Updates
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!!!!
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.
Distractions and Kit Kats?
Well 2009 has been a little bit stop start for me. Don’t think that I’ve been doing nothing far from it, I’ve written new material and started experimenting with new instruments. However I have been busy with another project and it’s that, that has kept me from blogging of late…..Well thats my excuse anyway.
I recently played a show at place called the Kit Kat Club and it turned out to be a great way to start this years assault on the uk. It was full of people, mostly under 18 who somehow had managed to get themselves into a state of inebriation prior to arriving at the venue. I wont lie to you I wasn’t expecting this show to be as busy as it was but more important than that the crowd was so receptive, I felt at home on the stage like I’d played there a hundred times before.
My other recent adventure saw me place in the final of the Boss Loopstation Championship which is to held in London next month. It’s a competition for people who use Boss loopstation pedals to do their looping and the prize is £1000 worth of Boss or Roland equipment. I will never turn down the chance to aquire some new gadgets so off I go to london. It’s on the 9th of March and it’s being held at The Bedford which is at 77 - Bedford Hill, Balham, SW12 9HD.
Enlightenings in Loughborough
On the 7th of December I played the J.I.M night BEATSMASH!!! at the very posh Vodka Revolution in Loughborough and learnt the following things.
Loughborough is easy to get to.
If you ask a Vodka Revolution bar-stuard for a cup of tea, he will look at you strangely.
The prettiest girl in the room may not always have a personality to match.
Loughborough crowds are cool.
My friend Kat can’t handle her chilli vodka but I love her.
My friend Laura is insane but I love her.
Dancing to drum and bass until 3a.m sober is surprisingly easy.
The key to doing so is to copy the drunk people.
My friend Jim can throw shapes no mere mortal can catch but I love him.
Driving home from Loughborough takes a surprisingly short amount of time and really doesn’t warrant drinking red bull on route. 4.45 a.m I got to sleep!
Pink Sessions and The Waterfront
On the 28th of November I made my way slightly south to the grids of Milton Keynes to play at the girls snowboard event “Pink Sessions”. It’s a breast cancer charity night organised by an absolute leg-end of a lady by the name of Rosie Thurston who earlier this year helped me re-discover my love of tequilla but that is another story and one that I hope repeats it’s self. The Pink Sessions is kinda like a tour, fundraising at different snow-slopes around the uk this venue was The Snow Bar in the Xscape complex, so the girls could get their fix on the slope and then come up and enjoy good music and take part in the fund raising festivities. I had a half an hour set and played a mixed bag of old faithfuls, works in progress and a new cover of a guilty pleasure. I had a great night and caught up with some old friends who I don’t get to see often enough and from what I hear the event raised over £500. Sweet.
The following evening it was back to one of my favourite places to play, The Waterfront. This night was a fundraiser for Macmillen nurses. There were three other live acts all playing on the stage in the marquee and a mod style DJ playing in the main bar. I love playing this place, I invited loads of people to come and the turnout was good. I played a similar set to the previous night and upon being asked to play one more the announcer auctioned the song for a fiver! I played said song and got stuck in to the bar, I did so for some considerable time into the a.m ending up with me sitting around a table with five Waterfront regulars and Keiron the owner doing several shots of tequila with slices of orange and cinnamon, sadly Rosie Thurston was not present for this but none the less. Sweet. I got to work the next day to be confronted with a highly amusing although slightly embarrassing answer phone message left on my bosses phone.
Don’t touch Kano’s Cold Cuts!!!!!!!!
Smileymic meet The Sugar Hill Gang!
Life is a very random and splendid thing. At around 7.15 pm on the 8th I was walking towards the Custard Factory where the Gigbeth music festival was taking place. I was about to watch some living legends sound check for their show that evening, that in it self was a little strange as we as fans don’t usually get to see our favorite acts prepare for the show, we usually just get the spectacle of the event. So it seems even more random and increasingly splendid that about half an hour later I find myself sat in a room drinking tea with Master Gee, WonderMike, HenDog and DJ T Dynasty of The Sugar Hill Gang. I really wasn’t sure what to say to them, I got introduced by their road manager “Hey this is the guy that does that crazy cover of Rappers Delight” and it kind of went from there. If the conversation ever slowed then my friend Sarah had questions ready to fire at them. We talked about music and how it effects you whether you’re the performer or the audience, we talked about family, about playing shows and about Obama winning the U.S election. I was told to help myself to refreshment and so I did, I then nearly had my fingers torn off by the green-room attendant who informed me that I couldn’t help myself to the array of cold meat as that was for Kano. The Sugar Hill Gang got a taxi to their hotel to rest up for their performance and my friend and I set off down the road to figure out what to do until then, Sarah giggling childishly after I told her I got told off for touching Kano’s meat. As we walked past South Birmingham College I couldn’t help but notice a large group of musicians loading their gear into a couple of cars. One of these people was a tall man dressed in a suit sporting a large beard and colourful hat that did not compliment the ensemble, I realised that I recognised him. The group turned out to be The Destroyers, who I stumbled upon at an all night music event at The Custard Factory the year before. They told us they were on their way to play a gig at the Prince Of Wales in Moseley. We have our answer, an hour later we’re stood at the back of a large marquee listening to the most sublime anarchic folk music you could ever wish for and I feel happy. Once the set finishes I get back in my car and head for Gigbeth to see The Sugar Hill Gang do it old school. They played an amazing set, you could certainly tell that they’d been doing this for a long time, the creme de la creme being left till last as you might expect….Rappers Delight. I drove home replaying the evenings events in my mind wondering how many more random nights like this I might experience and hoping the number runs into hundreds.
Gigbeth Fringe
Gigbeth is an annual music festival held at the Custard Factory in Digbeth Birmingham. The line up is diverse and eclectic ranging from the Guillemots to The Young Knives to Kano to the Sugar Hill Gang and beyond. This years festival saw the very first Gigbeth fringe take place and I had the good fortune to be involved. Consider It Done Music had organised a showcase night for some of the acts they promote including Laura Louise an acoustic artist with an amazing voice and material to match, Mama Matrix a sublime psychedelic folk punk band who inspire you to drink and dance like a fool, Marc Reck a Breakbeat DJ who plays all my favourite kinds of electronic tunage with the right blend of funky soul classics mixed in and my self. I played twice that night, I was trying out a new way of headphone monitoring and although it was a gamble it worked out really well. The crowd seemed to enjoy it and I certainly enjoyed playing. Mama Matrix were something else, I found myself cursing the fact I had to drive that night with all my gear in-tow as their songs just made me want to dance and dancing goes hand in hand with inebriation in my book. I look forward to getting absolutely destroyed to one of their sets and try my best to keep pace. Marc Reck is a thoroughly nice bloke and I look forward to working with him again, he’s a seriously positive person. I’ve been listening to some of his mixes here www.marcreck.com and I like them a lot.
