The Captain's Blog 2009
31/12/09
You may have noticed we have been a little quiet. Part of this has been deliberate. after two years of, fairly intensive, gigging we decided to take a break and recharge ourselves. at the moment we are looking into getting a new person on the drumming stool and, to that end, we went into the rehearsal studio yesterday to run through a few songs with the original Wooden Lion drummer Wal Blimey-Yeah. (of the Sarfend Blimey-Yeah's). This was quite a good session and it was nice to see Wal again. The Cardinal and I sat in the pub round the corner from the studio and swapped stories about when we all did the 70's thing and shared a house in Woodford Green. No firm decisions on either side as yet but we will let you know when there is. We will be back in the studio with him in the next week or so. One thing that did come of this was a re-affirmation of the fact that we enjoy playing together and that we will be pushing the band forward in the coming year. I have also been arranging to get into a recording studio to do the final mixes on the album and hope to see that released this coming year too. We will have to wait for the final decision of band line up before we start to book shows but we are determined that we will be back on stage as soon as possible. 2009 had its ups and downs for us but I have the feeling that 2010 will be a brighter and better year for the band. Over the past couple of years we have done some great gigs, met some old friends and made a bunch of new ones. We would like to thank the following people : The two Tonys from The Bridge House II for their continued support and encouragement, Terry and Geoff from Bridge House Records for re-releasing the Roy Weard and Last Post album on CD, John Brown and John Allen for the use and hospitality of their two studios for rehearsals, Cliff Dowding for the recording duties, lighting and general support he has offered, Nick Pynn and Darren Reynolds for their musical contributions to the new CD, Tony 'Mr Jaun D'Erful' Morley for stepping in and playing so brilliantly, The Real Music Club, Brighton for the gigs, Gregg McKella and Paradise 9 for both the support slot at The Inn on the Green and for supporting us at the Bridge House as well as for being good mates and a cracking band. Deviant Amps for 'Feed Your Head' and being a similarly great band. DJ Chilli and the Classic Rock Club in Cheshunt for believing in us and all the people who came to see us last year and sent messages. Lastly, and most importantly, We would like to offer our extreme thanks to Steve 'Wrekka' Wollington for being the man at the desk and the rock on which we have relied for the last two years. Roadie supreme and good friend. I wish you all a loud and musical New Year - see you in it.
21/10/09
Those of you who have been to see us, or read some of our blogs / newsletters over the past few months will know that we have been having some problems with our drummer, Chris Mott. At first he had decided he had to leave the band and Tony 'Mr Jaun D'Erful' Morley stepped in. We had a few good shows with Tony on drums but we knew, due to his commitments with Jefferson Starship and a few other acts, that he could not be a permanent replacement. Chris Mott came back and played the Classic Rock Festival at the Bridgehouse and, after that show, he decided he would stay on. However, since then, we have still problems getting time to org anise rehearsals together and he had to drop out of our Harlow show with the wonderful Deviant Amps. Tony jumped in at less than 24 hours notice and, although the show went well, we knew by then we had to solve the problem. We have, therefore, decided to cancel the last two shows we had booked for this year and concentrate on getting a replacement drummer, finishing the new album and rehearsing the new songs that we started working on. We do have a couple of drummers who are interested in getting involved so we will get to work on this immediately. I am sorry we will not be able to perform at the Rock of Ages Festival but I hope we can reschedule a show for them in the New Year. The same goes for the live DVD recording which we will re-arrange as soon as we can. Thanks for all your support in the last two years, We enjoyed playing and we will keep you all informed of our progress. We will be back, stronger, louder and more committed in the New Year. Watch this space.
6/10/09
Most bands run on a mixture of chaos and inspiration - well most bands that have any soul or feeling do anyway - I can't speak for those which are pressed from a single sheet of plastic and come preformed on that Airfix spiders web of small parts that can be assembled by following the numbered instructions (don't get any glue on the moving parts). Last week chaos stepped up to the ramp and gave us a hefty shove. After our performance at the Bridge House Classic Rock Festival Chris Mott, who has been our drummer from the start, decided he would stay on with the band and was down to do The Square, in Harlow last Friday. Late on Thursday we found out he was stuck in Liverpool until Saturday and couldn't make the gig. What do you do in those circumstances? I have always regarded pulling gigs as being the last possible option so we called on Tony 'Mr Juan D'Erful' Morley and he stepped in. No time for a rehearsal and, because he had other commitments earlier in the day, no time for a soundcheck. The Square, in Harlow is pretty nice venue. Good PA system and it has a good crew too. First up was Electric Dub Guru, who had his own little bit of chaos to contend with. His act is Dubstep Electronics and he managed to wipe the hard drive on the computer the night before. Still he produced some pretty good sounding stuff. Towards the end of the set he was joined by Deviant Amps for an extended jam which set the place rocking. Next up Deviant Amps themselves. Great band. Just a three piece but some great playing that filled the spaces with a running groove - and a really nice bunch of guys too. I hope we get to do some more with them. Tea for the Wicked followed from them. We have played with these guys before and liked them then. Some real 70s / early 80s prog rock feel going down here with good guitar and keyboard playing nailed down by the bass and drums. A good tight little band and well worth seeing. So next it is us. We were pretty stuck with the set we played a few times now because Tony had not had time to work up any new numbers with us. The stage sound was a bit swampy with some sort of reverb on the monitors. I was struggling to hear my vocals and managed to blow a hole in my voice box by the time I had to sing 'Blank Moments' which was annoying because that is the song I really have to SING. Still I got through it and we power on through 'Happy', 'On The Blink', 'The Writing' and finally 'Insufficient Data'. I had a good time running round the audience in 'On The Blink' although Paul from the Amps was concerned I would injure myself. I am kind of used to that kind of mayhem by now - not to say I have not injured myself (and others) in the past. Thanks to MyChoonz for looking after the merchandise and, as always, to the ever present, long suffering Steve 'Wrekka' Wollington for his good work on the soundboard. We made a few new friends - that was nice too - and then I had to go home. The next day Steve and I were doing the sound and recording the show for that other Legend Mick Farren. I will write about that on my own MySpace blog tomorrow. Till the next time, guys - and gurls.
17/9/09
Halfway through September already and I have not posted the blog - how remiss of me. So, a swift report on the gigs. The Royal Standard show was an interesting evening. We were pitched in with three thrash metal bands and were seriously unsure how we would go down. I didn't catch the name of the band that went on after us but they were really good, as was the one that preceded us. Our gig went well though. I think there is a lot of leeway in some people's musical taste and the audience warmed to us well. It was a short set but we crammed in Triangle, Harpies, On The Blink, Blank Moments, The Writing, and Insufficient Data. The monitors were a little 'creamy' as far as my vocals were concerned so I pretty much blew my voice out by the end but it was still fun. I have talked a bit about the Bridgehouse Classic Rock Festival on my personal blog but the time came, during Sunday evening, for me to swap my Sound Engineer's hat for my performer's rags. It was a good sized stage and we launched straight into Triangle. Chris Mott, who had been away on holiday for a couple of weeks prior to the show was buzzing and played his heart out. Tony Morley, who had been playing drums for us for the last few shows was supposed to be away in Sweden but that got cancelled so he came along to the show and got up to play 12-string on Blank Moments. It seemed like only a few minutes before we found ourselves playing the closing bars of Insufficient Data and leaving the stage! Steve, 'Wrekka' Wollington did a great job on the sound desk and Cliff 'Xanthus' Dowding was excellent on the lighting - shame we were in daylight! So on to the future. Good news is that Chris Mott is staying with the band so the drummer problem is alleviated. We have also been offered some time in a studio to mix down the CD so I hope we can get on with that soon. I will tell you when that gets closer to being finished and post some more tracks up on MySpace. The band has been asked to record a live DVD at the Bridgehouse. We are talking about dates at the moment but I expect it to be early November - get ready to get yourselves on film. Nest gig up is The Square in Harlow with Tea For the Wicked and Deviant Amps. That promises to be a superb evening and we have been asked to repeat the same line up at a couple of other venues. We are planning to rotate the headlining act so we all get a bash. Watch this space for more details.
17/8/09
Bit of a quickie this. Two new gigs are up on the board. Next Thursday (27th) we will be playing the Royal Standard in Walthamstow as a replacement gig for the one that got cancelled a couple of months back. Again a bit rushed but this was partly my fault because I was told about it and then would not confirm because we had not resolved the drummer situation. That is still up in the air but Tony 'Mr Juan D'Erful' Morley with be thrashing the kit at that gig. At the weekend we will be playing the Bridge House Classic Rock Weekend - see their site for the full line up. The next show is a special event at the Square in Harlow, Essex. We will be heading a three part bill with two other excellent bands Deviant Amps and Tea for the Wicked so this should be a great evening. More details on that will be up soon. Look forward, as always, to seeing you all there.
04/08/09
Last Saturday we played at the Inn on the Green in Ladbroke Grove. I picked up Gregg (the main man in Paradise 9) and his gear equipment and we set off up the A23 just as it started to rain. We passed a few of the Gay Pride people whose costumes were growing steadily soggier as the proceeded into Brighton and felt glad that we were in the dry and that we had avoided the crush that would be Brighton for the day. We left early because Greg had arranged an early get in so we could get everything set up and have a good soundcheck. When we arrived at the gig we found that there was a Tango class going on so we could not actually get in till 5pm. The next chore was doing a load in through a market because the gig was in the lateral extension of Portabello Road. Ah the very axis of swinging sixties hippiedom. I remembered seeing Hawkwind play under these motorway arches back in the 70s - long before they built these buildings here. Anyhow we got in Paradise9 began to set their stuff up. Tyrone, the lead guitarist, was late because he was trying to finish a copy of the band's video. Delays, delays, and more delays. Slowly it began to come together. Tony 'Mr Juan D'Erful' Morley called to say his ex partner had refused to take the kids back (didn't he keep the receipt?) but that he would be there. Chris Cottage had no transport because the van he was using was not available and his car had broken down. Somehow, I thought when I started this band, that it would be easier now we were, to use Steve Boltz's phrase, 'all grown ups now'. Obviously not. Anyhow it all got resolved. Everyone got there somehow and although we missed the soundcheck slot we were raring to go. The venue was hot, it was raining outside fit to burst and I was beginning to think I should be building an Ark not going onstage. Inside the venue it was Calcutta in the rainy season. I was waiting for Sidney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart to show up and make us an offer. Jeanette Murphy took to the stage and stunned us all into silence with some great songs. she has a good strong voice and plays guitar accompanied by a Bodhram player. Great start to the show. Then it was out turn - straight on and straight into it with only a minimal amount of tuning and fiddling - although it felt like and age to me at side stage. Of course the first number was Triangle - Flying Jacket and Helmet on I marched into the Monsoon heat and we were off. Only a couple of glitches I thought. Steve lost the line at the start of 'This Torch' and then the 12 string would not work during 'Blank Moments' but, on the whole we were happy with the set. Mr Juan D'Erful was even better on the kit this time spot on in fact. Short and sharp because Paradise 9 were next up. They played up a storm, swirling electronics pierced through the solidity of Carl's drumming and Neil's bass playing - best rhythm section I have seen in years. I always enjoy their set and we have played together a few times now. All of them play well and the songs surge on hypnotically. Great set. And then it was over. Standing on the balcony of the gig trying to cool down but still boiling over. Chatting to our various fans who came along to see us. Time to pack up and go home - Gregg you need a peddle board!!! On the way back Greg regaled us with tales of the munchies and 29 crunchie bars interspersed with 'I got drunk in that pub' and 'I have drunk in every pub in this road' Great night, a good time was had by all - thanks for inviting us Greg. And bigger thanks to Big Steve Wollington who mixed the sound superbly for the whole night. Now to sort out the new drummer and finish the CD
27/07/09
I approached last Friday's gig with a great degree of trepidation. as I wrote in that last blog here, our drummer, Chris Mott, had to leave the band and that threw us into the situation where we had to find a replacement. That search is still going on but my long time friend, Tony 'Mr Juan D'Erful' Morley said he would step in and play these two shows we had booked for the end of July / start of August. We convened in MusicTek studios to rehearse. Tony knew a few of the songs - either because he had co-written them with me or played them in The Last Post. Arrangements had changed and, to make things even harder, he had been playing either bass, keyboards or guitar on them with tech previous bands. Anyhow the first rehearsal went off OK, ragged, but given another three or four rehearsals we were sure we could get it tight. Next thing to happen was that Steve taken into hospital for a hernia operation. 'I'll be OK' he said, but, when he came out it was obvious that he would not be able to rehearse that week or the next. This left us one week before the gig. Plans to do Tuesday and Wednesday in the studio turned into just the Wednesday and it was plain that Steve was still in pain at that point. We hit the stage on Friday, pitifully unrehearsed, but enthusiastic. 'Triangle' took off like a rocket as did 'Harpies' and the rollercoaster was off. There was the inevitable bit of derailment here and there, nothing too drastic - but we knew. The most noticeable was in the middle of 'On The Blink' when the guitar drums and keyboards were locked into the riff waiting for a cue to come out into the third verse. The Cue did not come and I was motionless, as usual at that point,waiting for the same cue to leap into the song again. When they did break it there was a 30 seconds pause before I lurched into action. That, and Steve forgetting the lyrics to 'Insufficient Data', compounded by me giving him the wrong verse, led us to the end of the set. Not perfect, but that is what live gigs are all about. Seize a moment of wonder from a lurch in the wrong direction and off again - I would not have it any other way. Tony made less mistakes than the rest of us. During 'Blank Moments' he played 12-string and Chris Mott, who had turned up to see the band, was tempted to get up on the kit at the end. He should have done. The Classic Rock Club is one of favourite gigs. A great audience, and DL Chilli, host and promoter, is a great guy who always looks after us well. I hope we can get back there towards the end of the year. Two other things made it a good night for me. One was seeing our old Roadie Dave Ryder and his wife Bev. I have not seen them in 25 years and it was good to see them looking so well and happy. The other was getting to say hello to Will who had seen the original Lion back in the 70s. So, next Saturday we are playing at the Inn on the Green, 3-5 Thorpe Close, Ladbroke Grove, London, W10 5XL, with Paradise 9. This will be the launch of their new EP and it should be a great night. Paradise 9 are a superb band. they have supported us a couple of times and it is good to get a chance to return the favor. We are still looking for a new drummer, although, because Tony's UK gigs with Jefferson Starship have been postponed, we have a bit more breathing space. I am also itching to get the new CD finished and out there. I hope you can all make it along to the Inn on the Green. - See you there.
04/07/09
NEW DRUMMER REQUIRED!
We have been a bit silent recently because we have been trying to resolve a problem. Our drummer, who has been with us for the last two years has had to leave the band. There were two possible replacements but neither of those can join us so now we are faced with the prospect of having to audion and rehearse in a new drummer. Obviously, with the new album being mixed at the moment that is a very annoying situation to be in but we will resolve it. If any of you know of a drummer who would be interested in filling Chris' position please let us know. We have a few gigs lined up and a few other things which will now be put on hold until we can find a suitable replacement. In the meantime we have a couple of shows coming up at the end of this month. at first we were thinking we would have to cancel them but Tony 'Mr Juan D'Erful' Morley has offered to sit in on drums prior to going off on tour playing drums for Jefferson Starship. We had a rehearsal last Thursday and that went pretty well so, with a few more under his belt we should be OK for the next two shows. As many of you will know Tony and I go back many years and, not only was he in the early line up of Wooden Lion but he co-wrote several of the songs we are currently performing. The next two shows should be interesting. Tony became the guitarist for Wooden Lion when it reformed and I stopped playing guitar myself to take over the vocals. Years later he joined Dogwatch on bass guitar and then The Last Post playing keyboards and guitar. Playing drums with us means that he will now have played the full range of instruments in the bands we have been in together. So coming up: Friday 24th July - The Classic Rock Club in Cheshunt Football Club. Saturday 1st August - Inn on the Green - Ladbrook Grove, London This will be supporting the amazing good Paradise 9 - good friends and a great live band who have supported us on a couple of occasions. They will be launching of their new CD. Come along and see us - bring your friends - especially if they happen to be drummers looking for a gig. 09/06/09 Having been suddenly told, last weekend, that we had been booked for The Royal Standard this coming Thursday we have now been told the whole gig is off. It seems that the other two bands pulled out and that, coupled with a 48 hour rail strike and the fact that we were told way too late to do any real promotion for the gig, has led to the promoter deciding to abandon the whole night. The fact that there was no advertising on their web site for the gig was always a bit ominous. We will be rescheduling the show and, as ever we will let you know by the usual means.
07/06/09
It seems we are playing at the Royal Standard in Walthamstow on Thursday. It would have been nice to have been told about this with a bit more notice but the guy who processed the booking was taken ill and forgot to let us know. I am not sure what time we will be playing or who else is on the bill but, if you are able to get along do try to be there. I have had my head down for the last few weeks, working on the new album. It is all recorded - barring any last minute overdubs - and the first track should be mixed this weekend. I will let you all know when we are closer to a release date but I hope to put 'Blank Moments' onto the band's MySpace site before I go off to Devon for a week next Friday. This is a special version of the song featuring Darren Reynolds on Double Bass and Nick Pynn on Violin and Viola. There are not too many gigs booked in at the moment but we hope to add more in the Autumn when the CD should be out. We will be back at the Classic Rock Club on the 24th July with 'Tea for the Wicked' One other date to note is 1st August/ We will be playing the Inn on the Green in Ladbrook Grove supporting our good friends, Paradise9 (nice to do one with them as a support act since they have supported us a couple of times) This will be a special gig for the launch of their new CD. They have not finalised the line up for that show yet and I will drop you a line closer to the day to fill you in.
28/3/09
I have been a little tardy in writing the latest blog but then there has been a lot going on so I will submit that as an excuse. Last Sunday saw the re-release of the Roy Weard and Last Post album 'Fallout'. We celebrated this by a gig at the Bridge House. DJ Chilli, of Classic Rock Club fame came along and hosted the event for us in his usual, inimitable style. He played some great records and did a superb job introducing the acts. The opening act was Bruise. I have known Jim Kimberley for a few years, having first met him when he was drummer and backing vocalist for a band that were so underrated it was criminal - n'6Foot3'. Steve 'Boltz' Bolton was lead guitarist, singer and songwriter for this outfit and, when you look at the list of people he has played guitar for, you will be amazed. He started off with Atomic Rooster at the age of 17, and went on to play guitar for the Who on a World Tour in the 80's, was a founder member of Paul Young's Band and.......well, have a look at his MySpace profile and you will see what I mean. I did sound for them on several occasions and, for a band with only three people, they had a sound that dwarfed Canary Wharf. As usual, they could not get a deal and split during the late 80's, although they do sometimes reconvene for a gig. Anyhow, Bruise continue this trend of sounding several sizes too big for a two piece. Isabel's playing and singing are beyond description and, backed with Jim's drumming and vocals the whole thing is a wonderful experience. Go see them they shine like an entire galaxy and are one of my favourite acts. We got up and had a good time on stage too. We played one of our usual sets comprising of Triangle, Harpies, The Machine Stops, Sulphur and Heat, (just some of those) Skeletons, Happy, On the Blink, The Writing, This Torch, Blank Moments and were joined, on guitar, by Dave Munday for Insufficient Data. Ending the set with Follow My Leader (in the dark) and Man in a Cage. Six of these tracks are on the Last Post CD and the rest will be on the new one when it is finished. A good time was had by all. Speaking of the New CD we now have most of the tracks down. I'm not sure what order we will put it in when we finally release it but we have six studio tracks; The Writing, Harpies, The Rage, This Torch and Another Slow Day (for fast women) plus we have re-recorded Blank Moments (More on that in a moment - as they say). We also have four tracks recorded live at the Bridge House II, Sulphur and Heat, Follow My Leader (in the dark), Happy and (just some of those) Skeletons. I was in the studio with Nick Pynn on Wednesday last week and he put down some swooning violin and viola on Blank Moments as well as some madcap electric violin on The Writing. At some point in the next few weeks Greg McKella from Paradise9 will be adding some clarinet and then we will be into the mixing stage. Next Month we have two shows, one at the Fleece in Chelmsford - good to be going back there again - and then, the next night we are at The Real Music Club at the Green House Effect in Hove with 'Whimwise' featuring Jaki Windmill from Space Ritual and 'The Wellingtons. That should be a good night. I will post a newsletter out during April. See you all soon.
02/3/09
The Friday before last was another trip down Memory Lane for me. Strangely, though, I had never been in the venue before. If that sounds a little like Steven Wrights's 'I like to reminiss with people I don't know', I will explain. The Royal Standard is in Walthamstow in London's East End. I lived in that area for a good few years, back on the 70s and early 80s before moving 'across the water' to Greenwich. The early Lion rehearsed under the railway arches in Leyton and we played in many places round there. Having negotiated the deep cut that the new(ish) dual carriageway makes between Startford and Leyton I then turned off across areas I had not driven in for years. Unfortunately, the only thing that had changed were the number of cars trying to use those crowded streets. Needless to say, having come all the way up from Brighton, I got there late. The Standard is a good venue though. A big stage, good viewing angles and a good PA. We had missed soundcheck but the sound onstage was no too bad and the Wrekka handled the FOH with aplomb - must get him to stop putting soft fruit on the desk.We had been specially invited to play by the main act, Slam, and it was not until we got there I realised why. Steve had played in a previous band with a couple of the guys and they used to come and see us back in he Ruskin Arms. It was not a bad gig for us. The Cardinal had a bit of a glitch at the start of 'The Writing' and I was a mess at the start of 'Skeletons' because a couple of strings had drifted out of tune while the guitar sat there onstage and I was thrown a bit but I think we played Ok and went down well. I hope we can go back there again. There may be some very positive outcomes to that gig but I will let you know what they are when they are finalised. Then, last Friday, we played the Classic Rock Club in Cheshunt. From the outside it does not look that promising. A smallish building lost in the Cheshunt Football Club's vast car park. Once inside (as opposed to offside - given the circumstances) we found it to be a very pleasant place. I got some of the PA rig up because the Wreeka had not arrived yet and Chris set his drums up. DJ Chilli already had all his gear up and running. The support act, "Rocksmith", were an odd bunch of chaps. Steve has mentioned their lack of communication in his blog but what got me was the way they behaved when they got there. I have never really subscribed to the 'star syndrome' - maybe because I never got a chance to be much of one - but there is a degree of protocol to be observed. We have been the support act ourselves on many occasions and I'm sure we will be a lot more and there is no way I would consider walking in to a venue, where the main band is still setting up and just setting up in front of them without a word. I looked around from the desk and there was half a drum kit set up. I did think about turfing them off there and then but decided to let it go. What it did do was to make it take twice as long to get everything plugged in. Then we had to soundcheck around their gear. In the end, they did themselves a disfavor because we did not get the monitors fully set up and they did not get any monitor mix. Oh well. The gig went well with the usual handful of minor snarl ups and traffic accidents that are what makes playing live such fun. Steve was on top form on guitar, pulling out some blistering solos and the rest of the band played well too. With DJ Chilli's psychedelic light show flashing in our faces it felt like going back to the 70s. The audience were great too, a really warm bunch of people. Two people who used to come to see Dogwatch turned up and it was great to see them again - especially since they had celebrated their vinyl wedding anniversary - 33 1/3 years. The club gave us a great review which you can read on their blog on MySpace. www.myspace.com/theclassicrockclubcheshunt We are back in the studio next week putting down vocals and guitar overdubs for the next album. In the meantime the next gig is the 'Roy Weard and Last Post', 'Fallout' CD release show at the Bridgehouse II in Canning Town. as I have said before, this is not a new CD but the one that Steve and I did back in the 80's being re-released by Bridge House Records. It now contains the single Triangle / Monopoly and two other tracks, The Machine Stops and Insufficient Data both of which we do with this band. DJ Chilli is going to try to be there to host the event and we have a great support from my good friends Bruise who are stunningly good. I hope the show will start around 9pm so get there early and catch their set.. CDs should be on sale. More News as it happens.
01/02/09
First off I need to clear up an area of confusion - mostly on our part. We were first offered a gig at the Royal Standard in Walthamstow for the 12th Feb. and then one on the 20th. It seems that the second gig replaced the first so we will not be playing on the 12th. All in all this is a better result because the first show would have been a very short set (and given the length of some of our songs that would have been 2 or 3 numbers) as part of a four act bill. On the 20th we are the single support act to Slam and will be able to give a longer performance. We went into the studio yesterday and laid down the backing tracks from the rest of the forthcoming album. On the whole it went very well although the tracks are a long way from completion. We have six basic tracks down now to go with the other five five tracks we recorded at the Jimmy Carl Black Benefit show. A couple of the live tracks may appear on a CD being released as part of that Benefit show but I have no dates for that as yet. We will be working towards getting the studio stuff down soon and then it is the laborious process of mixing and mastering the material. Still it has been far from a chore so far and I am quite looking forward to doing the fine tuning and production work to bring it to a final conclusion. Time to start wring the next one! To that end the band is meeting next week to run through some ideas for new songs - as always my folder of lyrics without a musical home is bursting and I have a couple of tunes in my head too. Watch this space! I went along to see Richard Thompson perform at the Brighton Dome last night. It was a great show (I will post more about this in my personal blog) and the man behind the desk was Simon Tessano - the man who engineered and co-produced the Last Post album back in 1981. It was good to see Simon again and he produced a really good live sound.
25/1/09
I have held off a while writing the next blog so I could get all the news into perspective. Although we have not been doing any live shows there has been a lot of activity at Chateau Coer de Lion. We have been in and out of the studio, playing with the live tracks from the Bridge House show. I have put some new mixes up on the MySpace site. They are, of course, not the finished item, but closer to what we are trying to acheive.We are also making a start on the studio tracks soon. These recordings were a little delayed by people's availability over the Christmas and New Year but we are booked into the studio for the weekend of 31st Jan for backing tracks and that should see a start. Nick Pynn has agreed to add some violin to at least one of the studio tracks since he played so beautifully on 'Blank Moments' at the show down here in Brighton. I will post some more information on the recording process as it happens and I will also post a new blog on my own MySpace site with regard to the mixing process for those of you with a more technical interest. On the live front we have started picking up gigs from mid February onwards. We start with a couple of shows at the Royal Standard in Walthamstow. One of these is supporting Slam. I don't actually know the band but they asked for us specially so I am looking forward to that. We will be back at the Fleece in Chelmsford and doing a special show on the 22nd March at the Bridgehouse. This will be the launch of the re-issued Last Post CD. Bridge House Records have been doing a little re-mastering on the tracks and I have just finished working on the new fold out sleeve with pictures of the band and full lyrics. There are four bonus tracks: Triangle and Monopoly (which were the two tracks put out as a single on Parasol Records) and Insufficient Data and The Machine Stops which were to be the start of the next album. John Trelawney, of Dogwatch fame, plays trumpet on Monopoly and Insufficient Data. We will be selling these at the Bridge House show and the other members of the Last Post may well be there to sign them. In addition we will be supported by some good friends of mine called 'Bruise'. This is a two piece band which are well worth looking into. It will be an early start, being a Sunday, so be sure to get there by 9pm to catch their set. In case you ,missed it there is a new discography section on the website with details of the various albums and Links to the Bridge House Records site. We are looking into more shows and more places to play and have had some tentative approaches with regard to festivals later in the summer. I will report on these when I know more. Details of these shows can be found on the Live Shows Page. That is about all for now - the year has started - let it continue.