Greetings chaps,
It's been a while since my last update, and a bit of a wait from my last gig report. This is due to laziness and.....Hitler.
I Shall redeem myself!
First , let us step inside my time machine and back to the 18th of november. The SOFA CITY charity event "Why don't you turn of your TV and do something less boring instead?" or WDY? For short.
First of all what is SOFA CITY you ask? well this is: http://www.sofacity.moonfruit.com
A collective of musicians brought together by a drunken idea of equality.
With a simple idea/manifesto:
1:Share Responsibility.
All bands playing help organise the venue, promotion and equipment for the gig.
2:Keep it simple.
Don't overload the bill with loads of bands.
3:Take it in turn to open and Headline
4:Share the bounty equally.
All gate money gets split with the bands after costs.
5:Stick around to see the other bands.
or
"Thou shalt not leave after playing your shitty little poem or song you self-righteous prick"
Ironically with the charity event, I forgot to promote it, there was at least 7 bands on, we got no money ;) radioactive bones have headlined before, also I left before the last act came on because I had work the next morning, at half past arse.
Oh well,rules are made to be broken.
But in truth it's a great philosophy for local gigs. I plan to set up a few Soton Gigs in the SOFA spirit in the future. Maybe we should get a seal of approval for gigs like the free range eggs badge.
The gig itself was great fun. To watch and play despite epic lyric fail while playing the theme tune to the *Wombles. And on the hour long walk home I made 8 quid busking. I say busking , I was idly playing banjo and people gave me money.
If only there was a way to that on a greater scale so I can pay the rent.
In regards to my gig at the Portman on Sunday (the 26th), it was a cracking little gig. Big thanks to Tom "Afro Nimja" Somerfield for getting the gig and being a solid chap as always.
Of course thanks to Lils, Jack,Sam and Gina for popping along.
Really pleased with the set, whipped out Wild rover and Maggie Malone to get the chatterboxes at the bar to turn round and sing along. Started the set to the roar of idle conversation ended it to the roar of Drink up!
... Then I went out and got very drunk at Chaplins Bar.
All in all a Grand day out.
Next gig is In Portsmouth on the 8th of December at the RMA tavern in Eastney.
Don't for get your towel!
(ten points if you get the reference)
Ta ta chaps!
Chunks,
P.s I'm going to start putting next years Bemis dates up on www.sweetchunks.co.uk also keep an eye out for The Chunks and Chums house party tour 2012.
Also keep a nose open for new Chunks gigs in the new year.
Oh yes and the eventual E.P
*I had a moment of joy when auto correct tried to change Wombles to Wimbledon...
Monday, 28 November 2011
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Down in the winch at midnight
Wednesday:
Good evening Chaps.
Against all my better judgement i shall attempt this drunk.
Please forgive any and all spelling/grammatical errors.
I am writing this in the company of the reverend B-radshaw. In his kitchen, on his laptop getting scared of windows 7. But fear not I have real ale and tea...
This was as far as my blogging got on Wednesday, then I succumbed to the effects of Rev B-Rads music collection, tea and late night chicken.
Bare in mind those 6 lines, (as monumental as they may be) took 2 whole hours to write. so i decided to write a few notes and attempt it when i was in a more eloquent state.
Thursday:
Onto the gig!
I arrived in Winchester and rushed to the sound check, only to find (as usual) that the other bands were running late and I (despite being on time) would have to hang around and rush my sound check.
With out meaning to (but sounding incredibly) prissy, it is becoming a peeve. That and Headline acts fucking off during the support slots.
The thing that annoys me about this is that you have to go out of your way to do it. You come all this way ( the headliners were fom Leeds) and instead of just relaxing, listening to some new music, you go out of your way to avoid it. Then have the gall to talk all humble on stage. and in some cases "thank" the other acts.
This isn't a rant at any particular band, although Ellen And The Escapades did fuck off throughout all the support acts. its more a frustration at the current scene, especially "indie" bands. While we're expected to bask in the eternal fucking glory of their "fresh, indie sound" They are too busy, in another pub, enjoying Colon-cushioned head comfort when the rest of us are performing.
The Getaways played after me. less said the better really. Shit indie band that couldnt be arsed or as i have renamed them Sibtcba
The audience weren't upfor it (promotor cock up) so they didnt put any effort in at all.
Matt Isaacs was a sublime guitarist. Very much up my street. switching between acoustic and a resonator. he played a nice mix of folk and slide blues. (once i get the links sorted ill post it up)
A really nice chap too, we spent a good chunk of time chatting about John Martin. and session guitaring. i hope to catch him again soon.
Also he watched all of the bands play too...
Ellen and the Escapades despite the above mentioned problems, were very very good. Reminded me of Laura Marling but heavier. im expecting to see more of those chaps in the music press..
One strange and very annoying thing that kept happening was a couple of old farts kept saying shh during the Ellen set.
Two things annoyed me:
1 The sad old farts saying Shh were talking through the other sets, so this immediately made me want to strike up a drunken and boisterously loud conversation with who ever was causing the shh'ing.
2 Its a live venue not a fucking library! she's amplified so people can hear the musician if there is background noise like talking, or if some old twat is saying Shh.
The silly old codger was probably the dad or something anyways...
After the Gig I Took up the good reverends offer of his floor space and Debriefed at his Flat with some homebrew and The War of the Worlds soundtrack.
And an idea was formed about The First Sweetchunks Tour. A series of free house parties with me playing
hmm.. a tasty piece this could be. we shall have to see...
I shall keep you posted..
Ta Ta
'Chunks
Good evening Chaps.
Against all my better judgement i shall attempt this drunk.
Please forgive any and all spelling/grammatical errors.
I am writing this in the company of the reverend B-radshaw. In his kitchen, on his laptop getting scared of windows 7. But fear not I have real ale and tea...
This was as far as my blogging got on Wednesday, then I succumbed to the effects of Rev B-Rads music collection, tea and late night chicken.
Bare in mind those 6 lines, (as monumental as they may be) took 2 whole hours to write. so i decided to write a few notes and attempt it when i was in a more eloquent state.
Thursday:
Onto the gig!
I arrived in Winchester and rushed to the sound check, only to find (as usual) that the other bands were running late and I (despite being on time) would have to hang around and rush my sound check.
With out meaning to (but sounding incredibly) prissy, it is becoming a peeve. That and Headline acts fucking off during the support slots.
The thing that annoys me about this is that you have to go out of your way to do it. You come all this way ( the headliners were fom Leeds) and instead of just relaxing, listening to some new music, you go out of your way to avoid it. Then have the gall to talk all humble on stage. and in some cases "thank" the other acts.
This isn't a rant at any particular band, although Ellen And The Escapades did fuck off throughout all the support acts. its more a frustration at the current scene, especially "indie" bands. While we're expected to bask in the eternal fucking glory of their "fresh, indie sound" They are too busy, in another pub, enjoying Colon-cushioned head comfort when the rest of us are performing.
The Getaways played after me. less said the better really. Shit indie band that couldnt be arsed or as i have renamed them Sibtcba
The audience weren't upfor it (promotor cock up) so they didnt put any effort in at all.
Matt Isaacs was a sublime guitarist. Very much up my street. switching between acoustic and a resonator. he played a nice mix of folk and slide blues. (once i get the links sorted ill post it up)
A really nice chap too, we spent a good chunk of time chatting about John Martin. and session guitaring. i hope to catch him again soon.
Also he watched all of the bands play too...
Ellen and the Escapades despite the above mentioned problems, were very very good. Reminded me of Laura Marling but heavier. im expecting to see more of those chaps in the music press..
One strange and very annoying thing that kept happening was a couple of old farts kept saying shh during the Ellen set.
Two things annoyed me:
1 The sad old farts saying Shh were talking through the other sets, so this immediately made me want to strike up a drunken and boisterously loud conversation with who ever was causing the shh'ing.
2 Its a live venue not a fucking library! she's amplified so people can hear the musician if there is background noise like talking, or if some old twat is saying Shh.
The silly old codger was probably the dad or something anyways...
After the Gig I Took up the good reverends offer of his floor space and Debriefed at his Flat with some homebrew and The War of the Worlds soundtrack.
And an idea was formed about The First Sweetchunks Tour. A series of free house parties with me playing
hmm.. a tasty piece this could be. we shall have to see...
I shall keep you posted..
Ta Ta
'Chunks
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Play fighting,Tiny Birds and Jack Daniels
As I now have a long train journey with nothing to do other than look at the back of other passengers' heads, i may aswell blog the gig.
Despite Nevil's (our guard) best attempts to pass the time and his private details over the tannoy, I find myself looking back over the night.
At first I contemplated a blog about my distain for London, going on and on about the grey manotony of it all. But I realised that was shit so I shall instead summarise my feelings thusly:
London:
Love the tube, too big, full of cunts..
Now onto the gig..
Arrived on time and raring to go, as usual no other band had a arrived for sound check and the promotor was absent (again).
After chatting to the bar staff, I found out I would only be paid after I brought 10 people through the door. As my London fan base is limited to be optimistic, non existent to be accurate, the chance of me getting any money towards train fare was also limited to be optimistic, non existent to be accurate.
With not even a complementary drink to tide me over till the bourbon started calling, I got on with my sound check.
Met a young lad from a grunge band playing later that night (who's behaviour would see him close to having a smoke machine rammed up his arse),and a great bunch of chaps from the band Tiny Birds.(www.reverbnation.com/tinybirds
If you like Mumford and sons, you'll like this.)
They opened up the night and despite starting with an audience of 2 including me. They jolly well went for it as if it were Wembley. Hats fully off to them they played a cracking set and despite the promotors best attempts to keep the pub as empty as possible, they drew in a few people from the street.
Had a chat with the chaps and hopefully will be trying to get them down 'ampshire way in the new year.
My set went down nicely and got a rapturous sing along from drink up. Mainly thanks to Tiny Birds giving it the preverbal welly.
But... Do you remember the boy I mentioned who (barely) avoided being impregnated by a smoke machine... Anally.
Well the reason for my displeasure was during my 3rd tune (lufestre) he decided a good way to show appreciation was to wrestle his band mate in front of the stage. At first I thought it was a fight so I nearly stopped, but the silly pratt was just rolling around on the floor. So dispite having lost my flow a little bit I had to carry on.
After the gig he came to "apologise" but what affronted when I said that it was "taking the piss"
I'm sorry but drunkenly rolling around like a spaz isn't exactly going to get you fucking brownie points. It's a one way ticket to smoke machine rape station.
Strangely enough, no bugger hung around for his set, even the sound engineer came out for a natter half way through their first song.
I call that twat justice!
Oh well, all in all though I think I came out on top. Found a new band I like and want to follow, made some new chums and hopefully some new contacts.
London may be a bit shit but ive actually enjoyed gigging here, especially the travel. Did I mention I liked the tube? Shame it's full of cunts though!
Tattie bye
'Chunks
Despite Nevil's (our guard) best attempts to pass the time and his private details over the tannoy, I find myself looking back over the night.
At first I contemplated a blog about my distain for London, going on and on about the grey manotony of it all. But I realised that was shit so I shall instead summarise my feelings thusly:
London:
Love the tube, too big, full of cunts..
Now onto the gig..
Arrived on time and raring to go, as usual no other band had a arrived for sound check and the promotor was absent (again).
After chatting to the bar staff, I found out I would only be paid after I brought 10 people through the door. As my London fan base is limited to be optimistic, non existent to be accurate, the chance of me getting any money towards train fare was also limited to be optimistic, non existent to be accurate.
With not even a complementary drink to tide me over till the bourbon started calling, I got on with my sound check.
Met a young lad from a grunge band playing later that night (who's behaviour would see him close to having a smoke machine rammed up his arse),and a great bunch of chaps from the band Tiny Birds.(www.reverbnation.com/tinybirds
If you like Mumford and sons, you'll like this.)
They opened up the night and despite starting with an audience of 2 including me. They jolly well went for it as if it were Wembley. Hats fully off to them they played a cracking set and despite the promotors best attempts to keep the pub as empty as possible, they drew in a few people from the street.
Had a chat with the chaps and hopefully will be trying to get them down 'ampshire way in the new year.
My set went down nicely and got a rapturous sing along from drink up. Mainly thanks to Tiny Birds giving it the preverbal welly.
But... Do you remember the boy I mentioned who (barely) avoided being impregnated by a smoke machine... Anally.
Well the reason for my displeasure was during my 3rd tune (lufestre) he decided a good way to show appreciation was to wrestle his band mate in front of the stage. At first I thought it was a fight so I nearly stopped, but the silly pratt was just rolling around on the floor. So dispite having lost my flow a little bit I had to carry on.
After the gig he came to "apologise" but what affronted when I said that it was "taking the piss"
I'm sorry but drunkenly rolling around like a spaz isn't exactly going to get you fucking brownie points. It's a one way ticket to smoke machine rape station.
Strangely enough, no bugger hung around for his set, even the sound engineer came out for a natter half way through their first song.
I call that twat justice!
Oh well, all in all though I think I came out on top. Found a new band I like and want to follow, made some new chums and hopefully some new contacts.
London may be a bit shit but ive actually enjoyed gigging here, especially the travel. Did I mention I liked the tube? Shame it's full of cunts though!
Tattie bye
'Chunks
Saturday, 5 November 2011
What is happening to me?.!?
First of all.. Hello my name is 'chunks and I'm a cold play fan. I bought all their albums and I really want to see them live.. It's destroying my relationship. But I don't care..
Any ways...
Greetings chaps
Recently I've noticed some changes my life. I'm steadily steaming towards a professional music career, I no longer want the adoration of folk musicians, I love playing random nights supporting electro puffs and Death core metal bands. I now no longer want children (thanks to Dexter series 4) and I enjoyed the new Coldplay album on first listening.
What does this mean dear friends?
1
Well musicly speaking all you followers of mine are aware of my slut like gigging and I am of course in indebted to the support of my friends. Who fill up otherwise empty venues so I don't feel foolish.
But my revelation about Folk clubs and random showcases come from my recent shows. Originally my fear was that I would spend my life going round and round dingy folk clubs playing wild rover for the rest of my life. Being ostracised by my generation for playing old music.
Thankfully reality is much kinder. My music (and my attire) have been greatly received by all the contemporary venues and audience. I even had a 16 year old indie guitarist come over to chat to me about bb king.
That and the fact that at traditional pub and folk venues I get regular heckles of "vandal" when I add my own twist to traditional tunes, makes me feel a bit like Dylan going electric. (no I'm not getting delusions of BoB)
Why try and entertain sad old fucks who want you to play dirty old town "exactly like the Dubliners" when you can gig with musicians your own age, with fresh music and get young musicians excited about the music you love... Not a dificult decision really...
2
Watch Dexter series 4 and you'll never want kids, it leaves you no time for your murdering.
3
Normally when buying Coldplay records I dont like it,then It grows on me. I over play it then stop listening, then the next one arrives. (a bit like a serial killers cycle).
But i enjoyed myloxoloxylo on first listening.
This either means that after all these years I've stopped being a musical nazi , maybe I've relaxed my attitude and finally enjoy music for the sake of music and not give a shit who wrote it. Maybe finally I can just enjoy the joys of songwriting from all cultures and pull my head out of my arse.
Or Coldplay just aren't trying any more.
Cheerio
'Chunks
Any ways...
Greetings chaps
Recently I've noticed some changes my life. I'm steadily steaming towards a professional music career, I no longer want the adoration of folk musicians, I love playing random nights supporting electro puffs and Death core metal bands. I now no longer want children (thanks to Dexter series 4) and I enjoyed the new Coldplay album on first listening.
What does this mean dear friends?
1
Well musicly speaking all you followers of mine are aware of my slut like gigging and I am of course in indebted to the support of my friends. Who fill up otherwise empty venues so I don't feel foolish.
But my revelation about Folk clubs and random showcases come from my recent shows. Originally my fear was that I would spend my life going round and round dingy folk clubs playing wild rover for the rest of my life. Being ostracised by my generation for playing old music.
Thankfully reality is much kinder. My music (and my attire) have been greatly received by all the contemporary venues and audience. I even had a 16 year old indie guitarist come over to chat to me about bb king.
That and the fact that at traditional pub and folk venues I get regular heckles of "vandal" when I add my own twist to traditional tunes, makes me feel a bit like Dylan going electric. (no I'm not getting delusions of BoB)
Why try and entertain sad old fucks who want you to play dirty old town "exactly like the Dubliners" when you can gig with musicians your own age, with fresh music and get young musicians excited about the music you love... Not a dificult decision really...
2
Watch Dexter series 4 and you'll never want kids, it leaves you no time for your murdering.
3
Normally when buying Coldplay records I dont like it,then It grows on me. I over play it then stop listening, then the next one arrives. (a bit like a serial killers cycle).
But i enjoyed myloxoloxylo on first listening.
This either means that after all these years I've stopped being a musical nazi , maybe I've relaxed my attitude and finally enjoy music for the sake of music and not give a shit who wrote it. Maybe finally I can just enjoy the joys of songwriting from all cultures and pull my head out of my arse.
Or Coldplay just aren't trying any more.
Cheerio
'Chunks
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