Graham Duff’s Mixtape & random pixxx
My new track Eerie World got a play on Graham Duff’s Mixtape (Totally Radio) for 13 April – listen to the programme here – good company I’m in.
And here, just because, are some recent live pix – they have that blurry nightmare feel I so enjoy:
Quarantune / new release / socially distant
Dexter Bentley’s Hello GoodBye Show on Resonance FM played a new song of mine, Caught Making Signals, as part of QUARANTUNE on Sat 4 April: “Enjoy the first flowers of lockdown in the form of new music written in response to the current pandemic”. Strictly speaking, my contribution was written and recorded before all this blew up, but it seems to fit regardless. See what you think – links above.
Am going to release a free album of the recording session that track was taken from: the band, live in the studio, one very hectic night… Date to follow!
Still haven’t done any live streaming on facebook or wherever yet, but mean to get my shit together soon – even if the idea of it feels a bit like making a model ocean liner out of toothpicks in a hermit’s cell. Again, date/s to follow (maybe).
Feb gig & a new song on the radio
Resonance FM session, 16 Nov
pic(s) by Dexter Bentley
Here’s the live session & interview we did for Dexter Bentley’s HelloGoodbye Show on Resonance FM – it’s very close to the start of the show, and is four uninterrupted songs (including a brand new number) followed by some chat:
(That was our afternoon. Later on, we went to Biddle Bros in E5 for a very loud gig. An ideal day.)
Resonance FM live session + gig, Sat 16 Nov
The band’s doing a live session in London this Saturday: Dexter Bentley’s HelloGoodbye Show, Resonance 104.4 FM – that’s from noon on 16 Nov. I’ve wanted to play on Resonance for ages, so this is something of a thrill (there might be an interview too).
Later that same day in the same city, we’re gigging on a great line-up… Here’s the info:
Sad House Daddy presents another lively Saturday night of exhilarating live music at Biddle Bros in east London. Free entry and featuring…
8:30pm THE GREAT MALARKEY (Acoustic)
Influenced by the likes of Tom Waits, Pixies, The Pogues, Beirut, Nick Cave, Fanfare Ciocărlia, Manu Chao, The Dead Brothers and Toots & The Maytals (the latter of whom they supported with only their third gig), The Great Malarkey are a riotous mix of musical styles delivered in a “multicultural train of fast beats and trembling slams of punk-folk spirit.” Earlier this year the song ‘Gimme Sugar’ from their second album “Doghouse” was chosen by Tom Robinson as BBC Radio 6 Music Recommend’s track of the week, getting played by daytime DJs Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq and Mary Anne Hobbs. The band play a special acoustic set tonight, featuring Alex ‘Ware-Woolf’ Gillings on vocals and guitar, Hugh Jones on vocals and guitar and Joni Belaruski on drums and vocals.
“A wild, multi-gendered gang of rebels brimming with deviant energy and fun… An absolute must see live experience” – Tom Robinson, BBC Radio 6 Music
https://www.thegreatmalarkey.com/
9:20pm LEISURE TANK
Leisure Tank are a new female led power duo arrived from Berlin playing raw, minimalistic rock with unpredictable song structures and heavy, danceable grooves. Originally, K.C. (Katalin Czenker) is from Ossak, a tiny East German farm town that was home before the wall came down. Her songs echo that tough landscape, while her gutsy voice and electric guitar can be compared to PJ Harvey or Anna Calvi. She is backed by Budi on drums who plays huge complex rhythms on a gorgeous old Ludwig kit. The duo, in other guises, performed over seven hundred shows in punk squats and alternative acoustic clubs across Europe for a decade, saving their newer harder sound for the tougher British bar and festival crowds. They have just released their latest single ‘Moema’ and are soon to release their just-completed album.
“Gripping indie rock at it’s best” – Tom Robinson
http://www.leisuretank.com/
https://leisuretank.bandcamp.com/
10:10pm MATT FINUCANE
Brighton based singer/songwriter Matt Finucane’s music takes influence from art rock, krautrock and electronic noise and mashes them up into something intense and energetic. His songs have drawn comparisons to Lou Reed, Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave and David Bowie and for several years he has been DIY-releasing albums at a steady rate, getting airplay on BBC Introducing: South (including a live session with an early version of the band), Kerrang Radio and The Séance, among others. He has just released his third album “Vanishing Island” and has a new EP titled “The Seizure” out in November. Live, Matt is accompanied by Stephen Parker on bass and Barney Guy on drums.
“He should be heard by many many people” – Louder Than War Magazine
“A delight. Always great to hear an artist doing things their way” – R*E*P*E*A*T
https://mattfinucane.net/
11:00pm VANITYACT
VanityAct have always been a product of a variety of burgeoning London music scenes. The band started in 2015 in a bedroom in Hackney, with the main goal of being equal parts jazz, soul and punk, and went on to scavenge inspiration from the rich and diverse music of East London’s local bars and pubs. Originally flying under the moniker of Bubblegum, the band decided to start recording an album before playing any shows. This led to the release of their full-length LP, “Life in Colour”, which laid the groundwork for their full-bodied, orchestrated sound, rich with gospel choirs and raw brass ad libs. This sonic idiom was fully realised on their 2018 releases, ‘Original Sin’ and ‘Sunset (in the Key of E)’. During that year they also started their own regular music night in collaboration with Deviant & Dandy Brewery, entitled “The VanityAct Jamboree”, where they invite their favourite London bands to play laid back sets. The band are Henry Louis Ogilvie Dabrowski on vocals and guitar, Gabi Demera on bass and vocals, Alex Montgomerie-Corcoran on guitar, Jamie Burnett on drums and Helen Walpole on synth and vocals.
https://vanityactforthepeople.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/vanityactforthepeople
https://www.instagram.com/vanityactforthepeople/
https://twitter.com/vanityactband
Overdrive interview &c &c…
Hope & Ruin gig went well – although enough’s happened since that it now feels like a vague, fond childhood memory – and the band gets ever more awesome: from early next year we’re doing more gigs, with new material to play.
I’ve got another meaty interview in Irish rock zine Overdrive – read here. Also, German indie radio’s NBT put Disquiet at 55 on their 410-album Best Of 2018, which as plaudits go is pretty heady: some of the names I beat are big and legendary (of course it’s not a contest… is it?… but a gong’s always welcome).
Anyway, big plans for 2019, including a new solo album and our first recordings as a group – starting February, probably. Here we are in that happy era of five weeks ago:
l-r: MF, Barney Guy, Stephen Bad Mother-Folker
xx
live session, Radio Reverb: listen back
Here’s a live session / interview I did for Pete Jones the other day on Radio Reverb (at 33min 58 onwards)…
There’s two unrecorded new tracks – one so new that I cocked up the intro twice, the suspense is incredible – and two from the forthcoming EP:
Not Too Far / Threaten Me with Your Love / Looking For A Genius / Moon Madness
There’s plenty of other tunes and chat, some of which took a weirdly confessional left-turn; a solid listen all round. See if you can tell how wretched my hayfever was; I reckon it doesn’t show at all, but what do you think?
BBC session free download
Here’s a free download, moved across to Bandcamp from Soundcloud.
It’s a BBC Introducing: South session with my previous live band (including links by DJ Melita Dennett – these were included in the original files they sent me afterward, and add a pleasing sense of the captured moment).
Live-wise, my next gig’s in Brighton at Campbell Rd Studios, for these guys:
Feel free to pig out on all of the above.
Kind words from Shindig Magazine, radio play & GIG
recommendation indeed
Shindig Magazine had some good words for Lilith – see above.
Doing a free gig in Brighton tonight at Molly Malone’s for StrungOut Music. Onstage early, 8:30ish, which means I’ll probably still be sober.
You can hear Lilith on RoundSound Radio – looks like a good show, all kindsa stuff going on. That’s from 8pm this eve.
Finally… got a nice (brief) write-up from SupaJam, complete with Soundcloud link.
So that’s 3 different ways you can check out the song for yourself, since I’ll also be playing it live: have a reckon.
live session, Radio Reverb TONIGHT
Mon Oct 12th: am playing a live session for Pete Jones on Radio Reverb 97.2FM tonight, which can be heard on the wireless or streamed live here. It goes out from 6-8PM, with a repeat on Friday at noon (see above). I’ll be doing songs old & new, and probably chatting a bit.
airplay! “Evil Empire” on The Seance
words/music/more words – a dish of news, July ’14
this, but on the radio
I’ve got an hour of spoken word and live music coming out on Radio Reverb, hopefully on Sun 27 July at 11pm (then repeated three times the following week). A preview of the first two and a half minutes can be heard here. That’s 97.2FM kids.*
It was a buzz to put together – kind of nerve-wracking too… if I manage to hold yr attention, unsettle you a bit: good.
Otherwise, got some gigs coming – including a London leg of Waterghosts.
UPDATE:
*& it’s now going out on Sun 24th August. Not sure what happened there, but it’s confirmed for broadcast on this date.
on the radio, muttering – Sunday 28 July (& Tue, Wed, Fri…)
preliminary notes
I’m on Radio Reverb this Sunday as part of an hour-long programme of spoken word and improvised music – that’s 28 July at 11pm, on 97.2FM. The programme’s repeated at the following times:
Tue 30 July 7am
Wed 31 July 11am, &
Fri 2 Aug 5am
care in the community (radio)
So… live session on Thursday (25th) went well – Under The Table on BHCR. Despite technical problems at the start of the show cutting into the timeslot (handled with aplomb by presenter Nigel Staley… truly, the man’s unflappable), it was a good programme and a buzz to perform on. The time issue meant I didn’t get to play a couple of pre-recorded tracks – from Glow in the Dark – but did manage to fit in:
Monkey – an old song recorded by my band Empty Vessels in 2006 (on the Parlour 9 Sessions album)
Phantom Party – from the Episodes EP
Undertow – from 1st album This Mucky Age
…Plus live versions of Wet Dream Disaster, Face of Stone & Larkin. I got these recorded, and will no doubt find a use for em soon. A freebie, perhaps. Did a spoken word piece and talked a load of shit about nudist beaches in Brighton, John Peel’s disembodied essence, that kind of thing, and selected tracks by Lou Reed (Waves of Fear) and The Fall (Ladybird).
Yeah, tech issues aside it was pretty sweet to have almost a whole programme to play with. Other than that, I’ve been offered a local gig – details very soon – and am hatching schemes and plans enormousfold.
Empty Vessels on Container Drivers Radio: old song, new programme
the past: cobwebs or stardust? discuss
The guys at Container Drivers Radio have another podcast up, featuring a song by my old band Empty Vessels.
- A Certain Ratio – Do The Du
- Joy Division – Warsaw
- Hawkwind – Death Trap
- Adrian Sherwood – Boogaloo
- The Lovely Eggs – Watermelons
- Monkeys In Love – I’m Alan
- Can – And More
- Sky Architects – Cave In
- Gespenst – The Bloodline
- The Fall – R.O.D.
- Althea and Donna – Uptown Top Ranking
- Power Switchblade – Keep it Light
- Jake Bugg – Taste It
- Empty Vessels – Monkey
- Stanley – Obstacles
- There Will Be Fireworks – Harmonium Song
- New Order – Vanishing Point
- X – Johnny Hit and Run Pauline
- Kingsley and Perrey – Unidentified Flying Object
- Bauhaus – Spy in the Cab
- Human Don’t be Angry – Asklippio
- Porcelain Raft – Put Me To Sleep
- Mugstar – Serra
- Ennio Morricone – L Estasi Dell Oro
- Signalsundertests – Kapelle
Thanks, as always, are in order. The song was recorded live at Rooz Studios, nr Old St in London, as part of an EP/album thing (it’s complicated). I’m told it was available in shops, back when that sort of thing mattered. Anyway, it’s a blast from the recent-ish past; my principles are unswerved, my delusions intact. If nothing else, it’s a nice fit with Hawkwind and The Fall.
BBC session – retrospect
The BBC Introducing: South live session we played is up on their site for the next 5 days, here.
We’ll get a recording of our songs, which were spread out across the broadcast, so I’ll probably upload it here &/or to Soundcloud at some point… Till then, check out the programme. It includes an interview, which I think went okay – the top of my head was spinning off somewhere in the upper atmosphere at the time. Managed not to swear or otherwise disgrace myself – can recall that much.
In all, sounded nice and crunchy; in fact we were ear-splittingly loud. No idea how the sound engineer made sense of this tidal sheet of fuzz, but what went on-air was magicked into something very tight and coherent, more so as we progressed. The fact we were lean, ready and up for it must’ve helped too.
Abiding memory? How swift and efficient the whole operation was – totally hassle-free, nice people to deal with – and, uh, playing with a big cardboard cut-out of Beloved National Treasure (and in my book, twat) David Jason as Del Boy, right in my eyeline. That and the chundering monotony of football, everywhere, inescapable.
No, seriously though: it was a pleasure. Had thought I was shackled to the acoustic guitar forevermore… Happily, I was wrong.
BBC Introducing: South radio session Sunday 24th June (info)
Okay, the live session on BBC Introducing: South is going out this Sunday, from 7 – 9 pm. We’re playing 4 songs and doing an interview. EDIT: 1st song goes out at 7:05.
Link to their webpage here. Info:
BBC Introducing: The South, 7-9pm Sunday evenings
BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey & BBC Radio Solent
Listen in Brighton on 95.3 FM
Listen in Sussex & Surrey 104-104.8 FM
Listen in Solent & Hampshire on 96.1 FM
Listen in Dorset on 103.8 FM L
Listen on-line
Text during the show on 81333 your normal rates apply, but you must start your text with the word ‘radio’
Email unsigned@bbc.co.uk
…I can promise the unpredictable, the colourful, the atom-smashing. Give us a listen, do!
more press & BBC session news
Here’s another write-up for Hard Science from is this music? Good again: I’m a punk poet prepared to push the boat out, it sez. Damn right.
The BBC Introducing: South session takes place next Sunday, 24th June – more details as soon as I have them (probably tomorrow).
GLOW IN THE DARK album: first press coverage/BBC gig
Here’s a nice write-up for the upcoming album at indiebandsblog.com …
And here’s one at withguitars.com
Appreciated, as ever. Live, the gigs are gradually pencilling in, circling like corner-of-the eye spectres… Also, just been offered a BBC radio session, so more news on that soon.
FUTURES & PASTS
old news and new news…
New: looks like I’ve finally got a band together, at least the strong framework of one. All we lack – perhaps – is a keyboard or synth (or even laptop) player. It’s sounding great so far… Exciting stuff.
Also, been getting some more airplay on Brighton’s Burst Radio – check em out.
Old: my former band Empty Vessels now has a Youtube channel here. There’s live footage in 3 parts, and also loads of free audio on Bandcamp. While I don’t want to make the mistake of raking around in the past too much, it captures the chaos and focused energy of those days – just as well I’ve got a new band, really.
more radio play for the single
hey BBC – I take it all back about the licence fee…
Hands Up got played on BBC Introducing: South again this weekend (I found out this morning).
As before, it can be heard on iPlayer for a week, till 7pm next Sunday. It’s the first track on the programme (again!) at about 1min 10secs in, here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7kh
A good start to the week – album out today, gig in London on Wednesday.
interview on Radio Reverb, Thur 21 Aug
In Brighton, Thur 21 Aug, 5-6pm
I’m being interviewed by Jeff Hemmings on the In Brighton programme this Thursday, on Brighton’s Radio Reverb.
It can be found on 97.2 FM, or listened to online. It goes out from 5 – 6pm, and is repeated at 11pm.
x
God bless the BBC
…and all who sail in her
Thanks to everyone who sent in comments to the BBC Introducing programme this evening. Very much appreciated.
It can be heard on iPlayer for the next week, here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00hrd41
…And Hands Up starts off the programme.
(In fact, I was disentangling myself from some internet admin guff and very nearly missed my own song. Was in that mix of frantic busy-ness and frustrated inertia that only technology can create – watching lots of coloured bars creeping toward fulfilment, only to be thwarted by tiny circles and error messages… I shudder thinking about it.)
Anyway, all’s well that ends well. The whole programme was great – if you didn’t get a chance to hear it on broadcast, give it a listen on iPlayer.
Radio play for Hands Up
BBC Introducing: The South – Sunday 10th, 7-9pm
Hands Up‘s getting played on BBC Introducing: The South by Melita Dennett this coming Sunday. Fantastic news – here’s the info:
BBC Introducing: The South, 7-9pm Sunday evenings
BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey & BBC Radio Solent
Listen in Brighton on 95.3 FM
Listen in Sussex & Surrey 104-104.8 FM
Listen in Solent & Hampshire on 96.1 FM
Listen in Dorset on 103.8 FM
Listen on-line
www.bbc.co.uk/sussex
www.bbc.co.uk/surrey
www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire
www.bbc.co.uk/dorset
You can email the programme with comments at unsigned@bbc.co.uk or text 81333 (you have to start the text with the word ‘radio’).
Good times.
