So last night, thankfully all my stress was alleviated by Tubelord, Colour, Calories and Tall Ships absolutely ramming out the Old Blue Last like I have never seen it before. It was ridiculous. It was the best feeling knowing that we only needed about 10 extra people in (after advance sales) to break even, so to have at least 150 in (I haven't done the maths yet) is pretty incredible. There were lots of good industry people there to impress as well, and I'm looking at taking on the London-bound responsibilites of more bands as a direct result of the success of last night.
Bosh.
Another good thing was seeing people I hadn't seen for a long time, particularly Jess and Marsha, two people I always have massive fun with and recently, never really seem to get to hang out with at all. It's kinda weird how sometimes you grow apart a little without really meaning to, but just a tiny bit of effort is all you really need. Note to self for the rest of 2009 - make a little bit more effort.
I watched Yes-Man in the cinema the other day, to kill a bit of time with Sean and Toby before I bopped round Charlie's house for the evening. Aside from it actually being quite good, and Zooey Deschanel being one of the hottest human beings alive, it made me realise that I had a lot in common with the main character in the film. I guess it's good doing as much as you can and keeping yourself busy, and I know for a fact if I didn't then I would end up just being depressed and dwelling on shit things.
Which brings me to the recurring dream, that I haven't had for a while but have started having again recently. It's pretty horrible, basically it involves me finding my brother somewhere and I look at his face and his eyes are all dilated, but he's talking to me and it's just random words coming out, like he's on drugs, and I try and shake him in a panicked attempt to sober him up but it doesn't work and he dies in my arms. Every fucking time. It's pretty much the most horrible thing my brain could ever conjure up. I don't know why it's doing this to me.
That said, it's countered slightly by the recurring dream where I pretend to make up with Gee and Alistair, pick them up from some party, and then leave them stranded in some wilderness.
In other news, there's this song I'm writing and it's actually the catchiest thing I've ever written. This pop song malarky might just work.
Current listening:
Mogwai - Come On Die Young
Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
Iain Macaulay - Daylight
Thursday, 8 January 2009
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
too late to tell you you were wrong, another woe to dwell upon...
...I am an idiot and I ruin everything. I am an idiot and I ruin everything.
Not had the best of days at all. Been bored shitless at work and spent most of the day making arrangements for tomorrow night's Tubelord show at Old Blue Last. Lots of people asking for guestlist, always seems to be the same names, always.
I nearly had an argument with an agent who didn't want to pay the (frankly brilliant) cheaplist price of £2 for the show, claiming he shouldn't have to pay to see his own bands - it's not the norm, apparently. I would've argued with him, that the way I do promotion in London isn't exactly "the norm" - ie, at this level, I actually try and pay the bands - and that for example, someone who works at Sainsburys might want to get their food for free but just pays a bit less than everyone else. Which essentially, was a good analogy.
But, like the weak and feeble shit I am, I caved in. "Course you can have free guestlist. And while you're at it, please take my principles with you, they're no use to me anyway."
If there's one thing in the world I hate, it's being undermined. If there's one thing in the world I hate more than being undermined, it's being utterly powerless to stop it. I will be the first to admit that I am absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of the London music industry, but I'm trying to make a difference. I have no funding, I have no backing, all I have is an idea that bands should be treated fairly. It's not "DIY" in the sense that ALL the money should be given to bands, in fact I'd say it's quite far from the DIY ethic, in that I try and run things in an efficient, business-like manner. But I can't continue to operate in the way I do, if I lose as much money as I lost last year in putting on shows.
Sometimes it's nice being a carp in Kingston but when you swim up the river to London, you realise you're just a minnow. I'm determined to be more like a shark as each day goes by.
Incidentally, I am still rubbish at things and it's taken me about 10 days, a new personal best, to completely ruin something that was amazing. I think. I don't know. Maybe I just worry too much. I hope so, at least.
2009 started brightly but now I'm back to a recurring theme which came about in 2008: "Dear ground, please open up beneath me. Cheers."
Current listening:
Mew - Frengers
Jetplane Landing - Backlash Cop
Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up Til It Was Light
Not had the best of days at all. Been bored shitless at work and spent most of the day making arrangements for tomorrow night's Tubelord show at Old Blue Last. Lots of people asking for guestlist, always seems to be the same names, always.
I nearly had an argument with an agent who didn't want to pay the (frankly brilliant) cheaplist price of £2 for the show, claiming he shouldn't have to pay to see his own bands - it's not the norm, apparently. I would've argued with him, that the way I do promotion in London isn't exactly "the norm" - ie, at this level, I actually try and pay the bands - and that for example, someone who works at Sainsburys might want to get their food for free but just pays a bit less than everyone else. Which essentially, was a good analogy.
But, like the weak and feeble shit I am, I caved in. "Course you can have free guestlist. And while you're at it, please take my principles with you, they're no use to me anyway."
If there's one thing in the world I hate, it's being undermined. If there's one thing in the world I hate more than being undermined, it's being utterly powerless to stop it. I will be the first to admit that I am absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of the London music industry, but I'm trying to make a difference. I have no funding, I have no backing, all I have is an idea that bands should be treated fairly. It's not "DIY" in the sense that ALL the money should be given to bands, in fact I'd say it's quite far from the DIY ethic, in that I try and run things in an efficient, business-like manner. But I can't continue to operate in the way I do, if I lose as much money as I lost last year in putting on shows.
Sometimes it's nice being a carp in Kingston but when you swim up the river to London, you realise you're just a minnow. I'm determined to be more like a shark as each day goes by.
Incidentally, I am still rubbish at things and it's taken me about 10 days, a new personal best, to completely ruin something that was amazing. I think. I don't know. Maybe I just worry too much. I hope so, at least.
2009 started brightly but now I'm back to a recurring theme which came about in 2008: "Dear ground, please open up beneath me. Cheers."
Current listening:
Mew - Frengers
Jetplane Landing - Backlash Cop
Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up Til It Was Light
Monday, 8 December 2008
it's been a difficult year so far, i've had enough of being torn apart.
It's been a while since I did this so I figured that while bored at home in that sortof between-Xmas-and-New-Year purgatory, I'd add to it. It's ridiculous to think that in 2 days time it'll be 2009, this year seems to have gone pretty quickly. I can't help but feel that this has been the biggest emoational rollercoaster of a year that I've ever experienced. I also realise that at times I may have acted like a complete penis but there have been many other occasions that have made up for those actions. I like to think that this year, I have been around for my friends a lot more than in the past, and at the very least just been a bit more reliable and focused.
I also feel like I've achieved something this year, it's not massive but I haven't achieved anything for a while so yeah - passing my driving test has been a pretty good thing. I've also been ridiculously happy with the outcome of my band and finally feel like I'm writing the songs I've been capable of writing - and knowing there's a whole lot more still to come. Thanks to a few people (lol) for showing me anger, despair, betrayal and a few other less-than-favourable human traits, it's made my creative side go mental. Bish bash bosh.
Let me tell you about our recent gigs. They have been pretty special. The first gig back (first mistakes.in.animation gig for 6 months, pretty much) was our appearance at New Slang. On my birthday. With a bassist who'd only rehearsed with us about four times. We debuted four new songs, and had nigh-on re-written an old one. It was stressful, but when we got on that stage, we clicked like we never have before, as a band. It felt really fucking good. It felt electric. From the very first riff in Bite It to the cathartic ending of The Punchline, everything went so well that when we got off-stage, I was exhausted, exhilarated, beaming from ear to ear. We were a fucking band.
The rest of the night is a drunken blur, this is what happens when the venue gives you five bottles of champagne, two crates of beer, and all your friends are around. We played to 800 people, I knew this before we went on-stage but I didn't tell the others in the band because I didn't want to add any more pressure. Hell, we'd put enough pressure on ourselves before the show and we didn't need any more than this. I guess I work a bit better under pressure though, I always have done, and that night we were invincible.
The next gig, a couple of days later, I covered a few Get Cape songs at the Get Cape Xmas party. It was basically a bit lol. But I got to see a few faces I hadn't seen for a long time, and it was a lot of fun. It also pretty much paid for my Xmas shopping, which was good.
Christmas came and went, and I actually really enjoyed it despite the very notable absence. My parents handled things very well, and we had Christmas dinner with family friends so it was good to have other people around. We played a game of Kings and my mum was brilliantly racist, it was hilarious.
After Christmas, we had our This Is Not Revolution Rock End Of Year Party for the 3rd year running. This, in tradition, has consisted of Tubelord and Colour, plus two other bands invited along for the ride. This year it would've been Blakfish and Johnny Foreigner, except JoFo had to pull out at the last, so we filled in instead.
The show for us was good, musically I thought we were pretty spot-on but neither Scar nor I could hear our vocals so it was difficult. However, we're not going to be playing New Slang every week so it's something we're going to have to get used to. Although it's difficult with so much going on, if we rehearse well, the songs will become second-nature and we will be able to deal with difficult circumstances a bit easier. I had a bit of a 'rock-star tantrum' at the end of our set because a string broke, I think it confused everyone, not least myself. I realised that we had actually played to quite a large crowd though, and later it transpired that we had managed to cram 189 people into the Fighting Cocks (which is capacity 90). Lolocaust!
There are some other things that made the night really fucking special too and I won't go into them on here but needless to say it has left me a very happy boy for the last few days.
We have another show tomorrow night, not only playing mistakes.in.animation songs but also doing a second set covering Biffy Clyro. This is going to be a bit odd though because I'm pretty sure Andy hasn't learnt half the songs but there you go. I think me and Dave could almost get away with doing it as a two-piece though... We shall see! Scar has learnt the songs pretty well too, she is saving me by doing lots of vocal harmonies and singing the high bits that I can't do. Should be good fun if nothing else, and we're getting paid in booze, pretty much.
Plans for 2009:
- Sort my back injury out
- Record and release an EP. Maybe an album at the end of next year.
- Release a record by my band on my own label.
- Release a record by another band on my own label.
- Tour. Tour. Tour.
- Beat the Estonian national side at hockey.
- Get the girl, save the world.
- Get down to 75kg...
Final thought for this blog, if you're going to be in a band with "del off the internet", probably don't write a fairly candid blog about it that he can google fairly easily. Oh, Scar...
Current listening:
Jose Vanders - Red Black Blue & The Tortoise
Sigur Ros - ( )
National Forest - s/t
Mogwai - Young Team
I also feel like I've achieved something this year, it's not massive but I haven't achieved anything for a while so yeah - passing my driving test has been a pretty good thing. I've also been ridiculously happy with the outcome of my band and finally feel like I'm writing the songs I've been capable of writing - and knowing there's a whole lot more still to come. Thanks to a few people (lol) for showing me anger, despair, betrayal and a few other less-than-favourable human traits, it's made my creative side go mental. Bish bash bosh.
Let me tell you about our recent gigs. They have been pretty special. The first gig back (first mistakes.in.animation gig for 6 months, pretty much) was our appearance at New Slang. On my birthday. With a bassist who'd only rehearsed with us about four times. We debuted four new songs, and had nigh-on re-written an old one. It was stressful, but when we got on that stage, we clicked like we never have before, as a band. It felt really fucking good. It felt electric. From the very first riff in Bite It to the cathartic ending of The Punchline, everything went so well that when we got off-stage, I was exhausted, exhilarated, beaming from ear to ear. We were a fucking band.
The rest of the night is a drunken blur, this is what happens when the venue gives you five bottles of champagne, two crates of beer, and all your friends are around. We played to 800 people, I knew this before we went on-stage but I didn't tell the others in the band because I didn't want to add any more pressure. Hell, we'd put enough pressure on ourselves before the show and we didn't need any more than this. I guess I work a bit better under pressure though, I always have done, and that night we were invincible.
The next gig, a couple of days later, I covered a few Get Cape songs at the Get Cape Xmas party. It was basically a bit lol. But I got to see a few faces I hadn't seen for a long time, and it was a lot of fun. It also pretty much paid for my Xmas shopping, which was good.
Christmas came and went, and I actually really enjoyed it despite the very notable absence. My parents handled things very well, and we had Christmas dinner with family friends so it was good to have other people around. We played a game of Kings and my mum was brilliantly racist, it was hilarious.
After Christmas, we had our This Is Not Revolution Rock End Of Year Party for the 3rd year running. This, in tradition, has consisted of Tubelord and Colour, plus two other bands invited along for the ride. This year it would've been Blakfish and Johnny Foreigner, except JoFo had to pull out at the last, so we filled in instead.
The show for us was good, musically I thought we were pretty spot-on but neither Scar nor I could hear our vocals so it was difficult. However, we're not going to be playing New Slang every week so it's something we're going to have to get used to. Although it's difficult with so much going on, if we rehearse well, the songs will become second-nature and we will be able to deal with difficult circumstances a bit easier. I had a bit of a 'rock-star tantrum' at the end of our set because a string broke, I think it confused everyone, not least myself. I realised that we had actually played to quite a large crowd though, and later it transpired that we had managed to cram 189 people into the Fighting Cocks (which is capacity 90). Lolocaust!
There are some other things that made the night really fucking special too and I won't go into them on here but needless to say it has left me a very happy boy for the last few days.
We have another show tomorrow night, not only playing mistakes.in.animation songs but also doing a second set covering Biffy Clyro. This is going to be a bit odd though because I'm pretty sure Andy hasn't learnt half the songs but there you go. I think me and Dave could almost get away with doing it as a two-piece though... We shall see! Scar has learnt the songs pretty well too, she is saving me by doing lots of vocal harmonies and singing the high bits that I can't do. Should be good fun if nothing else, and we're getting paid in booze, pretty much.
Plans for 2009:
- Sort my back injury out
- Record and release an EP. Maybe an album at the end of next year.
- Release a record by my band on my own label.
- Release a record by another band on my own label.
- Tour. Tour. Tour.
- Beat the Estonian national side at hockey.
- Get the girl, save the world.
- Get down to 75kg...
Final thought for this blog, if you're going to be in a band with "del off the internet", probably don't write a fairly candid blog about it that he can google fairly easily. Oh, Scar...
Current listening:
Jose Vanders - Red Black Blue & The Tortoise
Sigur Ros - ( )
National Forest - s/t
Mogwai - Young Team
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
she said it's written in the stars, but i don't look at the stars any more...
...i just want someone to die for.
Probably one of my favourite lyrics ever ever ever. Sortof describes how I'm feeling about stuff at the moment. I kindof well like a girl but I have completely forgotten how to go about courting, that's pretty bad isn't it? I don't really know how to do things in the conventional sense at all. I'm not even sure I have the balls to ask her to do something with me, if we know each other well enough to facilitate me asking that. Is that how things are done? Fuck knows. All I know is I have a +1 for Futureheads/Johnny Foreigner this weekend and I'll be damned if I'm not using it on someone fun. I'm just scared of fucking up. OH WELL.
I did a blog yesterday on the mistakes.in.animation myspace which has lots of stuff in it, some stuff I've said in here but there's some song lyrics and stuff in it, dunno if anyone who reads this wants to take a look but here you go. Actually getting properly excited about the way things are panning out, if we end up playing New Slang on the 18th, looks like Martin will be staying the weekend prior to that and joining us for the Surbiton HC Cocktail Party. I want Dave to come too, with a Stella box on his head. But three days of solid practicing = just what we need. Perfect timing as well - although Scarlett's in New York, it means we can tighten everything up. Scarlett's a good enough musician in her own right and knows the songs well enough to be able to play along with us quite happily (we'll just do plenty of vocal work before the show itself as my vocals are well poor).
Finally, the Blakfish fundraiser went really well, we raised about £200 for them which will go towards gear they really need. It was a tiring and stressful day / weekend in general, but that was worth it. Jose Vanders in particular was amazing, she was completely out of place on the bill but she blew quite a few people away with her songs and general stage demeanour. Can't wait to have her play for me again.
Current listening:
Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Blakfish - See You In Another City
The Boxer Rebellion - Exits
Probably one of my favourite lyrics ever ever ever. Sortof describes how I'm feeling about stuff at the moment. I kindof well like a girl but I have completely forgotten how to go about courting, that's pretty bad isn't it? I don't really know how to do things in the conventional sense at all. I'm not even sure I have the balls to ask her to do something with me, if we know each other well enough to facilitate me asking that. Is that how things are done? Fuck knows. All I know is I have a +1 for Futureheads/Johnny Foreigner this weekend and I'll be damned if I'm not using it on someone fun. I'm just scared of fucking up. OH WELL.
I did a blog yesterday on the mistakes.in.animation myspace which has lots of stuff in it, some stuff I've said in here but there's some song lyrics and stuff in it, dunno if anyone who reads this wants to take a look but here you go. Actually getting properly excited about the way things are panning out, if we end up playing New Slang on the 18th, looks like Martin will be staying the weekend prior to that and joining us for the Surbiton HC Cocktail Party. I want Dave to come too, with a Stella box on his head. But three days of solid practicing = just what we need. Perfect timing as well - although Scarlett's in New York, it means we can tighten everything up. Scarlett's a good enough musician in her own right and knows the songs well enough to be able to play along with us quite happily (we'll just do plenty of vocal work before the show itself as my vocals are well poor).
Finally, the Blakfish fundraiser went really well, we raised about £200 for them which will go towards gear they really need. It was a tiring and stressful day / weekend in general, but that was worth it. Jose Vanders in particular was amazing, she was completely out of place on the bill but she blew quite a few people away with her songs and general stage demeanour. Can't wait to have her play for me again.
Current listening:
Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Blakfish - See You In Another City
The Boxer Rebellion - Exits
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
in the right light you can see the dust as it falls through the air...
So, it's coming around to my favourite time of the year. Ok, that might be somewhat biased in that, the 18th December is my birthday, the 25th is Xmas, and the 1st January are all within close proximity with each other, but I guess on a personal level there's a little more to it than that.
I'm at uni right now, trying to sort out the endless saga that is my 2nd year enrolment, and thus the release of the second instalment of my student loan. Recently I've been driving up to Ealing instead of taking the K3/65 bus routes (and back again) - mainly because it saves time but also because I can choose which route to go and what music to listen to loudly - today was Rolo Tomassi's new album (which, while confusing, is brilliant). I left at about 3pm, which meant that the sun was just on the cusp of setting and the autumn leaves looked even more orange than usual. I love it when the weather's like this, it makes me feel all warm inside in a slightly gay way. Whatever.
I decided that my route, today, would be A3 up to Roehampton, then through Richmond Park to Richmond and then onto Ealing. Easy. Noone told me, however, that the Robin Hood Roundabout entrance to Richmond Park had been closed for about 3 years. Good skills, Noble. So this had pretty much ruined the prospect of driving through one of London's most beautiful parks in great weather, and getting that general 'good feeling' as a result.
Instead, I ended up driving through Sheen, and being surrounded by impoverished foreigners. Great. So yeah that saddened me a little (the lack of Richmond park, not the foreigners, they ALWAYS sadden me), but it also made me think that for the last couple of years, I've always had someone at this time of the year that I can totally share that whole romantic vibe with. I think I'm in agreement with Dartz when I say I prefer cold holidays 'cos I don't like the heat. I like the idea of travelling to Eastern Europe and having to wear 80 layers to keep warm and having rosy cheeks but also having someone special with you to share it all with.
This year, not only am I more alone than ever but I'm DREADING spending Xmas with my parents. It's going to be pretty hard on us all, I think, but worse for my parents. In the aftermath of Lindsay's passing, my way of dealing with it was just to try and move on, and plunge myself into other projects and try and ignore what had happened. I think I still haven't really taken it all in, but I do miss him terribly. My mum's way of dealing with things was pretty much crying for a month, and my dad's was to have a heart attack - clearly a winner family. I think we're having family friends over for Xmas dinner, but it's still not really going to fill the hole that missing a brother has left.
In other news, Martin (Keep, of former Clique Application, Lowerway and generally being fat fame) has joined my band to play bass. Someone mentioned, that as he's going out with Scarlett, there might be some kind of Fleetwood Mac-esque problem but that didn't even cross my mind, we're all good mates so hopefully it should work. We had our first practice all together last Saturday, and got a lot done. I finally feel like I have a real band, and I finally feel like we're moving in a direction I want to be travelling. I wrote some lyrics last night - about what, I'm not entirely sure - but it appears to be about staying true to yourself and fighting for what you believe in. How Jetplane.
I'm still injured and taking some fairly hefty drugs to cure the sciatica in my left leg, which means I sometimes get hallucinations when I'm driving. Maybe I should stop driving so much. I think I'm off home now, I parked in a space that said "Stop & Shop - 30 minutes only, no return within 2 hours". I hope I don't have a parking ticket.
Current listening:
Rolo Tomassi - Hysterics
Interpol - Our Love To Admire
Enemies - Alpha Waves EP
I'm at uni right now, trying to sort out the endless saga that is my 2nd year enrolment, and thus the release of the second instalment of my student loan. Recently I've been driving up to Ealing instead of taking the K3/65 bus routes (and back again) - mainly because it saves time but also because I can choose which route to go and what music to listen to loudly - today was Rolo Tomassi's new album (which, while confusing, is brilliant). I left at about 3pm, which meant that the sun was just on the cusp of setting and the autumn leaves looked even more orange than usual. I love it when the weather's like this, it makes me feel all warm inside in a slightly gay way. Whatever.
I decided that my route, today, would be A3 up to Roehampton, then through Richmond Park to Richmond and then onto Ealing. Easy. Noone told me, however, that the Robin Hood Roundabout entrance to Richmond Park had been closed for about 3 years. Good skills, Noble. So this had pretty much ruined the prospect of driving through one of London's most beautiful parks in great weather, and getting that general 'good feeling' as a result.
Instead, I ended up driving through Sheen, and being surrounded by impoverished foreigners. Great. So yeah that saddened me a little (the lack of Richmond park, not the foreigners, they ALWAYS sadden me), but it also made me think that for the last couple of years, I've always had someone at this time of the year that I can totally share that whole romantic vibe with. I think I'm in agreement with Dartz when I say I prefer cold holidays 'cos I don't like the heat. I like the idea of travelling to Eastern Europe and having to wear 80 layers to keep warm and having rosy cheeks but also having someone special with you to share it all with.
This year, not only am I more alone than ever but I'm DREADING spending Xmas with my parents. It's going to be pretty hard on us all, I think, but worse for my parents. In the aftermath of Lindsay's passing, my way of dealing with it was just to try and move on, and plunge myself into other projects and try and ignore what had happened. I think I still haven't really taken it all in, but I do miss him terribly. My mum's way of dealing with things was pretty much crying for a month, and my dad's was to have a heart attack - clearly a winner family. I think we're having family friends over for Xmas dinner, but it's still not really going to fill the hole that missing a brother has left.
In other news, Martin (Keep, of former Clique Application, Lowerway and generally being fat fame) has joined my band to play bass. Someone mentioned, that as he's going out with Scarlett, there might be some kind of Fleetwood Mac-esque problem but that didn't even cross my mind, we're all good mates so hopefully it should work. We had our first practice all together last Saturday, and got a lot done. I finally feel like I have a real band, and I finally feel like we're moving in a direction I want to be travelling. I wrote some lyrics last night - about what, I'm not entirely sure - but it appears to be about staying true to yourself and fighting for what you believe in. How Jetplane.
I'm still injured and taking some fairly hefty drugs to cure the sciatica in my left leg, which means I sometimes get hallucinations when I'm driving. Maybe I should stop driving so much. I think I'm off home now, I parked in a space that said "Stop & Shop - 30 minutes only, no return within 2 hours". I hope I don't have a parking ticket.
Current listening:
Rolo Tomassi - Hysterics
Interpol - Our Love To Admire
Enemies - Alpha Waves EP
Monday, 10 November 2008
in the meantime, they moved all the factories...
On Friday, I put on Outcry Collective, Young Guns, Cut The Blue Wire and Scholars at The Fighting Cocks. It's no lie that I'm not a massive fan of the first three bands, and I only booked that lineup because Blakfish were originally on the lineup and it's always good to help them out. But after the show I was at total breaking point.
It's one thing putting on loads of shows with bands that you're into, because if you lose money then at least you can say, "Well, I put on this amazing show and I really enjoyed the night." Except Friday was not that at all. Scholars were really good but they only played to about five people. Not even the other bands dignified them an audience, because they were out the front of the venue having a drink with their mates. Not saying that they SHOULD have been in the venue watching, they can do what they like, but it's only polite.
So having lost money on my last four or five shows I was basically at breaking point by about 10pm, when some guy came to the door and claimed he was on the (rather extensive) Outcry Collective guestlist. I'd made it a cheap list of £2 entry because I really couldn't afford to lose yet more money on another show, so when this guy showed up, I explained he had to pay two pounds, he gave me a look and went, "What?!" as to say that £2 was an extortionate amount to pay for a gig. At this point I'd had enough so I just let him in free, far rather just let him be a prick than have to justify any of my actions to such a narrow-minded individual.
Of course, there will be those of you who read this who will be like, "OMG DEL BUT YOU ALWAYS ASK TO BE ON DA GUESTLIST!" At risk of sounding all "one rule for me, one rule for everyone else", and while I also don't feel a need to justify what I do, I'm going to anyway:
1. If anyone ever asked me to pay a reduced amount for a show, I would gladly do it. And HAVE done it.
2. I would never, ever ask to be guestlisted for what is essentially a DIY show. Even if it is all mates' bands playing (Tellison/Tubelord/Colour in Leeds recently = good example. Gem puts on some really good shows in Leeds, you should check them out.
3. In terms of what putting on shows has cost me this year (I'd estimate I've lost somewhere in the region of £600-£700 this year), you would probably agree that it evens itself out. Me not paying in to see Youthmovies in London on Thursday, for example, was a request so I could flyer one of my own shows, and not end up with a massive debt at the end of it.
4. Everything I do within the music industry is always done with the best intentions at heart. While a few years ago I was pretty naive about everything (and I don't claim to be a wise old man now, I'm still learning new things every day and taking it all in with an open mind), it's a difficult industry to be involved in and there's a massive minefield of politics and people who seem to be working against each other rather than working for each other.
So while on Friday I had all the life sucked out of me and I went to bed feeling like I had a lead weight on my shoulders, Saturday more than redeemed everything and restored every faith I have in music, the music-buying public and just PEOPLE in general.
During the day I had pulled my hamstring playing hockey so I wasn't in the best of shape come the evening when I went to buy the rider for Youthmovies/Adam Gnade/Colour. When I arrived at the venue with £100-worth of food and drink, I half-expected it to be chaos but in fact, everyone was in good spirits - we even finished soundcheck early, which NEVER happens. The gig came, we had 110 people in, it was amazo. It completely re-affirmed every reason why I put on shows, everything about the night was enjoyable and all the bands were lovely.
Sometimes I wished that happened all the time. Not to make it completely effortless, I quite enjoy some of the legwork behind putting on shows, but it would be nice to sometimes have something to show at the end of the night, and feel like the end product justifies the effort I put into it. Because I put a LOT of effort in. And despite owing a few people here and there, I consider myself to be in that 10% of "trustworthy promoters" in the UK.
Here endeth rant, I really needed to get a lot of that off my chest. I can't see myself doing many shows next year because I'll be concentrating on my band more, and helping out Tubelord and Colour to a greater extent.
2009 is promising. But 2008 hasn't finished yet, and I have a lot of unfinished business to address...
Current listening:
Sigur Ros - Heim / Hvarf
Secondsmile - Years
Jose Vanders - The Red Black Blue & Tortoise
It's one thing putting on loads of shows with bands that you're into, because if you lose money then at least you can say, "Well, I put on this amazing show and I really enjoyed the night." Except Friday was not that at all. Scholars were really good but they only played to about five people. Not even the other bands dignified them an audience, because they were out the front of the venue having a drink with their mates. Not saying that they SHOULD have been in the venue watching, they can do what they like, but it's only polite.
So having lost money on my last four or five shows I was basically at breaking point by about 10pm, when some guy came to the door and claimed he was on the (rather extensive) Outcry Collective guestlist. I'd made it a cheap list of £2 entry because I really couldn't afford to lose yet more money on another show, so when this guy showed up, I explained he had to pay two pounds, he gave me a look and went, "What?!" as to say that £2 was an extortionate amount to pay for a gig. At this point I'd had enough so I just let him in free, far rather just let him be a prick than have to justify any of my actions to such a narrow-minded individual.
Of course, there will be those of you who read this who will be like, "OMG DEL BUT YOU ALWAYS ASK TO BE ON DA GUESTLIST!" At risk of sounding all "one rule for me, one rule for everyone else", and while I also don't feel a need to justify what I do, I'm going to anyway:
1. If anyone ever asked me to pay a reduced amount for a show, I would gladly do it. And HAVE done it.
2. I would never, ever ask to be guestlisted for what is essentially a DIY show. Even if it is all mates' bands playing (Tellison/Tubelord/Colour in Leeds recently = good example. Gem puts on some really good shows in Leeds, you should check them out.
3. In terms of what putting on shows has cost me this year (I'd estimate I've lost somewhere in the region of £600-£700 this year), you would probably agree that it evens itself out. Me not paying in to see Youthmovies in London on Thursday, for example, was a request so I could flyer one of my own shows, and not end up with a massive debt at the end of it.
4. Everything I do within the music industry is always done with the best intentions at heart. While a few years ago I was pretty naive about everything (and I don't claim to be a wise old man now, I'm still learning new things every day and taking it all in with an open mind), it's a difficult industry to be involved in and there's a massive minefield of politics and people who seem to be working against each other rather than working for each other.
So while on Friday I had all the life sucked out of me and I went to bed feeling like I had a lead weight on my shoulders, Saturday more than redeemed everything and restored every faith I have in music, the music-buying public and just PEOPLE in general.
During the day I had pulled my hamstring playing hockey so I wasn't in the best of shape come the evening when I went to buy the rider for Youthmovies/Adam Gnade/Colour. When I arrived at the venue with £100-worth of food and drink, I half-expected it to be chaos but in fact, everyone was in good spirits - we even finished soundcheck early, which NEVER happens. The gig came, we had 110 people in, it was amazo. It completely re-affirmed every reason why I put on shows, everything about the night was enjoyable and all the bands were lovely.
Sometimes I wished that happened all the time. Not to make it completely effortless, I quite enjoy some of the legwork behind putting on shows, but it would be nice to sometimes have something to show at the end of the night, and feel like the end product justifies the effort I put into it. Because I put a LOT of effort in. And despite owing a few people here and there, I consider myself to be in that 10% of "trustworthy promoters" in the UK.
Here endeth rant, I really needed to get a lot of that off my chest. I can't see myself doing many shows next year because I'll be concentrating on my band more, and helping out Tubelord and Colour to a greater extent.
2009 is promising. But 2008 hasn't finished yet, and I have a lot of unfinished business to address...
Current listening:
Sigur Ros - Heim / Hvarf
Secondsmile - Years
Jose Vanders - The Red Black Blue & Tortoise
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
you've got me wrapped around your finger, do you have to let it linger?
Linger by The Cranberries was sung by a school band way back when I was in Year 8 at some talent show my school did. Every time I hear it on the radio it seems to rekindle memories of way back when, mainly good stuff though.
The weekend was fairly productive and busy, two hockey matches, a social at Surbiton and other such malarky.
I began Saturday working behind the bar til 3pm, then played for the 4As where we lost 3-1 to London Edwardians. In fairness, we played badly but on a better day we should have won. Afterwards was the most boring game of Mens 1st XI hockey I'd ever seen, which finished Surbiton 1, Reading 1. Then followed 'The Pink Party', in aid of a Breast Cancer charity. We raised a lot of money and I drank a lot of drink. Some good things happened that night, some bad things happened that night, I learnt a few lessons but generally it was good fun! Haven't enjoyed myself at a Surbiton social so much for a good while and it was quite amusing watching James Ashcroft devour Cleo Halliday's face. (Note: I didn't just stand there watching them, that would be a bit weird.)
Had to be in the club early the next day and I thought I was 45 minutes late, turned out the clocks went back so I was 15 minutes early. Fuck me. I lasted til midday then sacked it off early, had a quick nap then drove to pick up a few players to go to Winchester and play hockey for uni. We drew 2-2 in a delayed (and shortened) game, we would have won if we'd had the extra 15 minutes a half, but there you go. I was very happy with the way my squad played, given we'd lost 8-1 the previous week to opposition of a similar standard. Good times. This week we have a home game and I'm looking at getting our first victory.
Got home (eventually) and did the door for Strung Out, really needed the petrol money so it was worth it despite being absolutely shattered. Monday was a bit boring with work then hockey coaching at TVU, but we did a lot of work on sweep hitting and eventually it began to hit home (no pun intended) that it was the easiest way to make a hockey ball go from A to B accurately.
Today has again been more of the same and I'm pretty bored, I should go for a run but apparently it's snowing outside (well, according to everyone's facebook statii) so I have no real motivation to go for a run and gain a mangina. Though I really should.
I might utilise the exercise bike that's in the spare room of the shed.
Current listening:
Biffy Clyro - Blackened Sky
The Don Ramos Players - S/T
The Sea And Cake - The Fawn
The weekend was fairly productive and busy, two hockey matches, a social at Surbiton and other such malarky.
I began Saturday working behind the bar til 3pm, then played for the 4As where we lost 3-1 to London Edwardians. In fairness, we played badly but on a better day we should have won. Afterwards was the most boring game of Mens 1st XI hockey I'd ever seen, which finished Surbiton 1, Reading 1. Then followed 'The Pink Party', in aid of a Breast Cancer charity. We raised a lot of money and I drank a lot of drink. Some good things happened that night, some bad things happened that night, I learnt a few lessons but generally it was good fun! Haven't enjoyed myself at a Surbiton social so much for a good while and it was quite amusing watching James Ashcroft devour Cleo Halliday's face. (Note: I didn't just stand there watching them, that would be a bit weird.)
Had to be in the club early the next day and I thought I was 45 minutes late, turned out the clocks went back so I was 15 minutes early. Fuck me. I lasted til midday then sacked it off early, had a quick nap then drove to pick up a few players to go to Winchester and play hockey for uni. We drew 2-2 in a delayed (and shortened) game, we would have won if we'd had the extra 15 minutes a half, but there you go. I was very happy with the way my squad played, given we'd lost 8-1 the previous week to opposition of a similar standard. Good times. This week we have a home game and I'm looking at getting our first victory.
Got home (eventually) and did the door for Strung Out, really needed the petrol money so it was worth it despite being absolutely shattered. Monday was a bit boring with work then hockey coaching at TVU, but we did a lot of work on sweep hitting and eventually it began to hit home (no pun intended) that it was the easiest way to make a hockey ball go from A to B accurately.
Today has again been more of the same and I'm pretty bored, I should go for a run but apparently it's snowing outside (well, according to everyone's facebook statii) so I have no real motivation to go for a run and gain a mangina. Though I really should.
I might utilise the exercise bike that's in the spare room of the shed.
Current listening:
Biffy Clyro - Blackened Sky
The Don Ramos Players - S/T
The Sea And Cake - The Fawn
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
waveforms, shape, love, never again, cos I think I'm overdone too...
Hmm, seems to have been a while since I last 'blogged' (what an ugly word, sounds like some kind of bodily function). A lot appears to have happened. Uni has started again, and I still haven't got my loan through, and that's basically a massive mess anyway so I have no idea what's going on there. I've been going to lectures at least, which is a start, but I seem to owe the uni quite a lot of money that I don't really have. Oh well.
My back is now also fucked from hockey, ironically I think I twisted it while taking a reverse stick shot, but I haven't really had a chance to rest it and I seem to be playing at least four times a week now. I'm coaching our uni side and although the first few sessions have been a little... wayward, and our first game an 8-1 loss to Brunel University, I'm still determined to make a team out of our players. Aside from that I have found myself playing for Surbiton 4As, the only thing being that the training clashes with uni training, so I have to burn it across from Chiswick to Surbiton in half an hour, and do a collective total of 4.5 hours of hockey in one evening. We also have games on Saturday and Sunday, which is good, but is doing my injury no power of good. Oh well. I'm on a mission to get fit and I'm not going to let that stop me. Though I really should see a doctor about it.
In other hockey-related news, my touring side, the infamous Lastminute.com Bandits, have been invited to play against the Estonian national side plus the two best Estonian Premiership sides at Easter. Not only is this a fairly prestigious affair, but it sorts out the quandry of where we were going on our Easter tour rather nicely. The thought that we might be playing an international side is pretty mind-numbing too, even if it is a smaller nation like Estonia, it's still a bit of an honour! We just need to find a new sponsor.
Musically, things have been up and down. mistakes.in.animation continue to be on the search for a bassist who will stick with the band and actually contribute. We were going to be playing at The Fighting Cocks on the 15th November as a sort-of, live comeback, with new songs in tow, but we're going for another month of rehearsing (which, admittedly, is going quite well) and then we're going to unleash our new set on the world. Facing the chop are Seafronts, Kissing and Letter With No Stamp. New working song titles include, 'Bite It', 'To A From B' and 'Everything Is An Education', as well as a couple of other songs we've not got lyrics for yet.
Promotions-wise, I've lost a lot of money recently, not entirely sure why as the bands I've been putting on are amazing but there you go. Coming up we have:
Friday 7th November 2008 - Outcry Collective, Blakfish, Cut The Blue Wire, Scholars @ The Fighting Cocks, Kingston-upon-Thames
Saturday 8th November 2008 - Youthmovies, Adam Gnade, Colour @ The Fighting Cocks, Kingston-upon-Thames - Buy tickets here!
Saturday 15th November 2008 - The X-Certs, Look! I'm A Ghost, Omes (ex-I Was A Cub Scout) 1 band TBC @ The Fighting Cocks, Kingston-upon-Thames
Saturday 22nd November 2008 - Blakfish fundraiser all-dayer @ The Brixton Windmill! - featuring (in no particular order) Blakfish, Colour, Tubelord plus many more to be confirmed.
Tuesday 9th December 2008 - Big Scary Monsters Records Xmas Tour @ The Windmill, Brixton (acts TBA)
Friday 19th December 2008 - Kunt And The Gang, Ten Masked Men, Los Mendozas, Hot Spunk @ The Fighting Cocks, Kingston-upon-Thames
Saturday 27th December 2008 - Headliner TBA, Tubelord, Colour, Blakfish - The Fighting Cocks, Kingston (INVITE-ONLY)
Then after that, I'm not sure I'm going to do much in the new year because it's really putting a strain on my wallet. Hopefully we can get Oceansize back again in Kingston as that's always a top night. I'm tour managing Tubelord now which is going to take up a fair bit of my time, especially when we're doing tours rather than one-off dates. But it's exciting and I can't wait to be even more involved in a band who I hold pretty close to my heart (not in a gay way). It's great to finally feel properly vindicated about backing a band who have always been friends and who I've known would someday scale the heights they're reaching. I've been backing them for long enough now and they're finally coming up trumps, it's fucking great and I'm very happy for them.
There's not really a massive amount else to say, girls are being as confusing as ever, and I miss a lot of my friends who are far away. I've got a car now and despite the fact it's been instrumental in sorting out my problem with punctuality, it's really odd not being able to just go and visit people whenever I want and sometimes I feel like I'm intruding a bit, that I overstay my welcome and that generally people are glad to see the back of me. I'm probably just being paranoid (I mean, I AM fucking awesome) but it does worry me.
Finally, mainly for Ben's benefit, I have allowed a company called BeatCast TV to become involved in the gigs I put on, and who are also immersing themselves in other areas of the Kingston music scene. They are filming a bunch of gigs being put on by both myself and Banquet, and then making them available online as downloadable podcasts. All you have to do is click here and sign up, which takes about 10 seconds. It really is a fucking great site. Already up are Dartz, Tubelord and Pennines videos. It's all FREE too.
I'd forgotten how good Biffy's b-sides used to be.
Current listening:
Adebisi Shank - This Is The Album Of A Band Called...
This Town Needs Guns - Animals
Arms & Sleepers - Black Paris 86
Ben Folds Five - Whatever And Ever Amen
My back is now also fucked from hockey, ironically I think I twisted it while taking a reverse stick shot, but I haven't really had a chance to rest it and I seem to be playing at least four times a week now. I'm coaching our uni side and although the first few sessions have been a little... wayward, and our first game an 8-1 loss to Brunel University, I'm still determined to make a team out of our players. Aside from that I have found myself playing for Surbiton 4As, the only thing being that the training clashes with uni training, so I have to burn it across from Chiswick to Surbiton in half an hour, and do a collective total of 4.5 hours of hockey in one evening. We also have games on Saturday and Sunday, which is good, but is doing my injury no power of good. Oh well. I'm on a mission to get fit and I'm not going to let that stop me. Though I really should see a doctor about it.
In other hockey-related news, my touring side, the infamous Lastminute.com Bandits, have been invited to play against the Estonian national side plus the two best Estonian Premiership sides at Easter. Not only is this a fairly prestigious affair, but it sorts out the quandry of where we were going on our Easter tour rather nicely. The thought that we might be playing an international side is pretty mind-numbing too, even if it is a smaller nation like Estonia, it's still a bit of an honour! We just need to find a new sponsor.
Musically, things have been up and down. mistakes.in.animation continue to be on the search for a bassist who will stick with the band and actually contribute. We were going to be playing at The Fighting Cocks on the 15th November as a sort-of, live comeback, with new songs in tow, but we're going for another month of rehearsing (which, admittedly, is going quite well) and then we're going to unleash our new set on the world. Facing the chop are Seafronts, Kissing and Letter With No Stamp. New working song titles include, 'Bite It', 'To A From B' and 'Everything Is An Education', as well as a couple of other songs we've not got lyrics for yet.
Promotions-wise, I've lost a lot of money recently, not entirely sure why as the bands I've been putting on are amazing but there you go. Coming up we have:
Friday 7th November 2008 - Outcry Collective, Blakfish, Cut The Blue Wire, Scholars @ The Fighting Cocks, Kingston-upon-Thames
Saturday 8th November 2008 - Youthmovies, Adam Gnade, Colour @ The Fighting Cocks, Kingston-upon-Thames - Buy tickets here!
Saturday 15th November 2008 - The X-Certs, Look! I'm A Ghost, Omes (ex-I Was A Cub Scout) 1 band TBC @ The Fighting Cocks, Kingston-upon-Thames
Saturday 22nd November 2008 - Blakfish fundraiser all-dayer @ The Brixton Windmill! - featuring (in no particular order) Blakfish, Colour, Tubelord plus many more to be confirmed.
Tuesday 9th December 2008 - Big Scary Monsters Records Xmas Tour @ The Windmill, Brixton (acts TBA)
Friday 19th December 2008 - Kunt And The Gang, Ten Masked Men, Los Mendozas, Hot Spunk @ The Fighting Cocks, Kingston-upon-Thames
Saturday 27th December 2008 - Headliner TBA, Tubelord, Colour, Blakfish - The Fighting Cocks, Kingston (INVITE-ONLY)
Then after that, I'm not sure I'm going to do much in the new year because it's really putting a strain on my wallet. Hopefully we can get Oceansize back again in Kingston as that's always a top night. I'm tour managing Tubelord now which is going to take up a fair bit of my time, especially when we're doing tours rather than one-off dates. But it's exciting and I can't wait to be even more involved in a band who I hold pretty close to my heart (not in a gay way). It's great to finally feel properly vindicated about backing a band who have always been friends and who I've known would someday scale the heights they're reaching. I've been backing them for long enough now and they're finally coming up trumps, it's fucking great and I'm very happy for them.
There's not really a massive amount else to say, girls are being as confusing as ever, and I miss a lot of my friends who are far away. I've got a car now and despite the fact it's been instrumental in sorting out my problem with punctuality, it's really odd not being able to just go and visit people whenever I want and sometimes I feel like I'm intruding a bit, that I overstay my welcome and that generally people are glad to see the back of me. I'm probably just being paranoid (I mean, I AM fucking awesome) but it does worry me.
Finally, mainly for Ben's benefit, I have allowed a company called BeatCast TV to become involved in the gigs I put on, and who are also immersing themselves in other areas of the Kingston music scene. They are filming a bunch of gigs being put on by both myself and Banquet, and then making them available online as downloadable podcasts. All you have to do is click here and sign up, which takes about 10 seconds. It really is a fucking great site. Already up are Dartz, Tubelord and Pennines videos. It's all FREE too.
I'd forgotten how good Biffy's b-sides used to be.
Current listening:
Adebisi Shank - This Is The Album Of A Band Called...
This Town Needs Guns - Animals
Arms & Sleepers - Black Paris 86
Ben Folds Five - Whatever And Ever Amen
Friday, 12 September 2008
the only thing worse than bad memories is no memories at all
Things that annoy me about New Slang:
1. People asking me, "Excuse me, do you work here?"
No, I'm just stood by the door, wearing my shirt that says "STAFF", clutching the mailing list and generally making sure nothing goes wrong. If you are either too drunk or too stupid to realise that, your night should probably end there.
2. People who think they can take drinks outside when they're smoking.
There are two big fuck-off signs that say "NO DRINKS BEYOND THIS POINT". So why do you look at me incredulously when I say, "Sorry, you can't take that drink outside."? It is not your god-given right to flout licensing laws just because you are too WEAK to be able to survive without the ridiculous waste of money and health that is cigarettes.
3. People who generally disrespect the bouncers.
The reason you're in a headlock is because you're a dickhead. The bouncers are there for your safety and if there's an emergency in the club, they will be your greatest ally. If, in your infinite wisdom, you decide that it's ok to call them a cunt after they've given you a verbal warning for some misdemeanour or another, then you can fully expect them to use force against you. It's something called respect. Generally I make a rule of not calling people twice my size a cunt, or having fights in clubs, but if that's what you're into then you can fully expect to get what you deserve.
4. Sean or Jon playing Salt, Peppa and Spinderella when I'm busy loading out.
This is neither cool or funny. This song should only be played in the last hour of New Slang when I am tired and stressed, so that I can kick back and have a little dance.
Aside from that, I freakin' love New Slang.
Tonight I am playing for a Surbiton HC Mixed Uni Leaver's XI against the Surbiton Mixed U18 XI. I am aiming to score a lot of goals.
Current listening:
The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
1. People asking me, "Excuse me, do you work here?"
No, I'm just stood by the door, wearing my shirt that says "STAFF", clutching the mailing list and generally making sure nothing goes wrong. If you are either too drunk or too stupid to realise that, your night should probably end there.
2. People who think they can take drinks outside when they're smoking.
There are two big fuck-off signs that say "NO DRINKS BEYOND THIS POINT". So why do you look at me incredulously when I say, "Sorry, you can't take that drink outside."? It is not your god-given right to flout licensing laws just because you are too WEAK to be able to survive without the ridiculous waste of money and health that is cigarettes.
3. People who generally disrespect the bouncers.
The reason you're in a headlock is because you're a dickhead. The bouncers are there for your safety and if there's an emergency in the club, they will be your greatest ally. If, in your infinite wisdom, you decide that it's ok to call them a cunt after they've given you a verbal warning for some misdemeanour or another, then you can fully expect them to use force against you. It's something called respect. Generally I make a rule of not calling people twice my size a cunt, or having fights in clubs, but if that's what you're into then you can fully expect to get what you deserve.
4. Sean or Jon playing Salt, Peppa and Spinderella when I'm busy loading out.
This is neither cool or funny. This song should only be played in the last hour of New Slang when I am tired and stressed, so that I can kick back and have a little dance.
Aside from that, I freakin' love New Slang.
Tonight I am playing for a Surbiton HC Mixed Uni Leaver's XI against the Surbiton Mixed U18 XI. I am aiming to score a lot of goals.
Current listening:
The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
Monday, 8 September 2008
harpsichords will save us all
So that was a pretty hectic weekend. Might as well go through the full story as there's a fair amount involved.
My mum gave me a lift home from work on Friday and I jumped on a train to Waterloo with all my gear. At Hinchley Wood, I bumped into Ian Halliday (also part of our touring side) so we had a good chat about all sorts of hockey politics before arriving in London. There we met with Saity and Captan Fatman (the only people who had arrived at the time) and were presented with our tour shirts. Red with dark blue trim, they actually looked pretty quality.
After buying a four-pack of Red Stripe for the journey, we all boarded the 18:35 train to Bournemouth and found a place next to a bike rack that had enough room for eight of us to stand. I'd also procured a pack of cards so we spent the journey playing Higher or Lower. Also, at various stops along the journey, Cpt Fat had provided us with A3 size printouts of photos from Bournemouth tours in the past. It was certain players' duty, at each stop, to put these up as posters and dance around them, then get on the train just before the doors closed.
Sadly, Matt Sheridan failed and he was left at Southampton Airport Parkway, so we all left the train at Southampton Central and waited for him to arrive on the next train. His face, as the train began to pull away, was priceless. On the left is Daryl and I having a bit of champagne while waiting for Matt to turn up.
We arrived in Bournemouth a lot later than anticipated, but we were picked up from the station by Saity's parents, whose house we would be staying in for the duration of the weekend. Having consumed a fair amount of beer, champagne, and sports drinks with various alcohol applied, I do not remember entering the house, getting ready for the night out, getting to the centre of Bournemouth, or even half the pubs or clubs we were in. I do, however, remember getting slapped by a girl who was selling shots in one of the pubs (for some reason I felt it appropriate to pinch her arse) and then at around 2am, most people left to return home. Myself, Daryl, Ian and Jimmy went to the local casino, however.
Despite becoming a member that night, I decided, in my horrifically inebriated state, that putting any money down on anything was probably a VERY bad idea. So Daryl bought us both breakfast burgers and then we went home, leaving Jimmy and Ian to play Roulette (Ian won £35).
The next morning, we were up at 9am, and I felt fairly horrific. Mrs Sait had, however, cooked us all bacon baps. One of those (and a banana + a LOT of orange juice) later, I didn't feel much better, but I certainly didn't feel like someone had sawn off my head and shat in my neck.
We were supposed to be playing beach football that morning, but sadly, the weather had conspired against us so we stayed at the Saits' and chatted until about 1pm when we decamped via minibus to Bournemouth Hockey Club. The club itself was quite big, also with football and rugby pitches so the clubhouse was much nicer than ours. Sometimes, despite Surbiton being one of the greatest clubs in the UK, seeing other clubs puts us to shame a little bit.
Anyhow, the game began and within 5 minutes it was obvious we were all still feeling the effects from last night. I put my back into it and eventually shook off my hangover, but we found ourselves 1-0 down, and Ian Halliday had a penalty brilliantly saved by the keeper. However, we drew level with a well taken goal from Ian, a mazy dribble ending with a well taken finish from the right, past the keeper and just underneath the backboard to the left of the goal.
We took the lead soon after through Comedy Goal #1; ball coming in from the left glanced by Fitchy towards the goal - the keeper thought it was going wide so he stood and left it, and we all watched in disbelief (he probably watched in horror) as the ball crept between him and the front post. They however drew level soon after when Daryl fouled one of their forwards, only for them to play the advantage well while Daryl and Capt Fat floundered, thinking they would take a free hit.
We regained the lead after the second half, due to a quick tactical change that the opposition couldn't counter. Our right wing, Barry Kumar, took a ball hard in the foot, so while he recovered I switched to his position and he went up front. Ian picked the ball up in centre midfield and I cut in from a wide right position and latched onto a superb through ball, before putting the ball away with some finesse into the corner. 3-2 to Surbiton Surbiton.
Again, they drew level (with a very fortuitous foot that the umpire claimed not to hsave seen) but again we reclaimed the lead when I pounced upon a loose ball in the D and headed it past their keeper. I'm still unsure how the ball went in, but the umpire said the goal would stand. 4-3 up. They equalise. Again.
Finally, with mere seconds to go, a horrific mistake from one of their defenders allowed Jimmy Wickens to latch onto a loose ball and bobble it past the keeper's reach to make the final score 5-4. RELIEF.
Post-match, a few beers and a game of touch the cup help us to all wind down before being taken away by a slightly drunk Mr Sait in the van. A 40-minute power-nap later, and we're getting ready for a meal at Lastrada in Bournemouth. I order my food then promptly forget what I've asked for, causing much confusion at the table. Barry and Terry Kumar both leave us to get the train home, we pay and then make our way to a club in the centre of town. I don't know the name of the club, nor do I really care, there's a lot of cheese music. Jimmy and myself have a walk round to see if there is any rock or indie being played in either of the smaller rooms, upon our return (fail) we both raise smiles to the likes of Queen and Van Halen being played. 
More smiles are raised when a group of young ladies come and dance near us, including this fine young filly on the right, who we nicknamed "Bob The Builder". Highlights of the evening included the Dance-off Competition (won by Matt Sheridan), Tony Haycroft's high kicks when dancing with the ladies on the table next to us, and all of us spending only £20 and getting constant drinks. Good shit.
At around half 3, everyone decided to leave but Ian and I again went to the casino, with a couple of "free £10 bet" vouchers in tow. I did quite well. Well enough, in fact, to pay for my entire tour. I think I have a Roulette addiction now.
Sunday morning was, again a slight struggle (not least because we'd got back to the Saits' at 5am) but we were up and out to go and play Mini Golf. After leading the scores after 9 holes, I crumbled under pressure and ended up finishing joint-last with Fitchy. After a final (delicious) lunch at Saity's, we were dropped at the station, and said our goodbyes. I got home weary, but a bit excited because I knew Megan was coming over. We had a nice night in and although I was really tired, we watched American Psycho (she loves it, I've never seen it, I had just downloaded it) and an episode of 24 (I love it, she'd never seen it, I wanted to re-watch it and indoctrinate her).
Waking up Tuesday morning without her felt really weird. It's kindof odd how I've not known her very long yet I feel like I've known her for ages, and that we're just generally really comfortable around each other. It's really fucking cool and it's nice to feel wanted again.
Monday and Tuesday were spent working (with hockey practice on Monday evening) and then Dave and I managed to get a free slot at the Peel on Tuesday evening for a good band practice. We've finished two songs musically and structurally, one of which has lyrics, the other of which i'm yet to write some for as i don't think any of the currently written lyrics fit it well. We also jammed out a few riffs I'd written into something fast and punky and fun. It was cool.
Today I have sat at work all day doing fuckloads of shipments. As soon as I get this main project finished though, the company are paying for my car insurance YESSSSSSSS. So I might have it for the weekend. We'll see.
Current listening:
Adebisi Shank - This Is An EP...
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
65daysofstatic - The Destruction Of Small Ideas
Sigur Ros - Heim
Aereogramme - White Paw EP
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