Worth mentioning the new look of the website. We've not ended up making a big fuss of it, because that's not the point, the point is that the website does what we need it to do - but anyway, it's been designed...

...by Captain.

I like it a lot.

James

It was called the South Norwood Arts Festival. It was shortened to SNAF. It should then have been lengthened to SNAFU...! As you may have seen on the news page, one or two technical issues had to be overcome for the gig on Sunday, but I think we all really enjoyed it. The will-he-won't-he make it suspense of Chris Mayes' arrival, the why-won't-it terror of Bean's amp giving up the ghost, the what-on-earth when Mayes tapped on his RAT pedal to unleash a torrent of WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, the well-that's-typical of one of my sticks cleaving in twain during Lolita, the what-am-I-playing of James, unable to hear his bass...at all!

Well, whatever. None of it mattered really; people tapped and clapped along, we had a ball, and Bean got his photo with the local MP. Did he pull off the "shocker"? We'll post the photo when it's published... We also have some video footage, although quality control may be required - on first listen it sounded like everything was sung club-style and, in fact, we were unable to even identify the songs! If it's good we'll pop it on You Tube, if it's bad we won't, but if it's so bad that it's funny we might.

Thanks to everyone for coming and supporting a top local initiative, and well done to Jason and all at People for Portland Road for organising the whole shebang. Oh, and an extra special well done to the guys on sound. They managed to get a quart out of a pint pot.

Capt.

Phew. Played longer than expected, got a tan, great seeing such a large crowd. Lots more to say, but I'll save most of it for a newsletter, so sign up if you haven't. We're told it sounded great, which is what matters, but we could barely hear what we were playing! Nevertheless, had a blast and it's all character-forming, isn't it?

Bean and Mayes were, of course, wearing shades.

James

At the risk of dispelling a myth, I have a day job. In fact, we all do. Of course, in an ideal world we would all be able to devote all our time to the wonderful pursuit of writing, playing and recording music. However, because we all have selfish little habits like wanting to be able to buy food, that's not the reality.

When people, especially people I work with, find out that I'm in a band, almost without fail they ask "So are you trying to get signed then?" to which my response is always the same.

No.

Here's a fuller answer. There are a number of reasons for this. I have been in other bands before (although I don't like talking about it here; it's a bit like discussing your exes with your current partner) and, generally, if anyone in the band thinks it's going to be the Next Big Thing they tend to be rather disappointed when it doesn't happen. Then they start trying to figure out why (ignoring the obvious reason that the bands that do make it are pretty much a statistical anomaly). In the absence of any reasonable thought, they start to blame themselves or, more likely, their band-mates. Then the recriminations start, then the arguments, and a once brother-like group of people go their separate ways, rarely speaking again.

As such, when I was asked to move in to Ether City, I needed to be clear that we would be doing this for fun, and that nobody thought that the big-money record contract was just around the corner. Happily, that is the case and happily, that's one of the basic reasons that the band line-up has remained the same for so long. That and the fact that, at the risk of sounding twee, we all like each other.

In any case, the big-money record contract is never around the corner, for the same reason that the pot of gold is never at the rainbow's end. If bands that get signed are an anomaly, bands that aren't then ripped off by their record company are so freakishly rare as to almost be the stuff of myth.

Record companies exist to make money. They are businesses, they have shareholders, we live in a capitalist world. Like it or not, that's a fact. However, the music buying public are both fickle and predictable at the same time, God bless you. You know what you like and what you don't. You will buy what you like. You like Band A and buy their stuff. Say there's another band (Band B) that sounds just like Band A. In the ideal business model, the band would be signed up and make lots of money for the record company. However, half of Band A's fans might buy it, while the other half say "Band B are just imitation Band A, I'm not buying their stuff." Which is entirely reasonable. However, the record company require insurance against this in case nobody buys Band B's stuff. This is where advances and so on and so forth come in to play. The record company merely lends the band the money to make, market and sell the music. The record company then recoup the money from the sale of the records. They have clever accountants and lawyers, and so are able to recoup more than they spent before they even consider actually paying the band anything.

Even huge bands fall foul of this. When Mark Owen left Take That and released a solo album, he was delighted to hear that he had paid off the recording expenses. He was less so when told that he had only done so from his share of the money Take That made - and they were MASSIVE at the time. When someone who was probably in the top 5% of selling acts at the time can't make money, what hope is there for the small acts?

(I could go into the piracy arguments now - inasmuch as "are the artists really losing out when people download their material illegally, if they're not making any money anyway?" but that's a different matter.)

SO, the band are completely independent and happy to remain so. This means we have to bear the costs for everything to do with the band, but our music is ALWAYS free to those who want to download it. We do have a PayPal begging bowl if you want to pay any amount for the music, and this money goes in to a bank account from which we do not (cannot, in fact) draw a salary. It's purely to pay for the upkeep of the band, equipment, batteries, and whatnot.

All that said, if anyone from Calvin Klein wants to offer one of us a lucrative contract for modelling their pants, I can recommend Bean.

Much Love,

Captain

Just finished the last rehearsal before the first South Norwood gig. Everyone on very good form. Got to make sure we do a good sound check tomorrow; that'll set us up perfectly. Been focussing on this for a week - really up for it.

The strap on my bass guitar snapped about half way through the rehearsal... I've had it since I bought the guitar in late 2006, definitely time for a replacement.

We'll be on at half eight.

Hope to see you there.

James

We’re tying down the set list for Friday. Going to be playing a lot of covers, but also want to chuck in a couple of songs we’ve not played live before. Had a run through various things with Mayes on Monday and the full band’s meeting on Thursday.

Captain designed the flyer for the gig, by the way – we should get that up here, it’s been getting a lot of praise.

James

Hello all. More silence. Sorry! Just finished a period of assembling eight demos to play to the guys, which took up a lot of spare time. Finally got to do this last night, and got a good reaction. We may start looking at some of them soon.

It's always a strange occasion. Something like that, something you create, becomes very personal, and so you're very nervous. This manifested itself in me asking everyone if they wanted heating turned up, and when they said they felt fine, I realised my feeling cold was probably nerves.

The silences at the end of a demo mean a lot, usually, I think, that people didn't really go for a particular track! I say that because the ones where they do, it tends to happen in one of three ways:

1. Mayes starts talking about it at the end of the demo
2. Bean starts talking about it DURING the demo
3. Captain can be heard working out what drum line he'd like to add to it

I don't, historically, have a good record of knowing which of my songs the band or the public are going to like most. Odd. Ones I think are ace people think are fine, but not as good as others I didn't rate so much!

Love to all,

James

Boo! We'd gone all silent again. Mixing six songs (well, re-mixing one, it's Bad Streets). Nearly finished; I boldly predict they'll be done by the end of the year. Then a bit o'mastering and availability beckons in early January. Some great sounds we're really looking forward to sharing with you. Captain's biggest drum challenge. Bean's best vocals. Mayes's best guitar work. And I think I'm on there somewhere.

Love to all,

James

Good party, good night. Played two sets - acoustic and slower electric numbers (including one new, Wherever Days Go), and then a fast electric set (debuting Bean's great song All Washed Up), plus three covers - Strange Brew, Jumping Jack Flash and Ghostbusters (of course!).

Really sorry to hear Noel's leaving Oasis; I've always been a huge fan of the band. Him in particular, though; probably no one has made me persevere with music more than him. Any silver lining from this will be a solo album, which will probably be outstanding. Wish him all the very best - he's a legend.

James