Say DE LA DE LA DE LA!!!!!!!!!!

Have you ever had one of those moments where have to ask your self how the hell did I end up here, doing this? Well that’s pretty much what I was thinking on Wednesday night as I was sat outside Tammy Wynettes silver trailer in the artist backstage area at The Leamington Assembly with Pos, Dave and Maseo sat chilling a mere 3 feet away.

This was by far my biggest gig to date, as the afternoon unfolded I wasn’t feeling anything out of the ordinary. If anything I had a mild case of “let me at em!!!” but other than that I wasn’t feeling nervous. That changed the second I went out on stage to last minute check and saw the two level hall absolutely packed with 900+ people. My heart started racing! I had to have a quiet word with myself, “Stop flapping and just f*$£ing do it!” 

So I stepped out on stage and some loyal Smiley followers made some noise for me and I triggered my signature attention grabbing intro and off I went. The second I finished Smiley-skit the crowd let me know they were on my side and it was a relief! I played my new song “Crunch” and messed up the first loop but I only noticed after I added the second and third. I tried to play the chords in a way to cover it up but it wasn’t happening. My internal dialogue was ticking over “What are you gonna do?, this is very obviously not going right, errrrrrrrr?”

Stopping a song once your a good 45 seconds in is something you’re not supposed to do but I couldn’t think of any other way of handling it. ” I’m sorry but this is the biggest F%$£ing gig of my life and if I’m gonna play this I’m gonna do it properly, is that cool with you” I asked the crowd and they let me know in abundance that I’d made the right call. I finished the set with Rappers Delight (it only seemed right) and thanked the crowd for being an outstanding audience and I was off. I proceeded to dance my ass off with my friends to one of the best live hip hop sets I’ve ever seen.

I later found myself posing for the photo you see above, completely perplexed at how I arrived there doing that.

There are some people who have helped me along the way in my musical career and as this was my biggest gig to date I think this is the best time to thank all of them. Sara you are the most patient and supportive girl I have ever known. John Mostyn and Claire Burgess at C.I.D Music. Dave Smith for sorting my website and printing out. Kris Halpin for being an amazing producer and even better mate. Colin Brown, Ian Clarke, Jim Warrior, Tompz and Baldy you have all given me much appreciated musical input and advice and I’m a better performer because of it. Dephect clothing for flowing me cool t shirts to perform in, Skullcandy for flowing me headphones for playing live with and finally my friends and followers who came to support me at this show or any other gig for that matter, it means the world to me that you’re there cheering me on.

I really can’t believe I’m typing this but on the 10th of June, I will be opening for hip hop legends DE LA SOUL at the Leamington Assembly!!!! This was a combination of right place right time and the other age old cliche “It’s not what you know but who you know” coming into play. I was literally bouncing off the walls when I found out I got this. I am gonna practice my ass off for this one.  Get your tickets here

The Hare & Hounds

On the 20th of May I made my way into Birmingham and over to Kings Heath to the Hare & Hounds to Support Son of Dave. This is one of the best live venues in the city and has played host to some very well known acts. I’ve wanted to play there for a long time, so to be asked to play there supporting someone like Son of Dave was a big break. Sound check went well and just as it finished people started to gather outside and took a second to get a bite to eat. There’s a chip shop just opposite the Hare & Hounds do yourself a favour….avoid it!

I really wasn’t sure how well I’d go down with the crowd, which was made up of a peculiar mix of old school blues fans and the younger crowd you’d expect to see at a Birmingham show. They were great! I played my new song “Crunch”  and kept the rest of the set more instrument based rather than play beaty stuff and everyone seemed to dig it. Son of Dave was a real showman, creating weirdly recognisable settings, painting audio landscapes using his looper and making sound effects in a beat box style. It was interesting to see another one man band work in a different way.

Just like old times…

So it’s been a long time since me and producer Kris Halpin have managed to hook up and get some work done in the studio. Since we last worked together Kris has joined the team at Unit 58 recording studios which has given us access to a lovely collection of microphones and audio units to make the guitar and the beats sound very, very good.

Considering it’s been months since we last worked on a track I had expected it might take us longer to find our flow but here we are 4 hours in and all of the loops for a track called 5:00 AM are recorded. As soon as my throat is better I can lay down the vocals and then Mr Halpin can start tweaking each loop to make the whole track sparkle. 

This afternoon has not only been really productive but a lot of fun, if things keep going this well then recording is going to be a very painless process.

I’m supporting Son of Dave!

I’ve been asked to support Son of Dave on the 20th of May at the Hare & Hounds. I’m really excited about this one as when I was asked to do the gig my first thought was ” I’ve heard of him…” It’s £9.00 on the door but if you click here and confirm your attendance on this facebook event then you’ll be able to get in for £6.00.

Been up to much?

The last two weeks have flown by and for the most part they’ve been alot of fun. So on the 24th of April I played the Live & Free event at The Adam & Eve in Digbeth organised by Mr Elephant. It was the first gig for me in a run of three shows in five days and  I could not have asked for a better start, the crowd were really receptive, levels were the best they’ve been so far and some set up tweaking gave me more volume. I got loads of good feedback from people in the venue and other acts. After some choice DJing from Marc Reck came Playing Django who are a sharply dressed 5 piece jazz band who play up-beat yet mellow music that really is something to behold.  The final group to play was Munchbreak. Now I’d heard of these guys but hadn’t heard their stuff or seen them play, I knew as soon as I witnessed the sound check (and participated in it) that I was going to see something good. Imagine a dish made up of  one part DJ Format one part Jurassic 5 three parts The Roots for added funk with a large smattering of brummie bravado. They tore the place apart with their blend of live funk and scratching. I really hope I get to play with these guys again.

The night was capped off by Marc Reck playing some up-beat reggae and ska and a little bit of last chance to dance funk. I love playing gigs with Marc he’s an amazing DJ and a positive person I look forward to playing with again.

The next gig on the 26th saw me play a set at The Waterfront in Dosthill. This was a private party that saw some alcohol induced carnage on the crowds part. I played the same set and it went just as well as the gig on Friday. We all danced and marveled at the level of intoxication reached by a chosen few.

The last gig in this stint was the Now 15 event at Tamworth Snowdome. This was the 15th Aniversary bash for the slope and it absolutely went off. The riders all wore 90’s style outfits and prizes were given out for old school styled tricks.  Everyone piled into the bar at half time and I played a slightly altered set that went down well. This time however I had some help to get the crowd going in The Trinity Warriors breakdance crew. These guys are amazing and hopefully I’ll get to work with them again soon…Watch this space.

I’ve had an absolute blast this last week or so, I’m enthused and ready to get back to work. Next week I should be heading back into the studio with Kris Halpin and will be making a start with some new video stuff to put out online.  I’m gonna try my best to keep the momentum going.

Quite simply buzzin!!!

I’m feeling good, I mean really good, HEY EVERYONE COME HEAR HOW GOOD I FEEL!!! Ok so as you might expect trying to forge something that resembles a music career has its ups and its downs. Just recently the latter have been ganging up on me and calling me names and making me question what it is I’m trying to do. That is until this week. This week I’ve been playing around with my set up and in doing so I’ve come to understand how to make it do exactly what I need it to do. I’ve been jamming on new numbers and old dancing around my bedroom like a loon whilst doing so and getting myself really excited about the gigs I’ve got lined up over the next few days. I might have got it all wrong, it might go tits up but right now I don’t care. Whatever happens happens and right now I’m looking forward to it happening!!!!

Who wants to come to the Adam and Eve on the 24th!!!!

So…..how are things?

Things are like busses, you spend hours, days sometimes weeks waiting for things to happen then all of a sudden they all start happening at once. I’ve been hustling together some money to buy some kit that will help me do some things. I’ve got myself a new microphone which will help me control some feedback issues I’ve had at some venues. I’ve bought myself a new amp which will help me with rehearsing at home and enable me to get a much better idea of how the levels of all my instruments sit in the mix. I’ve also got myself a HD camcorder which I plan to film and edit my own videos of all the tunes I play in which the amp will also be playing a part. So all of a sudden I have the opportunity to get very creative, all of a sudden I have alot of things to do. I’ve been asked to play at the 15 year anniversary party at The Snowdome in Staffordshire. You might not know it but this place is seriously close to my heart so the prospect of being part of this night means alot. So hopefully you’ll be seeing more of me online and out there, here’s to making things happen.

I’m going to London to seek my fortune!!!!

Well actually I’m going to London to compete in the Boss Loopstation Championships at the Bedford then coming home. But lets not get distracted from the fact that it’s a gig in the big smoke!!! I’m hustling my ass off to get the few people I know in London to come and see me play. I’m looking forward to it immensely, so I’m practising all week. I’m in the process of rebuilding and re-designing my rehearsal space (also known as my bedroom) so I can fit all of the instruments in and actually sleep in it comfortably. Part of the upgrade is my new Mac Book Pro which will serve as a means to edit together youtube clips of stuff that I’m working on and beef up the studio side of things for recording acoustic numbers. It is a birthday treat to myself.So there.