How does it feel... well here we are again. Last year I organised a gig, Plus played a long set as well as a really good assortment of friends played. The story behind this goes like this: most of the time we don't really look around for gigs. It's partly some missplaced pride or something. But we made our second album and, unlike the first one, I was really quite happy with how it turned out and wanted to make a modest effort to make the world listen in one way or another. Well, at least play one or two gigs. So I started looking around a bit more than usual. We're on myspace now, somewhat reluctantly, though nothing much happens on there, well I've uploaded all sorts of stuff but I'm not going to go out and spam loads of people about it, I find it a bit cruel, myspace, as a band you're almost obliged to plug your band on there otherwise you look like a bunch of nobodies, it's a little bit offputting to me, though it is of course a good way to put yourself out there, however distorted it may be. The only online place I feel really comfortable talking about this band that is really quite special to me over the years is this blog for some reason. Well, it is completely mine and I talk about whatever I want to. And that is probably partly the problem. I don't really feel like "promoting"too much, it starts with how do you describe the music, whats your angle, how do you "sell" it with a few words and five minutes . If you ask me all of this is true to some extent: it's quite "dark", it can definitely be "strangely flavoured" and posseses different shades, it's often improvised, it's rock music but it can be quite stripped down and downbeat, and it has a "vibe". Sometimes when we're rehearsing we reach a fantastic zen like state that we can sustain for hours but to translate it into a live gig or even recordings is partly the problem, though sometimes it actually works. Anyway, most promoters or venues just aren't interested, we're not young, "up and coming", we're not too perky, we don't do typical indie band kinda songs, we're not weird enough for the out-there scene (though to be fair I haven't really tried these kinds of promoters) though definitely too weird and indescribable for most promoters it seems. A lot of nights and venues try to group bands together that are "like each other", fit in with each other. We really stick out - a bit, and I can't tone it down even if I wanted to. I actually like playing with bands who do something different to us. I feel an affinity with other bands that could just be a similar attitude, being into the same band or kind of music, having a similar sense of humour. It definitely helps not taking the whole process too serious even though you love what you're doing. Anyway, we were told by this venue that we wouldn't really fit into any of the nights they had on but we could do our own night. And that has always been a little dream of mine...
I guess I'm fairly well placed to do this, I can still think of all sorts of nights involving friends of mine. So if this works (again) I might do it again. It's basically been fairly easy to put these things together, at least the bit about finding friends/bands/acts who are happy to get involved. The whole process is quite fascinating, I want to get people involved and have a really good night and present something special, at least to me. It's kinda a party among friends but there will be people there who I don't know and who don't know each other. It's non commercial and DIY but it wants to be taken seriously. It really could be something meaningful but most definitely it will be a little night where we play a show and make it like we want it, and there won't be anyone else telling us to stop. We invited ourselves.
So anyway, on Monday 3rd of March it's Blue Monday cos it's Monday and we're playing with the mighty AMY BLUE. We played with them at the now defunct Pleasure Unit a few years ago, I think it was their first ever show, at the time it was just the two of them fiddling around with equipment and guitars doing these weird noise pop songs with lots of loops and samples. It was compelling though a little chaotic. In the meantime they've added a bassist and a drummer, recorded a couple of EPs and are more of a full blown rock band (though for this show they might do some laptop freakout imrov interludes). They are very happy to play a slightly longer set as they have a lot of material too, and I really like their songs, and the noise textures, and the sense of humour... We also have a mystery project, Rail 66, which definitely features our friend Simon who among many other things (playing bass in Gallon Drunk, tour managing Bright Eyes) records us, it might involve his girfriend and another guy too, or it could be just him doing stuff on his laptop. Apparently he's been doing music for years but noone's heard it so this could be a bit special. He/They will start this off with a short set at 08.30, Amy Blue at 9 and we're on at about 10. DJ Hombre, a friend of the Amy Blues, will play old 45s and other stuff in between sets. It's at the Cross Kings, 126 York Way, near Kings X. We'll see how it goes... and I might report back! Come along if you want to!
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