up the Bill Hicks robe and to my astonishment, it fits his strangely Schwarzenegger-like body to a tea. He's well read, well traveled, well informed, self-deprecating and painfully honest. He's highly articulate and incredibly funny, and at a time when many who feel like him prefer to slip into the shadows until this all blows over, afraid of what vocal opposition might do to their careers, he's spitting it out like a machine gun. I may never fully get his musical output but, my God, it was a big lift and a palpable relief for me to hear the man shooting at his multiple targets with sniper like accuracy, and I spent what remained of Sunday evening, feeling strangely optimistic after a marathon session, watching all I could find of the man's output. Of course, you were all totally on top of this years ago. I'm simply telling you what you already knew but damn it, you could have told me. So here's the deal; I'm going to try and pursue my new obsession and see what else I find inspirational and challenging, and then I'm going to indulge myself on this digital soap box, and take the liberty of mentioning or recommending it to you from time to time. And you are going to be patient and reserve your "yeah, we knew that already you dozy twat" comments, and perhaps you could occasionally drop me a line and tell me what else I should be checking out. After all, that's what the Internet at it's best, is meant for isn't it? The sharing of information? Sieve through the crap and it seems that the golden nuggets appear.
Friday, May 04, 2007 Blog or whatever (Episode 8 - Oh Fkkkkkk) Several weeks have passed since last I 'blogged' (is that a verb now?) and many a distraction has lead me away from the project in hand. The most significant was the night I decided to back up three finished mixes for 'Bipolar Diversions' but backed up the wrong way. That is to say, I took the previously backed up versions from my backup hard drive, and copied them over to my working drive, in the process, irretrievably deleting the brand spanking new, finished versions of the three songs. This lead to a great deal of cursing and wailing, and several newly invented profanities hurled at a God that the sane part of me does not believe in. In all my years recording, I've never made a cock-up of this magnitude before and I can even now recall the burning sensation of shock when I realised what I had done. This inevitably lead to a couple of days prostrate on the sofa in an attempt to sleep off the anger and pain. To the rescue came Simon Forsyth, who I am sure some of you will remember as the keyboard/programmer from the 'SugarPlumFairies' days of Jackdaw 4. In fact, now I think of it, he also co-wrote 'Everything I See' from 'Gramophone Logic'. Simon is something of an expert with all things concerning computers and it was he, way back in 1997, who installed my first ever Protools-Logic recording setup in my studio in London. Without boring you with details that I don't understand myself, he managed to retrieve all the missing 'mix audio' files, which was a huge relief. I may never be able to re-mix those tracks, but at least I've got the original mixes back and I don't have to start recording them from scratch again. Since then, I've been doing a couple of bits and pieces for the new 'Armstrong & Miller' show and have spent the last week writing a song with Brian Dooley, who wrote the TV sit-com, 'The Smoking Room' which you may have seen on BBC3 and BBC2, for a new idea he is working on. As I write, I am loading up the eighth song for the new album to begin mixing so I'm back on track. In a manner of speaking. On a positive note, the 'Gramophone Logic' album is now available through iTunes (Jackdaw4 on iTunes). Over the coming weeks, we hope to put up all the recordings of 'Jackdaw4' in all of it's disguises, on to iTunes. We thought that it would be a good idea to promote this a little by giving away a free track via the new-look website so check it out over the next week or so.
Blog or whatever (Episode 9 - Labyrinth of conspiracy) Someone asked me (about six months ago – sorry!) what I was banging on about in the song 'Deep and Meaningless' from Gramophone Logic. Well I guess the simple answer is 'conspiracy and complacency', but I don't do simple answers, I do 'pompous and dull' so prepare yourself. The more observant of you will have noticed that over the course of these - well lets call them digital musings – I have made a couple of overt or thinly veiled references to works on film and contemporary 'think' pieces which the lazy, the disinterested and the extremely powerful would group together and describe as 'conspiracy theories'. The very expression 'conspiracy theory', implies a disproportionate level of wacky-brained, semi-psychotic, instantly dismissible arguments, leading to ridicule at best, and a possible jail sentence at worst. In my opinion this is unfortunate, because lurking amongst the more outlandish 'aliens live among us' weirdness, there are undoubtedly a small amount of well-intended, thought-provoking salient questions being asked. All the more relevant at this particular point in time, when most of us know that we are being lied to. Regularly. Provably. When we see items of news being altered during the course of a day to suit the political output of a government supporting news channel, we witness first hand that things cannot always be as our so-called 'democratically' elected leaders would have us believe. And so some brave individuals go out in to the world in a desperate attempt to get to the truth. Some have their conclusions already drawn, and simply force the facts into their own pre-formed slots. Others are simply curious to understand the anomalies and contradictions that they witness daily, and without an agenda of their own to promote, they scrape beneath the thick-inked, front-page official headlines to find that things are not as we have been informed. This in itself is enough to be angry about, but when we are denied access to relevant information that could conclusively prove an argument one way or another, we are left with no option but to assume that the versions of events presented for public consumption are in all probability manipulated in a manner that makes a mockery out of the notion that any of us live in a truly democratic system. (As one tiny recent example, why does the American government deny it's citizens access to the photographic evidence of an airplane hitting the Pentagon?) In the absence of relevant information, our would-be saviours occasionally speculate at what the motivation might be behind the dis-information and the contradictions that they encounter. This is of course where most fall off the map. Without proper access to information some people are inclined to make quantum leaps of assumption in order to reach a pre-fixed conclusion, thereby handing their detractors a neatly wrapped gift, exposing themselves to ridicule and dismissal, thereby allowing the establishment authorities to neatly side-step the main issue, that is to say, the original relevant question as to why we are being lied to, which is still valid and still demands an answer. However, once you've ventured down the road of implausible conclusion and have been found to have overlooked or misinterpreted crucial facts, your entire argument is dismissed as facile, no matter that the original questions that set you off on this quest are still brazenly left unanswered. In fact it might be said that the entire western capitalist system relies on the fact that most of us are content to go on sleeping through these anomalies, no more than occasionally curious at events like the Kennedy assassination, the Iraq war(s), the US election in 2000, and the September 11th attacks, to name but a few. Recent history is littered with these questionable occurrences but so long as we, the great un-washed, are distracted from the big picture by the pursuit of our desires to own cars, houses, computers, the latest designer clothes, games consoles, gadgets etc, we seem willing to turn a blind eye. Besides which, it takes energy and time to pursue and investigate, and if our worst fears are confirmed, we're powerless to do anything about them anyway, right? What a bunch of sheep we are. You could argue that essentially we get what we deserve. I think I was probably making that argument in 'Deep and Meaningless'. I think I make it again from a slightly different stand point on the new album (now definitely titled 'Bipolar Diversions') in a song called 'Illuminati'. Actually, now I consider it, I think it's been a recurring theme for me in a great many songs. Which probably makes me a conspiracy nut. Ah well, I guess its good to have a hobby of some kind. And despite my asking you ever so politely, you still haven't watched 'Loose Change' have you? I urge you to do so. Come join the nuts. And to conclude in a completely irrelevant and unrelated manner I thought I'd mention that I'm mastering 'Bipolar Diversions' at Metropolis studios on July 24th so it should be available by the end of August, only five months behind schedule. I blame the aliens.
Blog or whatever (Episode 10 - some news) Well now there seems to be a few bits for me to get through, after the latest dormant period, and it all amounts to a bit of excitement. At least for me. Where to begin… OK, let's start with the new album, 'Bipolar Diversions'. It's here and packed neatly in boxes in various locations around London and Northern France. What better way to introduce it than in the manner of a cheap west-end stripper and let you hear tit-bits prior to releasing the whole thing. I know, I know, it's a bit like the prick tease at school who'd let you see her bra straps but make you wait six months before you could touch the goodies. Or was that just my experience? Regardless, the plan is to let you hear a new track every week for the four weeks prior to release on the Jackdaw4 MySpace page and on my personal Facebook page (To those of you who've joined this, please excuse my slowness in response. I've yet to work out quite why it exists, why I should want to 'poke' anyone, or write on somebody's wall, but I'm told it is a good thing so I'll persevere.). This will all lead up to the album being available to buy as of Monday 22nd of October, either as a hard copy from us, or from iTunes. And to follow? Well would you believe a live show. By Christ it's been a while. Over a year in fact. We're going to play a special launch show on Saturday November 24th at the Soho Review Bar in London. We'll let you know about advance tickets in the immediate future. And as further proof of life re-emerging from the stagnant pool, we'll be shooting a video for the track 'Jesus Wants My Soul Back' over the next few weeks, so I'll keep you posted as to when that might be viewable. And lastly a couple of recommendations. A comedy series, with great music, 'Flight of The Conchords', is about to start on BBC4 (on September 25th, according to their BBC website). Having written and been involved with a great deal of music/songs for comedy shows over the last few years, I think I'm probably allowed to suggest in a fairly qualified manner, that this is one of the best musical/song comedy combinations I've ever seen and I strongly recommend it. Great songs, very funny and original. Wished I'd have been involved myself, and it's damned rare that I'll admit to that. And lastly, for those of a political bent who've been with me down the 'Loose Change' avenue, BBC4 also showed a fantastic documentary last month which you will still find on YouTube titled 'Why We Fight'. When information is put together this way, it's mind boggling how they keep getting away with it. What am I on about? Well these intermittent invitations into my many-layered world of conspiracy and beyond may just have started to irritate you, so I'm not telling you anymore. You watch it and decide for yourself. Besides, you may well be one of them...
Sunday, October 14, 2007 Blog or whatever (Episode 11) It's been another hectic month out here in the wilderness. The fish are welding multi-coloured blankets in preparation for hibernation, and countless flock of great brown bear are making their spectacular leaps up stream to lay their eggs before settling down to die in their hives. I love this time of year, so why I had to spoil it by preparing to release another album is questionable. Rehearsing. It's quite hard isn't it? You have to remember all the months of tiny musical self-indulgences that were slotted in every few bars of every damn song, and recreate them. But before you do that you have to persuade five able minded people to join together in a suitably sized and equipped room, with all their abilities in peak condition, and then stroke the tunes out of them. This has proved awkward. So far we've managed a simultaneous three people at maximum but I'm hoping this will improve over the coming weeks. I suppose I should thank you all for your (thus far) kind comments regarding the new tracks on Facebook and MySpace. I'm glad you like the songs. There is always a period of uncertainty for me after a new album is finished. I've heard the songs thousands and thousands of times over the course of recording and mixing the record, and at various points have felt confident, passionate, disinterested, bored, and excited again, with pretty well each one of them. Now that the record is finished I simply don't know whether it's any good or not. I envy other artists who go straight on record to say that their new album is the best they've ever made, although I suspect it's probably promotional bullshit, and like me, they haven't got a clue whether they've produced to the best of their ability until a sufficient amount of time has passed to have a modicum of objectivity. As you will have noticed, it is a very different world for new bands right now. The old paradigms are gone. The way we listen to, and buy music, are radically altered, and whereas the internet has meant that people all over the world can access a bands music, and computers have meant that pretty well any band can make a CD, it is ironically incredibly difficult for a band to raise awareness and reach a new and bigger audience. Without record company advertising budgets, press campaigns and money to buy on to tours, smaller bands are left making barely disguised appeals (like the one I'm barely disguising here), that their audience introduce a band that they have discovered, to ten or more of their personal friends with similar tastes. Often (I'm told) the way to do this is by simply sending the friend or friends an email with an mp3 attachment of one of the songs from the bands previous albums, (say, for example something from 'Gramophone Logic'), and a link to the bands website, (I suppose for example we might say http://www.jackdaw4.com). A few hastily typed words of enthusiasm regarding the band itself, and within minutes, the awareness and ability of the band to stretch itself further afield is increased. Quite simple really. I believe the method is called 'word of mouth' and I politely yet firmly encourage you to try it. That didn't come over too desperate did it? Look to be frank with you, I don't care if it did, just do it will you? Now for some slightly irritating news. The recent postal strike in the UK has meant that the album will only be available from iTunes from the 29th of October and not the 22nd. Apologies for this, although my sentiments and support go to the postal workers who are being pissed on by the usual number crunchers and management game theorists, making working life miserable. Up the workers.
Right elsewhere on Multiply, I was asked for 10 fav songs (which later turned into 20) and 3 albums I would take on a desert island and this is what I came up with. I decided that it would be good to keep a record of these on my own site also.
Not in any order here, but took a while, There were other songs I really wanted to put in and I'm sure should of been in there but 10 was the number so here's my 10 songs.....
1 Doctor Doctor -UFO 2 Fallen Angel - Poison 3 Pretty Vacant - Sex Pistols 4 Time Of Your Life - The Yo Yo's 5 Ain't That A Kick In The Head - Dean Martin 6 One Love, One Life, One Girl - Ginger/ Wildhearts 7 Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley 8 How Do Ya Fall In Love - Dogs D'Amour 9 Animals - Honeycrack 10 Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love - Van Halen
So here's my 2nd 10 songs as it became apparent that 10 was not enough.
1 Is This Love (Acoustic Version) - Whitesnake 2 November Rain - Guns and Roses 3 Dirty Love - Thunder 4 Cat On A Hot Tin Roof - Steevi Jaimz 5 Waitin For An Alibi - Thin Lizzy 6 Bomber - Motorhead 7 I Saw Her Standin There - The Beatles 8 It's My Life - Bon Jovi 9 Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - The Jam 10 The Game Of Love -Santana
And Here's some songs that I wanted to consider including but were either near misses for my Top 20 or were too poppy! (In no perticular order)
She's Got Big Boots - Last Of The Teenage Idols Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats One More reason - LA Guns Freedom Fighter - Steve Jones Forget About You - The Motors Angels - Robbie Williams All Rise - Blue Justify My Love - Madonna One - U2 Just A Little (Acoustic) - Liberty X Delirium - Silence England Your Dead - The Grip
Right this has gotta be a difficult choice, as was the above choice, when it boils down to 3 albums. These three, I have probably have played the most in recent times although not necessarily my favourites. Favourite albums have come and gone and come back again over the years.
So 1st up to keep up with the Jones,it has gotta be a UFO album You Are Here.
2nd up a Bon Jovi album cuz it has my fav Jovi tracks on it.
And 3rd up Santana's Shaman album, cuz I've tried and tested this one out on a desert island and I know I couldn't be without some Santana in a tropical paradise!
I got the album from these bunch of reprobates recently. Here's some vids from it! I ain't stop playing it Yet! I'm A Rat...I'm A Rat What Ya think about that?!?!?!
I often talk about my wife Panee on here, and say she is my soul mate. I still find it so amazing that we are togther. Well this following account takes in the day I came to meet Panee. It actually stops at the point we met as it is still something I have left to complete. So many things to write and all that. It's taken from a private diary that I wrote over a short period in my life. There is a lot more but some I would not post as quite personal stuff. So enjoy! My 1st trip to LOS (The Land Of Smiles) was back in December 2001. I went there with some friends for a wedding. I had no idea what to expect and was quite overcome by Thailand. I had never imagined in my life I would ever go to a country on the other side of the world. To go on holiday with my friends in itself was something new to me. The furthest I had been abroad before, had been to Spain with my family. And what followed charged the course of my life forever! So I went to Thailand with the expectations of late nights, good food and partying and sunbathing, and all in the good company of my friends. Of course we also had a wedding to attend and our itinerary meant we would be travelling around Thailand a fair bit.The trip took me to Bangkok, Koh Samui and Hui Hin. Bangkok is obviously the 1st place you will hit upon your arrival in Thailand. After probably taking an age to get through Thai customs. I am told probably the longest wait to get through customs, you can expect any where in the world , although apart from my 1st visit I've managed to clear it fairly quickly. I learnt how to jump the que a little.
The 1st thing that hits you upon leaving the airport is the heat and secondly the smell in the air from all the food that is cooked on the 100's of food stalls that inhabit more or less every street corner in Bangkok. Another thing that you cannot miss as you exit the customs area, just beyond a barrier on your left as you come out, are all the taxi drivers and their representatives looking to get some fares and take you into downtown Bangkok to one of the many hotels.
We arrived in Bangkok about mid day. We were met at the airport by Rico's cousin who had, what I can only describe as a minibus. We loaded up and got onto the freeway heading for downtown Bangkok towards our hotel, The Tong Tara. We checked into our rooms and got freshened up. I was sharing with Iain, while Paul shared with Kants, in the room next door. We all headed down to the hotel reception and sat down for a chat and a beer. Taking in the beautiful view of the waitress that served us. One of Paul's friends that joined us, had already been there a day before us, and had a few ideas as where to go out for a meal and some beers. He knew of a bar that was hassle free (meaning that no-one hassled you to buy drinks for them), in the Patpong area of Bangkok. We all went out for a walk and ended up jumping in a cab. We found ourselves in an area with a KFC and McDonald's. l found myself having a KFC, before we returned to the hotel to freshen up a bit and grab 40 winks. We all then met up in the foyer of the hotel. A couple of beers and an ogle of the waitress and we were ready to venture out into the unknown again, and took a stroll down the street. It was early evening and the sun had gone down. It was still very warm and there was a heavy smelt of cooking in the air. The five of us walked for a while, before hoping into a taxi and going off to a restaurant, Kants knew of. Upon finding it, only to discover it was closed! We took a walk down a further street which took in the sights of the stalls selling all sorts of merchandise Unbeknown at the time but the street we were on led to the infamous red light district of Patpong. I recall that we went off the street a little to this rather posh dining area, where we stopped for a meal and a few beers. The meal was great although I was unsure what Thai food to try. I decided on a curry dish in the end. Not sure though if it was Iain's curry or mine, that came inside a coconut. After the meal we headed back down to the street again and continued walking into Patpong. We were greeted by hundreds of neon bar sign lights as we entered Patpong. We were immediately pounced on by girls outside the clubs and bars. They were wanting us to go in for drinks an to see the girls performing shows an dancing. It was very busy with people and market stall traders, selling their merchandise. We eventually reached this bar that we had heard about, situated on a corner. The bar was called the Musik Café. It was packed with people and there was a live band playing cover songs. One song from that night that stuck out for me and summed up the night by the end was Bon Jovi's 'One Wild Night'. I seem to be humming it for weeks after. There were waitress's getting the drinks for us. We all stood outside drinking ,although there were tables and chairs to sit at. Inside the bar there was a small dance floor with people dancing. To Be Continued...........
Here's a post I had on another website and I've re-written a little of it, as today would seem the time to post it here, as me and Panee have been married 3 years today!
We got married in Thailand although there was no Big grand Wedding ceremony, as is often the way there. No Dowry to pay (This is usually a Thai custom of money you pay to the parents as a present). We just had the Amphur (same as a registry office) registration, which consists of us signing some paperwork and no vows as such. Just a couple of witnesses and an official tellling us we are now Husband and Wife. We then hopped into a taxi and went to Pantip Plaza to do some shopping. We then sat outside at some tables and had a beer or two, sat chatting and watching all the traffic passing by. We took some photo's and then had a walk back to Panee's room at the time. On the way we bought some beers, a KFC, some Thai food. Then we sat in Panee's room chatting, eating and drinking with a few friends dropping by also. I phoned my best mate and me Mum back in UK and told them we'd got married. My Mum was a little shocked, although this was then the 1st time she and Panee spoke together. Ian was more than a little disappointed as he was due to fly out the following month to be at the wedding, as a witness. But due to the long process's that things seem to take in Thailand, we decided to bring the day foward by about a month, as we were in the process of sorting out Panee's visa to come to settle in England. Marriage on a cheap budget, although the visa cost as much. We are as happy as anything though. Mind you we did tell the British Embassy, when we went for the Panee's visa interview, that we would have a wedding ceremony, when we arrive in England. But we never did have it. But maybe one day in Thailand we will have a Thai ceremony.
For us, the day was what we wanted, and I wouldn't of wanted it any other way. I did all the big wedding the 1st time round and look how that turned out. And did I enjoy it ? No. But that is another story as they say!
In reply to a post on here as to "How many bands have I been In?", I thought I would post a brief history, form my failing memory. lol! Updated July 2007 as things returned to haunt my memories!
* = see posting elsewhere on this site for more details or pics.
During my last couple of years at Secondary School I began to get into all types of music that was around me at the time and my influences probably originated from there. I'd been into listening and copying Elvis Presley since as far back as I could remember but the combination of Rock and Roll,Heavy Rock/Metal, Punk, and even Pop music, at the time started me on the road, for the need to be in a band, but firstly try to write songs (which incidentally I still ain't mastered/managed).* I remember sitting in class writing these stupid lyrics and while walking from block to block in the school between lessons, I'd hum or sing the tunes to myself.
The year was about 1978 and I met up with some guys, from the year below me at school, during my final year at school. They had a common interest with me to form a band. My first band then,playing Rock music, was Phaze lV. * We never got past rehearsal stages though and fell out with each other and split up. We couldn't really play that well but we learnt as we went along. Rehearsals began in the front room of my parents house. Felt like a fish bowl though as I lived on a main road with cars, buses and people walkin past all the time. We had the guitar/bass rigged to play through my Dad's stereo. My Dad was a hifi buff and had built these massive 4x4 speaker cabinets to listen to his music through. It was the same hifi that I'd listened to the 1st Van Halen album on, with the volume pumped up. We eventually started rehearsing at a school classroom not far from where I lived and relyied on the guitarists dad to give us a lift there with the equipement we had now built up. Icidently it was this 1st band that I was also playing bass guitar in, as well as singing. We'd got some guitar cabs and mics etc by the time we'd got ourselves into rehearsing at the school.
It was around 1980 and I heard via a friend down our local drinking haunt The Lady Godiva Pub (nicknamed The Dive) that a band were looking for a singer as their current singer had been sacked / left. Turned out though he had become the Manager of the band and helped me with my singing also. So the second band I joined after an audition, was the heavy metal/rock band Malias. * I dropped playing the bass guitar at this point which was stange as they auditioned a new bass player at the same time (Just happened to be Black Paul who' I'd hook with again many years later in The Gutter Cats) I got to play my first two live gigs with this band which was fun and got me into wearing my 1st pair of spandex trousers (A sky blue colour!) Things didn't last long though and the band split up due to personal issues. From memory a couple of rehearsals were tried with a rejuvenated line-up of Malias members and new personnel but nothing came of it.
So in limbo around 1981, I auditioned to join another band, that was being formed by Clive Skellon (drummer) who went on to be a well known local dj on local radio station, Mercia Sound. He had all the songs written (and carried them round in a brief case, all professional like!). He had some recording and rehearsal time booked in, at Roger Lomas' (Ska producer) home studio's. We went up there a rehearsed a few times but for whatever reason it all fell through.(I have a feeling that his girlfriend got pregnant and he decided to call it a day with the musical career) He seemed so confident and knowledgeable to me at the time, but things weren't meant to be!
My third band took a while for me to find.Again it was through a friend of a friend drinking at the Dive, that I found myself auditioning for my next band. This was another metal band who tried to attract a biker type audience.They were all greasy long hair and dirty deniums and leathers. The band were called Firefly. * My musical tastes were changing at this time with me listening to the likes of Twisted Sister Hanoi Rocks and Wrathchild. Gig wise I moved up a notch. I played more gigs than I thought were possible at the time and we got to play to larger audiences including a support slot with Bernie Torme at the General Wolfe and suppports with local Biker/NWOBHM band Chainsaw. But things were not meant to be again. I got myself a red leather biker's jacket and was sacked for becoming too glam for the bands image. They continued for a short while with a new singer, before calling it a day and splitting up.
So on the rocks for a while, with idea's for a new band with a new glam direction. So after some advertising I hooked up with a guy called Dave, oh! and his drum machine. There was a Chinese/possibly Thai guitarist also, that was into the New York Dolls and Alice Cooper, who became part of this practicing band. Although practicing was a loose term as I don't think it ever got further than rehearsing in Dave's bedsit or my bedroom. The band split when the guitarist left and Dave tried getting off with my then, girlfriend.
So after some advertising in local music shops and an ad in the local paper , band number four emerged, arising from a guy called Fred contacting me. An exmember of Coventry Oi1 band Criminal Class. He'd had some connections with Roddy Radiation (from The Specials) and played in some bands with him. So anyway it was around 1984 now and we formed a band called Inzane Dice, * influenced by New York Dolls, Thunders, Hanoi Rocks and The Babysitters. We found a drummer called George and a young kid, 16/18 years old (by our standards anyway) to play bass. And for me at this point he hair became bigger and the eyeliner began to appear (for me anyway). See pics*. We rehearsed harder than I'd done with any other band previous. Fred was a great songwriter/arranger and had a bunch of songs ready to go. He pushed us hard with getting the songs right at rehearsals. But we called it a day after several gigs and a last minute change of name (Fridays Angels from the Generation X song), possibly the night before we split. The reason for the split escapes me now?
So 1985/1986 and it was back out looking for a new band again. Anyway, band number five was just over the horizon. Advertising myself as a Fridays Angel looking for band members, a guitarist named Russ contacted me and so started the auditioning again. The audition tookplace at the old Horizon studios (where again The Specials connection lies as they used the place too.) Obviously I got the gig and 1st or 2nd rehearsal in, 'Who's She Killin Now?' was written. Russ decided he liked the name Fridays Angels.So after a few letter changes so as to cause no trouble with my previous band, Fridayz Angelz* the glam band were born. The band had been together in various forms before I joined and played a mixed bag of tunes, including a Rush Tune and a Stooges tune. The writing of songs began quite quickly and gigs soon followed. The hightlight of being with this band was getting to support (amongst others) The Babysitter's at the Legendary Marquee Club in London. I got to get into the studio with the band for the 1st time also. The band last a few years and was my heart and soul of life during that time. So after several years of ups and downs, demo's and line-up changes the band split up due to the poaching of two members of the band by up and coming Birmingham Band The Brooklyn Dogs. One final line-up of the band was put together and lasted several rehearsals before splitting up through lack of direction and enthusiasm from the line-up. The final nail, was losing our then, new bassist, to ex-Tigertailz singer's new band St Jaimz, in London.
1988 and the time had come to sit back and recharge the batteries. My personal life took over for a while and interest in being in a band was low.But then band number five and a half came along... Now it becomes a little vague around here as to whether there was another band! But, thinkin back... there was, and it came about by some guy, that had seen me years ago with Firefly, came lookin for me, to get me, to join a band he was putting together. I believe at this point there were some rehearsals with this rock type band, and they just happed to be at the same church hall that I'd practiced in with Fridayz Angelz in years previous. Iain and Stevo were also involved in the band. I didn't know Stevo at this point.
Stevo takes up the story for this bit,
" From what I can recall (names have been forgotten to protect the innocent) I'd been rehearsing with a bass player, who was into classic rock, and a lead guitarist who had been a rockabilly but now thought he was Slash!!! Anyway we were auditioning for a singer when Andy & Iain turned up, Andy only prepared to join if Iain was taken on as well! It never got beyond the rehearsal stage, which is just as well as the choice of songs were a little bit eclectic, ahem. Think we had Wishing well, Out in the Fields, Shadowplay, Fool For Your Loving, Here I go Again, Sweet Child of Mine & maybe Paradise City, roughly there, before Andy & Iain joined. I think we rehearsed a couple of Fridayz Angelz songs as well (Johnny B Bad?, All My Love and possibly Who's She Killin Now?).
Anyhow, Andy & Iain only rehearsed for maybe six weeks with us then left, the band broke up & coupla months later Andy approached me at Busters Nightclub in Cov. where I was one of the Dj's (the better one!) and asked me to join his new acoustic based band, 'The Gutter Cats' (still think its an appalling name!) and the rest they say is history! or is it?"
Was it a case of musical differences that caused the split?
During my wilderness years,away from singing in bands, during the early 90's, I'd tried learning to play acoustic guitar, with the help of my friend Iain from Fridayz Angelz. I'd mellowed out a bit and started listening to acoustic rock tunes, that seemed to be a plenty of at that point. i.e. Poison, Extreme, Dogs D'Amour and even Guns and Roses. This gave me the idea for what was to follow......
On to band number six, The Gutter Cats, who Stevo has already mentioned above, which only started out as a bit of fun with me and my friend Iain. We thought we'd support a mates band, Shady Deal, and do some acoustic and vocal cover tunes. We enjoyed it so much that we began to form a band along the way. So during the next few gigs. Stevo was signed up and another guy called Fred (real name Steve, we couldn't have 2 Steve's in the band), (so he was rechristened 'Fred' after the band 'Right Said Fred', for obvoius reasons! Check out the current Daz Washing Powder advert on TV).
The history of The Gutter Cats is a chapter in it self. I've begun writing it but it's incomplete and memories are needing a jolt to complete it! (Come on guys...type some thoughts down please) So after many gigs, demo's, fallouts, line-up changes, hilarity we called it a day, although we did three reunion gigs we eventually split up. This was the most enjoyable and relaxed of all the bands I've been in, and all the guys that were involved in this band, and I say a big Thank You, to! But there's still time for some more...... Never say Never!!??!
There were some attempts at a kind of Gutter Cats mark 2 in between all the reunions but they never took off during rehearsals. Possibly around this time band number seven emerged Midlife Crisis and was probably just that? We rehearsed loads and played a few gigs but the band seemed to have no real musical direction with the mixed bag of influences. During which time when the band had rehearsals booked and people didn't turn up myself Stevo and Paul would rehearse with a drum machine attempting to produce some new direction in the music we were playing. A kinda heavy industrial sort of thing it seemed. It all came to an end and Midlife Crisis split off into two factions.
That was for me, more or less the end of my band career, apart from the 3rd Gutter Cats reunion at Stevo's wedding. * But we proved we still had it in us and we could do it again!
So apart from singing the odd karaoke song or joining in with a few Thai rock bands in the bars of Bangkok, my band days seem to be at an end for the time being..... or are they???
So 2007 and band number 8 came along and I was approached by an old band friend, Tony Lowe from Malias, about singing again.He was putting together a band for a bit of fun and possible gigs.
Rewind slightly to 2006 and Tony had contacted me to sing on some demo's he was putting together, recording various songs he had written. I went along a gave it a try but I found his song writing had not progressed any further, than it had from the Malias days. It all seem a step back in time for me.
Anyway, I did a few rehearsals with the band and things were beginning to gel, gigs were are a long way off. Regular attendance of the drummer at rehearsals, didn't help things though. The band played mainly old cover songs of rock tunes, from 20 years ago. The band name became 'Sweet like Honey' but the ups and downs of getting regular rehearsals and a set of songs that we were all happy with, took it's toll on me. My enthusiasm for the band faded. With no real direction and being told to learn songs I had no feeling for, I quit.
The band found themselves a new singer and also a drummer who they could rely on. They are currently rehearsing and getting ready to gig in September 2007. A change of name for the band too.... Splif Vica...
Keep watching this space for band number 9..........
The only video footage I have of my old band Fridayz Angelz, was footage from one gig we played in Birmingham in 1988. I've edited together with some software I have, and condensed what was a pretty boring piece of 40 mins footage into a little under 3min vid. Even this is not brilliant but gives an idea of the gig/ memories. The camera was pretty stationary for most of the gig so there is not a lot of change of angle in the vid footage.
Well on to the 1st band I got to experience my 1st gigs with. I got into joining this band through girl I knew, who's boyfriend knew a guy in a band , who were looking for a new lead singer. This guy knew I had sung and played bass with a band (Phaze 4), and thought I might fit in with this metal band he knew. When I say metal, I mean the type of band that was influenced heavily at the time by Priest,Maiden and Saxon. I went for an audition almost immediatley except for a short meeting with a couple of the guys from the band briefly before, in our local rock boozer/hangout The Dive. I was given a three track demo to listen to and a book of lyrics to learn at the time. That demo is available to listen to in the music section .
They really were a step up the ladder for me at the time and I can remember thinkin this is it... They were all about a year older than me and had the experience of gigging and recording. They all seemed to look the part and found when I got to the audition that they seemed to have all the equipment too. Un -beknown to me at the time also they were changing the bass player too. This guy turned out to be Paul, who is now the guitarist for reggae band Kifaru.(Check out the Kifaru site). No offence meant here as he is a good friend of mine, but it was quite unusual to have a coloured guy into playing rock music, remember this was about 1979/1980. But the rest of the band was made up of the oldest guy colin, a bit of a Schenker clone with his blonde straight locks and flying V guitar, drummer John with his double bass drum kit and Anthony Lowe (The Lowe we called him) with his strange shaped guitar (like a squashed square). I actually kinda knew Anthony from school as he had been a year above me. The thing that made me nervous around them though was the fact they were all older and more experienced.
Now there was one strange set up also and that wasthe fact that the band had sacked their prevoius singer / songwritter just before taking me on. But the old singer had become the band manager, along with his brother who was a roadie. The guy let the band carry on using a room in his flat for rehearsals. Which was great as everything was left set up all the time, the drums Marshall cabs etc, We just had to turn up. Oh and the band logo had been paited on the wall also. You can see that in the pics section also. The only other thing was the flat was in what was quite rough down and out area at the time. Youths were always having running clashes with the police up there in the precinct as it was then. No longer there now as they flatened it and re built it. My point though here was that the flatwe rehearsed in was right next door to the cop shop. On one occassion the cops came round and told us to cool it. They were half way up the stairs into the flat mind, almost a raid it seemed like. lol. My audition was there one Saturday afternoon and I'm not sure now if I went up there on the bus or my mate gave me a backy on his motorbike. Anyway, We ran through about 3 songs and then they told me I'd got the gig, that following evening down The Dive pub. To be continued......
Influenced by Lenni who wrote on his Multiply site about his 1st band, this is a bit about my 1st Band, 'Phase iv'.
Dunno where the band name, Phase iv, originated from?, although it may very well of been one of my suggestions? I remember we put names in a hat as ya do and this probably came from there. The giutarist had the idea to just have a symbol for the band name and not use a name as such. I think he got the idea from Led Zep. We could never agree what the sybol should look like and thought the name Symbol was a bad name anyway.
In the music section of this site, there is a song recorded during one of our many rehearsals. I'm singing and playing what little bass I could play at the time.The song 'Take Each Day As It Comes' was recorded in about 1979, during rehearsals.
We rehearsed in a school classroom that we hired out in the evenings and some weekends. The caretaker, Mr McCarthy would let us in and take the money from us. My friends dad used to take us down in his car with the small amount of gear we had. He pick us up at the end of rehearsals. There were always people complaining near the school at how loud it was. I'm surprised as the equipment we were using was pretty dire to say the least. We got thrown out in the end and on the last night we wrote a song for the caretaker... 'Mr McCarthy F*** O**' and it was really as bad as the title suggests! We never got to gig with this band but had a fair few songs which were mainly written by the guitarist, Rob Otterly, although I had a couple of songs that I wrote also. This one (in the music section) was written by the guitarist. He'd had some lessons on the guitar early on in his childhood and was probably the most musical one amongst us at the time. I was on bass and vocals, with limited experience and the band was completed by Robin Suraz on drums. He'd also got some experience of playing drums in the Boys Brigade, which was a kinda youth movement like cubs or scouts at the time. There was one other member of the band who did'nt appear on this recording, Ian Bradbury, who was on 2nd guitar and also had some experience of playing, early on in childhood. We got together with all the big ideas as a kid that we could be Rockstars like the bands we followed at the time, AC/DC, Motorhead, Maiden, Priest Sabbath, UFO, Halen, the list was endless. A lot of the bands would play at the Coventry Theatre and if not we'd end up travelling over to Birmingham Odeon on the train to see them.
Early rehearsals (If that's what the noise could be called) for the band took place in my Mum and Dad's front room at home. My dad had a stereo system with Hifi seperates and these big 3x3 speakers. We were able to plug the mic and a couple of guitars through 'em. The drums were nothing more than a couple of drums (tins even) . My Mum and Dad would go shopping on a Saturday afternoon and leave us to it. The neighbours didn't half complain upon their return. We'd have people in the street lookin in the window as I lived on a main road and buses would stop/slow down to let traffic thru, right outside. We had a ready made audience, shame we were so cr**!
Mind you there were practice sessions up in my bedroom where the noise level was kept to a minimum and we did practice our instruments. We had a few rehearsals at the drummers house also when he got a proper kit. He was one of the only people I knew at the time with an attic conversion. His parents hated us practicing there and they were always moaning. Plus the drummer had a younger brother and sister who were always hassling us to come in a listen and would then mess around.
The band pretty much split up after that final rehearsal when we got thrown out of the school. We all had left school by this point (I was a year older than the others anyway) and all began going in different directions etc. I was the only one out of the four of us who went on to do something else in the music field. I took a break for a couple of months before I got a call to go for an audition with a metal band called Malias. But that's another story!
