We're going to the New Forest tomorrow. We're going for a week with Daisy and Oli (who are sort of like a better version of us - they gave us a thorough beating in badminton yesterday), and I don't know if the place we are going will have the internet. It probably won't. So this is my reason for maybe not replying to things. I hope it doesn't get in the way of the tourmaking.
I wanted to take a mic and get most of the vocals for the EP done, but I haven't even done the drums and guitar yet, so there's no point. Bought a new mic yesterday to record EVERYTHING with (it is an SM57, so far it sounds pretty good). I know it will be a fun holiday, but I can hardly wait to get back and start recording.
See you later.
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Old 4
Just a different version of a folky guitar thing I posted before. This was an old recording of it though, which I did for college. It's way nicer. It is called Balloon Disaster.
Still tourbooking, going okay I think. It will be hard to tell until a couple of weeks time.
Still tourbooking, going okay I think. It will be hard to tell until a couple of weeks time.
Monday, 9 June 2008
Hobbits / Century FC / Oldie
On Thursday we played Hobbits which is a rockclub in Weston-Super-Mare. I didn't really enjoy the gig that much. The crowd was quite young (average probably 14 or 15 years) and I don't think they liked us very much. Which I suppose is okay because I don't think I liked them either. They were doing a weird fake-mosh. They did the macarena to Mysterious Guitar. Thinking back, that is quite funny. I spent most of the gig thinking of the sentence that would most devastatingly show them the inane mediocrity of every facet of their lives. I am still thinking.
We don't have any more gigs booked, I don't think we'll do one now until Bert gets back. I confirmed our first gig so far in the tour - a clubnight in Glasgow. I just hope we can play some place somewhere between Bristol and Scotland.
Yesterday Steve and I went to be part of a Feral Choir, a hundred people doing vocal improvisations using signals and stuff. It was good fun. I don't know how fun it would have been to listen to, but some bits sounded really impressive from where I was standing.
Old song called Meter I have put up. Not really a song, just crap electronica/dance. A song, like most of mine, that if someone else had done I would think them a boring talentless hack. Not me, no way.
We don't have any more gigs booked, I don't think we'll do one now until Bert gets back. I confirmed our first gig so far in the tour - a clubnight in Glasgow. I just hope we can play some place somewhere between Bristol and Scotland.
Yesterday Steve and I went to be part of a Feral Choir, a hundred people doing vocal improvisations using signals and stuff. It was good fun. I don't know how fun it would have been to listen to, but some bits sounded really impressive from where I was standing.
Old song called Meter I have put up. Not really a song, just crap electronica/dance. A song, like most of mine, that if someone else had done I would think them a boring talentless hack. Not me, no way.
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Classic 2
This song is a guitar instrumental. Probably inspired by Mogwai or something like that, and it is from when I wanted to be Johnny Marr. (I still love Johnny Marr, I just don't actually want to be in his skin.)
The title is a quote from A Hard Day's Night, the best film of all time. It is a scene where George stumbles into an inteview for a TV fashion show, the director of which doesn't recognise him, and proceeds to tell George how unimportant he is (the irony being HE"S IN THE BEATLES!!!). The script is literally amazing:
SIMON
We want you to give us your opinion on some
clothes for teenagers.
GEORGE
Oh, by all means, I'd be quite prepared for
that eventuality.
SIMON
Well, not your real opinion, naturally. It'll
be written out and you'll learn it.
(to secretary)
Can he read?
GEORGE
Of course I can.
SIMON
I mean lines, ducky, can you handle lines?
GEORGE
I'll have a bash.
SIMON
Good. Hart, get him whatever it is they drink,
a cokearama?
GEORGE
Ta.
SIMON
Well, at least he's polite. Show him the
shirts, Adrian.
A collection of shirts are produced and GEORGE looks at them. While he
is doing this SIMON briefs him.
SIMON
Now, you'll like these. You really "dig" them.
They're "fab" and all the other pimply
hyperboles.
GEORGE
I wouldn't be seen dead in them. They're dead
grotty.
SIMON
Grotty?
GEORGE
Yeah, grotesque.
SIMON
(to secretary)
Make a note of that word and give it to Susan.
I think it's rather touching really. Here's
this kid trying to give me his utterly
valueless opinion when I know for a fact within
four weeks he'll be suffering from a violent
inferiority complex and loss of status if he
isn't wearing one of these nasty things. Of
course they're grotty, you wretched nit, that's
why they were designed, but that's what you'll
want.
GEORGE
But I won't.
SIMON
You can be replaced you know, chicky baby.
GEORGE
I don't care.
SIMON
And that pose is out too, Sunny Jim. The new
thing is to care passionately, and be right
wing. Anyway, you won't meet Susan if you don't
cooperate.
GEORGE
And who's this Susan when she's at home?
SIMON
(playing his ace)
Only Susan Campey, our resident teenager.
You'll have to love her. She's your symbol.
GEORGE
Oh, you mean that posh bird who gets
everything wrong?
SIMON
I beg your pardon?
GEORGE
Oh, yes, the lads frequently gather round the
T.V. set to watch her for a giggle. Once we
even all sat down and wrote these letters
saying how gear she was and all that rubbish.
SIMON
She's a trend setter. It's her profession!
GEORGE
She's a drag. A well-known drag. We turn the
sound down on her and say rude things.
SIMON
Get him out of here!!
GEORGE
(genuinely surprised)
Have I said something amiss?
SIMON
Get him out of here. He's knocking the
programme's image!!
The underlings hustle GEORGE to the door.
GEORGE
(smiling)
Sorry about the shirts.
He is ejected through the door.
SIMON
Get him out.
(he stops in mid-shout)
You don't think he's a new phenomenon, do you?
SECRETARY
You mean an early clue to the new direction?
SIMON
(rummaging in his desk)
Where's the calendar?
(he finds it)
No, he's just a trouble maker. The change isn't
due for three weeks. All the same, make a note
not to extend Susan's contract. Let's not take
any unnecessary chances!
Anyway here's the song:
The New Thing Is To Care Passionately
The title is a quote from A Hard Day's Night, the best film of all time. It is a scene where George stumbles into an inteview for a TV fashion show, the director of which doesn't recognise him, and proceeds to tell George how unimportant he is (the irony being HE"S IN THE BEATLES!!!). The script is literally amazing:
SIMON
We want you to give us your opinion on some
clothes for teenagers.
GEORGE
Oh, by all means, I'd be quite prepared for
that eventuality.
SIMON
Well, not your real opinion, naturally. It'll
be written out and you'll learn it.
(to secretary)
Can he read?
GEORGE
Of course I can.
SIMON
I mean lines, ducky, can you handle lines?
GEORGE
I'll have a bash.
SIMON
Good. Hart, get him whatever it is they drink,
a cokearama?
GEORGE
Ta.
SIMON
Well, at least he's polite. Show him the
shirts, Adrian.
A collection of shirts are produced and GEORGE looks at them. While he
is doing this SIMON briefs him.
SIMON
Now, you'll like these. You really "dig" them.
They're "fab" and all the other pimply
hyperboles.
GEORGE
I wouldn't be seen dead in them. They're dead
grotty.
SIMON
Grotty?
GEORGE
Yeah, grotesque.
SIMON
(to secretary)
Make a note of that word and give it to Susan.
I think it's rather touching really. Here's
this kid trying to give me his utterly
valueless opinion when I know for a fact within
four weeks he'll be suffering from a violent
inferiority complex and loss of status if he
isn't wearing one of these nasty things. Of
course they're grotty, you wretched nit, that's
why they were designed, but that's what you'll
want.
GEORGE
But I won't.
SIMON
You can be replaced you know, chicky baby.
GEORGE
I don't care.
SIMON
And that pose is out too, Sunny Jim. The new
thing is to care passionately, and be right
wing. Anyway, you won't meet Susan if you don't
cooperate.
GEORGE
And who's this Susan when she's at home?
SIMON
(playing his ace)
Only Susan Campey, our resident teenager.
You'll have to love her. She's your symbol.
GEORGE
Oh, you mean that posh bird who gets
everything wrong?
SIMON
I beg your pardon?
GEORGE
Oh, yes, the lads frequently gather round the
T.V. set to watch her for a giggle. Once we
even all sat down and wrote these letters
saying how gear she was and all that rubbish.
SIMON
She's a trend setter. It's her profession!
GEORGE
She's a drag. A well-known drag. We turn the
sound down on her and say rude things.
SIMON
Get him out of here!!
GEORGE
(genuinely surprised)
Have I said something amiss?
SIMON
Get him out of here. He's knocking the
programme's image!!
The underlings hustle GEORGE to the door.
GEORGE
(smiling)
Sorry about the shirts.
He is ejected through the door.
SIMON
Get him out.
(he stops in mid-shout)
You don't think he's a new phenomenon, do you?
SECRETARY
You mean an early clue to the new direction?
SIMON
(rummaging in his desk)
Where's the calendar?
(he finds it)
No, he's just a trouble maker. The change isn't
due for three weeks. All the same, make a note
not to extend Susan's contract. Let's not take
any unnecessary chances!
Anyway here's the song:
The New Thing Is To Care Passionately
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Oldies Classic Time
I got some of my old songs from Roz's old computer. Ones that I lost about two or three computers ago but had sent to her (I still never get round to backing things up because I trust technology too much). So for the next few days I am going to post songs that I have done ages ago.
This first one is called "Maybe I'm Like This All The Time". It was written before Roz and I were going out (which makes it maybe eighteen months old, probably more) and I wrote it to impress her. It is a song about her being a couple of minutes late when we met up one time.
Maybe I'm Like This All The Time
This first one is called "Maybe I'm Like This All The Time". It was written before Roz and I were going out (which makes it maybe eighteen months old, probably more) and I wrote it to impress her. It is a song about her being a couple of minutes late when we met up one time.
Maybe I'm Like This All The Time
Sunday, 1 June 2008
Bee More Interesting
We played the Croft on Thursday, a gig organised in part by one of our friends as part of a monthly charity-fundraising thing. It was good fun. We had another new song, which is my favourite type of song.
This is what we played:
My Kaleidoscope
Understanding Parents
Fluffy Clouds Of Joy
Cool Science
Perfect Holiday
Mysterious Guitar
The Internal World
Things are looking a bit exciting for us at the moment. We're trying to book ourselves a tour for early September to coincide with putting out our first CD at about that time (I have made a massively exciting SPREADSHEET to hopefully keep track of where we can play and when). We haven't properly started recording yet but that might start this weekend. We've been asked to do a 7" for Cloudberry Records later in the year, and be on a Series Two Records compilation. Both of those we are probably going to do. Cool, right?
This is what we played:
My Kaleidoscope
Understanding Parents
Fluffy Clouds Of Joy
Cool Science
Perfect Holiday
Mysterious Guitar
The Internal World
Things are looking a bit exciting for us at the moment. We're trying to book ourselves a tour for early September to coincide with putting out our first CD at about that time (I have made a massively exciting SPREADSHEET to hopefully keep track of where we can play and when). We haven't properly started recording yet but that might start this weekend. We've been asked to do a 7" for Cloudberry Records later in the year, and be on a Series Two Records compilation. Both of those we are probably going to do. Cool, right?
Friday, 30 May 2008
God Fearing
Roz and I watched Jesus Camp on Tuesday (after getting back from Deceptacon). It was one of the most disturbing things ever. It is a documentary about a summer camp run by evangelicals where they train kids to hate anyone different from themselves. They are taught to channel the spirit of the lord, misuse science, feel sinful for having natural desires, oppose abortion, etc. They are not ever taught to question the nature of anything, but to live by the fear of God alone.
These children are absolutely and completely used and manipulated in a completely calculated way. And these kids are helpless - they love being told how special they are and that they have been chosen to "take back American for Christ" (there is a horrible nationalist subtext behind most of the teachings), but you cannot help but find them unbearably smug and idiotic. (Christian children are the most annoying type of children, and evangelicals are the most annoying type of Christian.) I hope that at least some of them will grow up to question what they have been indoctrinated with, but some of them won't at all. So it will keep on going, for centuries at least.
If you haven't seen Jesus Camp then it is probably on YouTube, I'm guessing with hundreds of comments from godnuts countering athiests with stuff like "fine if u want the devil to have ur ass in hell fag" (that is a real comment I saw once). There is a nice cameo from Ted Haggard, who you might recognise as the anti-drugs anti-gay preacher who was revealed as a gay drug-user. Sweet.
It makes me happy that we have Cool Science, but I wish the lyrics were a bit more specific, a bit more direct. It is a bit of a confused song (like most of ours). I might change the words a tiny amount when we record our EP. I think that's allowed - like John Lennon recording Revolution twice and saying "count me in" on one version and "count me out" on another. He wasn't being careless or covering his back; he was documenting his own confusion on a massive issue that was impossible to cover in a three minute song. I want Cool Science to be accurate to us when we record it.
These children are absolutely and completely used and manipulated in a completely calculated way. And these kids are helpless - they love being told how special they are and that they have been chosen to "take back American for Christ" (there is a horrible nationalist subtext behind most of the teachings), but you cannot help but find them unbearably smug and idiotic. (Christian children are the most annoying type of children, and evangelicals are the most annoying type of Christian.) I hope that at least some of them will grow up to question what they have been indoctrinated with, but some of them won't at all. So it will keep on going, for centuries at least.
If you haven't seen Jesus Camp then it is probably on YouTube, I'm guessing with hundreds of comments from godnuts countering athiests with stuff like "fine if u want the devil to have ur ass in hell fag" (that is a real comment I saw once). There is a nice cameo from Ted Haggard, who you might recognise as the anti-drugs anti-gay preacher who was revealed as a gay drug-user. Sweet.
It makes me happy that we have Cool Science, but I wish the lyrics were a bit more specific, a bit more direct. It is a bit of a confused song (like most of ours). I might change the words a tiny amount when we record our EP. I think that's allowed - like John Lennon recording Revolution twice and saying "count me in" on one version and "count me out" on another. He wasn't being careless or covering his back; he was documenting his own confusion on a massive issue that was impossible to cover in a three minute song. I want Cool Science to be accurate to us when we record it.
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