Friday 27 April 2012

New song

http://soundcloud.com/karl-john-mason/sunny-day

Old punk, new tunes

I recently went out to tear it up.
like back when I was Nineteen.
A whooping Ten years ago.
I could have had a Ten year old kid by now.
In fact some of my friends do.
Anyway.
We went to the Cockpit.
A nightclub/venue in Leeds city center.
I've had some great nights there seeing bands,
and drinking the night away.
They have three room.
one plays cheese.
Everything from Prince to Backstreet Boys.
The main room plays whatever is popular.
I'm not sure how they gauge that nowadays.
Whats trending is my guess.
I dont know.
The third plays Indie as far as I can remember.
I didn't get in to the third room.
It was packed.
The whole place was to be honest.
First things first.
Christ was it loud.
It was ear splitting.
The first room you end up in,
the main,
was playing Dub step.
So as you can imagine i was less than pleased.
But fear not.
They played one song in the whole night.
In the main room,
where i spent most of the night,
they played good old rock, punk, ska, etc.
Everything I wanted.
It was like they had read my mind.
Does that mean my mind is on twitter?
...
Anyway,
I'm so glad my Girl Friend had some spare ear plugs.
Jesus it was loud.
I knew I was gonna have a head ache from all the head banging i was doing.
I didn't need the ringing in my ears too go with it.
Secondly.
Has none of the youth of today seen anyone ska dancing?
It was like a bunch of pilgrims watching a heaven try to conjure rain.
They where spell bound.
I soon had a circle round me.
Maybe they all though I'd gone mad,
and felt the need to go for a quick jog,
with out ever moving from the spot I was on.
Thirdly.
Never, never let me drink Newcastle brown again.
I used to have a teenage tradition.
When ever a song of tragic Kingdom by No Doubt came on,
 other than Don't speak.
Try not to be shocked but they did have more than one song.
I would buy, drink and dance to the song.
Dont ask why,
I cant remember.
I told my friend this tradition.
And by odd's of odd's just a girl came on.
sure enough he got me a bottle and i danced whilst trying to drink the rancid filth.
I must have truly grown out of it.
Anyway he bumped in to me,
apologised and ran off,
and before you could say just a girl.
He'd bought me a new bottle to replace the one he thought I'd dropped.
So now i had two bottles to neck.
Joy.
After that I was on to the coke.
As in Pepsi not the class A drug.
...
Final note.
Will all you young fellas please, please stop bro hugging in the mens.
Some of us need to piss.
Bro hug outside where passers by can view how your down with your bros.
I dont need it whilst I'm trying to piss.


Tuesday 17 April 2012

They did it better

I've spent most of the afternoon making some music on my synth.
Its a K station Bass synth by Novation.
I love it.
Hundreds of pre set effects,
and plenty of space to make your own.
I set it up and played a nice haunting synth sound.
Used my Boss RC-2 to record it.
Put the synth down and picked up my guitar.
Played Deftones's song change.
Great fun.
It got me in the mood to try and write some new music.
Set up my gear and recorded away.
I have a riff I've been playing with for awhile now on my bass.
I recorded that.
Put a haunting synth,
My favourite kind,
underneath.
Put a simple guitar riff on top.
Nothing special.
This was just the intro.
I could see this song stretching up past ten minutes or so.
I sat back to do some basic effects mixing and such.
Thats when it hit me.
It sounded like Tool.
Killer, I love Tool.
Problem is it sounded way to much like Tool.
To the point where I'm sure they've already recorded it.
This happens way to often.
Just when I think I have a killer riff,
something with that x factor that makes a song,
turns out someone has already done it.
Nuts.
I've saved the song till I can find out which one it is.
Though I might just finish it.
Hopefully when its done it wont sound to much like Tool that they'll sue.

Saturday 14 April 2012

Nobody gets out alive

Tuesday just gone I was at a gig.
It was Skindred and Therapy?
It was a lot of fun.
I didn't feel to old at this gig.
Though by eleven I really wish I was at home with a cup of tea.
Their was some forgettable band as first support.
I forgot what they sounded like almost instantly.
The second support was Black Spiders.
They where good in a Clutch style texas rock way.
First of the two band I wanted to see was Therapy?
I've been a fan of them since i first got hold of Trouble Gum way back when.
It was great to sing along to their songs with a couple of hundred other people.
The sound man needs a kicking though.
The bass clipped the whole way through the set.
Skindred where ace.
Benji was as always a brilliant front man.
They kept my attention the whole way through.
Even with their goofing around.
A great set from a great band.
As always I had my post gig takeaway.
Chicken Cottage.
Drowned in chllie sauce.
As we sat in the take away a bunch of white, teacher/bank manager types decided to have a argument outside.
Lots of pushing at each other and shouting.
A Jamaican customer in the shop turned to us and said,
in his thick accent.
"the problem with you white boys is dat when you fight you flap like peacocks."
Cracked me up all the way home.

Sunday 8 April 2012

Kick Flip

My home town been the way it was i didn't learn about a lot of bands till I hit college.
It been a small yorkshire town.
At school there was effectively me,
and every body else.
The only outlet at the time I started to discover music was my mums record collection.
Lots of Simon and Garfunckle and Simply Red.
In amongst it all was a lot of good Motown and soul records though.
I learnt about good music from movies.
Soundtracks where the way at the time.
Radio One been filled with shite pop.
I wasn't getting a lot of new music though.
As a child/young teen I watched the same movies over, and over.
Then along came a game that would change all this.
Along came Tony Hawks.
This sound track had it all.
Dead Kennedy's,
Primus,
Goldfinger(A personal fave for years to come),
The Vandals.
I was introduced to punk.
I learnt fast.
From everything from the Descendants to the Offspring, to the Clash and back again.
I was hooked on punk.
Then the sequels came out.
Featured more rock this time.
Fu Manchu,
Rage against the machine.
The third had some classic songs.
As the series progressed it became more about the songs and less about the skating.
I was always frustrated that I could never really skate all that well.
I used it as a way of getting around more than trying tricks.
As I got older it became more of a hassle to have it on me as I went to the bar.
but the music made me keep on buying them.
I cant remember which the last one I bought was.
All I remember that the soundtrack didn't excite me as much as it used to.
There was to much hip hop.
Not that I don't like classic hip hop.
To me being a skater was about punk, pop punk, ska and rock.
It was a different time I guess.
Skaters have changed the music they listen to.
To them I must look like those sixty's skaters with out a clue what was about to happen to the scene when the Z boys showed up.
But then i met a couple of skaters in college a few years back that listened to post rock.
So go figure.

Monday 2 April 2012

Were on a mission

I wouldn't say I was in to musicals.
Of the top of my head I can think of maybe three I like.
3. Moulin Rouge.
I like the plot and the way they use modern songs.
2. South Park the movie.
I dare anyone not to laugh at the songs in that movie.
That brings me to number one,
Blues Brothers.
I know.
Its pretty much everyones favourite musical.
Even if half the fans didn't realise it was a musical.
Its got great tunes.
Everyone a classic in their own right.
Great musicians.
All the top of their game.
Funny as hell.
Slapstick and good set ups.
Instantly quotable.
I could write a whole new blog to fill with quotes from this movie.
Iconic.
The car, the suits.
It's the highest selling blues record of all time.
Which is epic in its own right.
Especially as it has a country song on it.
Its just a great movie all round.
I have spent many an hour learning songs from it.
Dan, the man, Aykroyd is the sole reason I try to play the harmonica.
I love that movie.
The less said about its sequel the better.
Its not that they tried,
because the line up is great,
its that they failed to capture the feel of the first.
I think thats all to do with timing.
The music is of its time.
Still timeless.
but of its time.
You can guarantee if they tried to make a third it would have Sea Sick Steve in it.
Who by they way is great.
...
I think I'll watch it tomorrow.
Its been a while.
But for now I'll listen to the sound track one more time as I dust of my harp and try again to learn this blasted instrument.
Its the bend.
If I can crack that I'm home free.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Sunny day

Sunny day
A song I wrote sat in the dark about how I should have been doing something in the sun.
Enjoy.

Monday 26 March 2012

Two times lucky

I went to another wedding this weekend.
Im not going to review the music.
Their was more at this one I liked.
Something odd happened the day before.
The bassist from my first band asked me if I want to jam like old times sometime.
In the space of one month.
Both on eves of weddings.
I've been invited to jam with bassists looking to start new projects.
Are weddings good luck for me?
Or is it my suit?
Needless to say I'm excited about it.
By summer,
if I really am lucky,
I could be in two bands.
One goth the other punk.
That would be fantastic.
Im already thinking to far ahead of my self.
What band will play live first?
What will our first set be like?
Where will it be?
...
Will it even happen?
...
I'm going to make it happen.
...
...
...
1. The Clash - Rock the Casbah
2.  Journey - Dont stop believing
3. Queen - Its a kinda magic
...
Sorry couldn't help myself.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Jamming, not masturbating, by my self

I have a Boss RC-2
Anyone familiar with this pedal will know what its all about.
If not don't worry.
I'm about to go on about it.
Its a looper pedal.
It records what you play in to it and plays it back to you.
Its great for jamming to yourself.
One of my favourite things to play is Breath by Pink Floyd.
I just have to play the main riff.
Record it.
Then jam over the top of it.
easy as pie.
Though sometimes you can mess up the timing.
For this reason I've not tried been a one man band with it.
in the bed room you can forgive any little mess ups with timing.
Though been me I cant sit with it.
It ruins a perfectly good solo.
Missing a tenth of a beat can really throw you of your stride.
But its great for jamming out new ideas.
Just make sure its last in the effect chain.
Last night I decided to learn the Powerhouse B riff.
You'll know it if you hear it.
Its the theme to Honey I shrunk the kids.
Anyway, I recorded the bass part then jammed the main riff over.
Couldn't stop myself from grinning.
I decided to try it with some delay/reverb,
See how it sounded.
I have a line six Spider.
It added the effects to both the bass and the guitar making the riff sound terrible.
Lesson I learnt last night.
The line six is always number one in the effects chain.
Boss RC-2.
Highly recommended.

Saturday 17 March 2012

The happiest goth in the room

I went to a gig last night despite feeling like death.
My friend plays synth in a goth band I I've not had the chance to see them yet.
It was in a bar in town I like.
Its got an old school vibe to it.
The toilets are filled with graffiti.
The only problems are,
One,
there, for some insane reason, is no heating.
Two,
I am for all intents beyond skint.
Three,
at about nine it fills with hipster's.
My friends band where playing upstairs.
There was some sort of hipster band playing downstairs.
They looked like we owed them something and they sounded terrible.
Everything I hate about modern music.
But i wasn't there to see them.
I was there to see my friends band.
Their called Action Directe.
I'd say their a industrial, goth, punk band.
They where fun.
The only band on, as the other pulled last min.
They played for thirty minutes.
They made me wish I was in a band.
But fear not.
I'm not going to go on about how much I miss it,
even though I do.
My friend in the bands girlfriend wants to jam.
She has even expressed an interest in maybe starting a band with me.
I'm like a kid at christmas.
Even though its nothing in stone the chance that I might get to jam/play in a band again is excellent.
Even if it does end up being angry goth punk with synths in.
Not that thats a bad thing, just not the band I though I'd end up in.
I'll have to try and steer it towards being more like Depech Mode.
The fact that it might happen.
Thats enough for me.
I'll have to get all my demos and stuff in order.
Time to show of my music CV as it where.
I have demos covering a wide range of music styles.
From Chap hop to ISIS style ambient.
Just have to find the right ones.
Or the good ones at least.
Think I'll use the NIN style ones.

Monday 12 March 2012

You may now kiss the bride.

Been a wedding DJ.
Now theres a job I wouldn't like to do.
The problem would be pleasing everybody.
It cant be done.
I was at a wedding this weekend.
Everyone at the wedding could be fitted in to three simple categories.
With the occasional against the curve type.
Category one.
The old folks.
Their going to need lots of seventies music.
Mostly disco,funk and soul.
This I can put up with.
A bit of Motown never did anyone any harm.
The disco has a charm to it, in the fact that we all know the lyrics.
Category Two.
The youngsters.
This is a broad term.
It covers nearly every one between eighteen to thirty.
Its mostly filled with bad pop.
Not even bad euro pop like Aqua.
Nah, I mean bad trend bands like LMFAO.
The only saving grace in this category is Katy Perry.
Category the third.
Everyone sat at my table.
We where all grungers, goths and oddly, obscure funk fanatics.
Now I don't want to come across as to old,
or a music nazi.
But there wasn't much on the playlist for us.
But saying that we comprised a grand total of four people.
The dance floor at anyone time was full to the brim with the hundred other people dancing their socks off.
The DJ did a great job off keeping everyone dancing.
The only time when there was room enough for us to dance was the number one song,
in my opinion.
So the top three songs of the night as voted by me on behalf of everyone else.
In at number 3,
Love shack by the B52's.
Number 2 by a massive lead on number 3,
Lets Dance by David Bowie.
and at number 1 just by a ants hair,
Just cant get enough by Depech Mode.

Thursday 8 March 2012

Were here to sell out and stuff

In movies and TV there are lots of made up bands.
A lot of times their better than most real bands.
Sometimes you get to see them.
Tenacious d, Flight of the Concords.
Sometimes though there are bands we wont/don't/cant get to see live.
Stillwater, Hangmans joke.
Two bands I would love to see live are
Jeffster from Chuck
and,
Sex Bomb Omb from Scot Pilgrim vs the world.
Both great bands from a great show and movie.
Both of which feature great sound tracks.
Jeffster do covers.
Their covers stick in my head better than the originals.
As a group their just so weird.
On vox a awkward sex pest.
On synth/guitar a odd ball sex pest.
They are both unparalleled stalkers.
Their a great comedy duo.
A fifteen minute set would be enough.
I know they've done sets a comic cons.
If I want to see them I'll have to hope they play another comic con,
and that I'm there.
But America is a long way to travel to see a Fifteen minute comedy set that in all probability wont be very good.
Though I could be proven wrong.
Sex Bomb Omb.
The hand full of tracks we have for them are brilliant.
All featured on the fantastic soundtrack CD.
Short, punchy grunge of the college variety.
From the movie we can tell that they go all in for their live performances.
Even if they are cut short for battles with evil ex's.
If we could get the actors together again we could get them to perform a set.
Would they play live?
Probably not.
Not unless we paid them a lot.
Sadly.
But it would rock.
Even if we had just paid through the nose for a five song set.
Would I travel to America to see them?
Only if they played at CBGB's.
And they cant.
Because like the band sadly it doesn't exist.
...
When I went to go guitar browsing,
and came away with my Cobain Jaguar,
and a thousand quid lighter.
Totally worth it though.
I was going to jam out "Garbage Truck" by Sex Bomb Omb.
Been a favourite of mine to play for awhile now.
Good for getting a feel for the guitar.
Easy/sludgy and fun to play.
Someone else testing out guitars started to play it before me.
I smiled and laughed.
Proof that even if a band doesn't technically exist.
Their songs can still be better than half the crap on the radio today.

Saturday 3 March 2012

Fuck my carbon foot print

I like the Smiths.
There I said it.
I feel better.
I dont like Morrissey.
As a full time Butcher I cant stand the pillock.
Meat is murder.
Then why are our courts not filled with Butchers?
The man is a tool.
Stoping a gig because someone was eating a bacon sandwich.
Which by the way is a work of genius.
I also like U2.
But not Bono.
If your going to have a go and say that we should all reduce our carbon foot prints,
dont fly your hat around the world just because you forgot it.
It would have been cheaper to buy a new hat.
Let alone the huge fucking hole in the atmosphere.
I havent been abroad in decades.
There are a hand full of Coldplay songs I kinda like.
but,
Chris Martin.
I cant look at him with out bile rising.
Their new video where their dressed as Elephants.
Theres one scene that goes straight through me.
The whole thing it could have been anybody in that suit.
But you know its him.
To prove it,
and show of that he can ride a unicycle,
he takes the head of.
Hey look, its Chris Martin, isn't he smart.
He's the teachers pet of the music world.
Which is funny because he plagiarised some of his songs.
Just ask Joe Satriani.
Normally that would get you fucked by city and guilds.
The reason I love to hate these guys.
Because deep down their better than me.
Their at least trying to save the world.
Their trying to make it a better place.
Problem is their all smug git's.
Also their stinking rich.
Its easy for them to donate money.
They have to much already.
If I was earning thousands in royalties a week I'd donate some too.
They also have the perfect platform to help the world.
Being media darlings and all.
And i hate them for it.
I cant stand seeing them being better than me.
...
But are they.
Are they covering up for something?
Are they over compensating?
I bet they are.
Morrissey.
He kills cows for fun with claw hammers.
Bono.
He had his hat all along. He just wanted to show of how stupidly rich he is by burning another hole in the atmosphere.
And Chris Martin.
I've never seen him and Jack the Ripper in the same room together, have you?
I think the police should look in to it.

Wednesday 29 February 2012

Month three of the year

I've decided to stop self pitying.
Next month begins with a week off.
I'm going to spend a day not playing on my Playstation.
Not watching reruns and cartoons.
Not lazing on the sofa.
I'm going to dedicate a few days to recording.
Every little riff that pops in to my head.
I'm gonna record it all.

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Lost my Mojo.

I've found of late I cant write music anymore.
I cant set my mind to it.
Every time I sit down, and get to it my mind goes blank.
I cant focus.
No matter how hard I try.
Nothing.
I cant seem to get a beat in my head.
No riffs.
Nothing.
I cant seem to make anything.
It sounds self pitying I know.
But it's gone.
This month I haven't really touched my guitars.
I've been dusting therm today.
I picked one up and couldn't think of anything to play.
So back it goes.
Think I need a direction to go in.
But I cant find that either.
I think I want to make some beats.
Something in the vein of Royksopp or Portishead.
They might be a bit out of my league.
But I need a challenge.
Something to get me going.
If it works I'll post the results if their any good.
If their not, they'll get deleted.
Like so many others over the past month.
Not that I'm self pitying or anything.

Friday 24 February 2012

Whatever their saying their saying it well

I was always told that you should never get a band tattoo.
There are so many in their forties that regret their Iron maiden tats.
There are so many modern metal kids covered in Ollie Sykes tattoos that will live to regret it.
As i was told when I was younger by all the bikers in the bar was,
"Never get a band Tattoo."
The reason is bands can get shit.
When I was seventeen I saw this guy at a Korn gig with a righteous Korn tattoo.
Nowadays, even as a die hard Korn fan,
their work with Skrillix is just plain embarrassing.
If you have a tattoo of Korn,
Their shame is your shame by default.
I digress.
The reason I say this is I have a band Tattoo.
My third favourite band of all time is Sigur Ros.
I love their music.
People always say when you die you hear Enya at the end of the tunnel.
She got bumped.
Heaven is now soundtracked by Sigur Ros.
Their music will always make me smile when ever I feel down.
I had to stop listening to them as I used to walk to work.
It took me to Track four on brackets to get to work,
and just as it started I'd always wonder,
what is down that road?
If I kept on listening on the way to work,
one day I wouldn't make it.
I would have walked down that road.
Seeing them live for the first time was like a religious experience.
They swapped instruments,
The lighting/back drop was just plain brilliant.
They had a marching band come on and a violin section.
They played their music just as it is on the record.
The first time I saw them was the same week I got in to them.
I had brackets before the gig.
I had everything else after.
I've been a die hard fan ever since.
Converting others.
Including my parents.
I even took my Dad to see them.
They released a DVD called Heima.
on the video the same viola section played with them in an abandoned factory.
The same marching band marched through their home town.
Sigur Ros played in a valley that a week later would be flooded for all time.
They played my Favourite song"Hey Satan" in an abandoned fishing village.
The DVD summed up every feeling I have for them and their beautiful, hypnotic music.
I have two tattoos.
One is a skeleton of a frog tattooed on to my back.
The other is the word Heima tattooed on to my left wrist.
Its tattooed so I can read it without having to bend my wrist at a silly angle.
If I'm having a shit time at work.
I just look at my wrist and think of their music.

Monday 13 February 2012

As February drags on

I was watching a count down of Thirty seconds to mars's videos on mtv.
I remember when they used to be cool.
I know a lot of people like to pretend to have been in to a band from the beginning.
But with them I really was.
I first heard about them in a guitrist magazine.
They had an artical about actors in bands.
They had the crap.
Dogstar, thirty odd foot of grunts.
The funny,
Tenacious d
and the interesting,
Thirty seconds to mars.
I got hold of their first album years before they blew up everywhere with their second album.
I used to DJ them when I was playing music to a half empty pub on a Wednesday night.
I went on their website around the same time.
They had a stream of the kill.
It wasn't called that back then.
I cant remember what it was called.
it sounded ace.
finally,
years later the new album came out.
I got it straight away.
it was a crowd pleaser.
I loved it.
Then all the fans came out of the wood work.
God I hate them.
I started to get asked to play them at the night club.
I used to joke that I'd been playing them for years.
They'd just call me sad for pretending to have been a fan from the beginning.
The place was filled with hundreds of them.
Whatever.
At least they got up and danced.
Then the third album came out.
kings and queens.
Great single if a little pompous.
Then I got the joy of hearing the whole album.
God wept.
Firstly.
The whole thing is just one big ego trip for Jared.
Secondly.
That god awful teenage, mega chorus.
Yeah it sounds cool.
Dont put it on every bloody track.
...
I dont think I just spontaneously started to hate them.
I think it started to happen when I saw them live for the first time.
The band came on looking cool.
dressed in faded, worn down black clothes.
very prog/goth/industrial.
Then came Leto.
I guess his mum does use Daz.
head to toe white.
the spotlights shine on him.
"LOOK AT ME, IM GREAT, IM THE CENTRE OF THE FUCKING UNIVERSE..."
I'm not saying they wasn't bad live.
I just couldn't get past Leto.
Well to be fair it was like looking directly at the sun.
It was Leto acting at been the front man of a great band,
as opposed to just been the front man of a great band.
...
I write this as I listen to the first album again.
I just had to listen to it again.
Remember what it was like been the fan of a band that no one else in my dead end town knew.
Though if you ask any of them they where fans from the beginning,
one and all.

Saturday 4 February 2012

When I grow old

I turned Twentynine the other day.
Not one of the land mark ages.
Last chance to be in your twenties before your in you thirties.
I have a plan to go to one last festival this year before I'm thirty.
Anyway,
the new rock sound is out.
I wont go on about how much I hate Skrillix.
I'm pretty sure we all hate him.
I'm almost convinced that people just pretend to like him because someone decided he was hip.
But anyway,
Rock sound is one of my favourite music magazines.
The only other one I read is Stool Pigeon.
But there are less bands in that, that I can relate too.
Rock Sound always has a free cd on the cover.
This is great for discovering new bands.
One of the things I do is that as I listen I cross of the ones that I don't like.
Normally its only one or two.
This months it was more than half.
I picked up the pile,
what do you do with free cd's of the front of magazines you don't want to keep?
and checked.
the number has risen over the past few months or so.
It seems I like less and less new music.
Is this a sign of getting old?
God I hope not.
I need that high of discovering new music.
Or at least new to me.
Which brings me nicely up to the black Keys.
Got there new album El Camino.
Its great.
I love it.
I havent listend to anything else they have done for risk they might ruin it.
Just Like the Editors did by making good singles, boring albums.
I love the production,
I love the sound,
I love the songs.
I would love to be in a band that sounds this good.
Which is my problem.
Yesterday I wanted to be in a band that sounds like Clutch or Sleep.
I just cant make up my mind where I want to be.

Saturday 28 January 2012

Last Sticker standing.

I posted recently about the last poster of my band finally getting pulled down.
Well a friend of mine reminded me that there is still a sticker on a condom machine in Huddersfield.
Or at least their was till some drunk wrenched it from a wall the other night.
So thats that as they say.

First Gig of the year

So last night was the first gig of the year.
Four Year Strong, supported by some forgettable names.
Don Bronco and Marmozets plus someone else.
Don Bronco where alright, but I've heard it better else where.
I've already forgotten who they reminded me off.
The other guys where the same.
Good, but I forgot who they where.
Marmozets where just plain shit.
Melt Banana, Converge and The Locust all do it better.
The funny thing is not one of the other bands thanked them.
"You've all been awesome, stay tuned for Four year strong and whoever the other band where."
"You've been great, thanks to Don Bronco and stay tuned for Four year strong."
"Thank you everybody, we'd like to say thanks to Don Bronco and the other guys."
Shows the impression they left on the bands.
Why where they even on before Don Bronco?
Even the crowd wasn't impressed and normally that Unlistenable for Unlistenable shit really sells to a crowd of hipsters.
If you cant identify any of the bands on the bands t-shirts you know there only in it for the back stage access.
They where at my college at the same time as me.
Someone on another course warned me about them.
Beware their in Rock Sounds bands to watch this year.
Anyway,
Four Year Strong where great.
Its my first time seeing them live.
They had the crowd in their hands the moment they started to play.
Their heavy pop punk sound is great to watch live.
The crowd dancing and singing along.
Sixty minutes was just enough to stop from getting dull,
but long enough to make you want more.
Plus they are proof that beards do make you rock harder.
Was a good start to the year live.
Made me wish I was in a band again.
I just might go on www.joinmyband.co.uk and make a post.
wish me luck.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Number Two in my all time top five

In at number Two is Deftones.
I love them.
They have the greatest sound ever.
One of my guitars has been down tuned to drop C ever since the release of white pony.
I almost bought a seven string, then an eight string, just so I could play all their songs.
I love the sound of Stephen Carpenters guitar.
The trip hop drums.
Chinos voice is just amazing.
I have the side projects he's been involved with as well.
The Fantastic Team Sleep and Crosses.
As a band they have a sound that has evolved with my musical tastes.
They always seem to meet my needs musically.
The first two where during the Nu metal craze and broke the mould.
The Deftones wasn't just another dumb nu metal band.
Even though  nu metal had its time and place.
The last four are more mature and suit my grown up listening tastes.
lost of epic sounding songs.
They haven't let me down yet.
I have seen them live so many times.
Each show is just wall to wall greats.
I even got to see Team Sleep live at a festival years back.
Most of my wardrobe is Deftones T-shirts or hoodies.
My gig bag used to be covered in Deftones patches till it fell of my back and I had to get rid of it.
The best Deftones song?
Almost anything of the last four albums.
The worst?
I'm not going to say, but its on saturday night wrist.

Friday 20 January 2012

Last Poster standing

My last bands, last gig was in Leeds Rio's.
We where in support of a local band.
I'm not going to name names, but they where rubbish.
To many divas in that band.
They where like a rubbish Paramore.
But hey, they lasted longer than us.
By that point I'm sure we all wanted to quit.
But the reason I bring this up is that we got on to a big poster.
Massive, with all the bands listed to play.
Our band on the same poster as Skindred.
It was fantastic.
They had posters of all the up and coming gigs inside on a wall you could see through a window.
So for the months up to the gig there was my bands name.
It was quite a buzz.
The venue closed down about a week after our gig.
We split up shortly after the venue closed.
I have to walk past it every day I go to work.
Every day since I have had to walk past our posters.
Hanging in the window of a closed down club.
Collecting dust.
Like a depressing reminder that we fell out.
After so long it stopped meaning anything.
All i wanted was the poster it's self.
It was the only one from all the gigs I've played that I didn't save.
Leeds Rio's has just been bought/rented and the new owners are gutting the place.
They've pulled out the bar,
the sound desk area,
the light rigging,
they even pulled the inside roof out somehow.
For the first time in a year and a half the posters are gone.
So is the wall they where stuck too.
I wish I'd known so I could have grabbed one.
In a way its like saying goodbye.
In another its like saying good riddance.
I'm not sure how to feel about it.
All I do know is that I miss playing live,
But I knew that anyway.

Saturday 14 January 2012

Nirvana colouring book

As I write this I sit in my mega old, battered, Nirvana hoodie.
My mega old, battered, Nirvana T-shirt.
In my lap is my brand new, battered, kurt Cobain Fender jaguar.
On the book shelf are some old, and battered, specials by Q and Mojo about Nirvana.
I really should take stock of my collection.
Lauren got me a cool new book on Nirvana from the local HMV.
Its bright neon yellow. It has lots of pull out bits and bobs, like old tickets and tour posters.
Its the second Nirvana book like it I own.
The first one been Cobain Unseen.
Books like this are wonderful.
Yeah all the posters and ticket stubs are recreations.
But then so is my guitar and it holds a magic of its own.
Cobain is an icon that has inspired thousands to pick up a guitar.
Grunge as a scene, as well as punk, inspired me to play.
But it was other grunge bands that set me off.
I own more Pearl Jam records than Nirvana ones.
I was a full blown Foo Fighters fan before I eventually bothered with Nirvana.
It was only Dave Grohl's involvement that made me listen.
But the same can be said about Nirvana and the Pixies.
Nirvana and Half Japanese.
Kyuss.
The Melvins.
Tad.
I wouldn't have heard of them if it wasn't for Kurt's need to write lists.
We all have to start somewhere.
Nirvana is as good as any.
I think the point Im getting at is even though I would never claim to be the biggest Nirvana fan.
They did set me off in the right direction for bands I now love.
Their music was there for me when I was having a shit time in school.
Back when I was the only kid in to alternative music in my school,
and all I had was my Dads copy of Nevermind.
They also helped me meet friends in college and clubs.
music means different things to different people.
For me bands mean different things from different times.
for me Nirvana was a beginning of sorts.
An opening dialogue.
Which is why I have so much crap knocking about, about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana,
and the first song I played on my Jaguar at the shop was In bloom.
...
Though maybe I don't know what it means.
...
What ever it was.

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Fossil Collection

Here is a new demo I have just finished. I've been listening to the Daft Punk "Tron Legacy" soundtrack all day and it inspired me to make some music

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Dust

Here is a link to one of my recent trip hop demos

Dust

Number One on my Top Five

I just got paid so as  usual my cd collection has grown again.
Filling up the ranks this time are two new sound tracks.
The social Network and The Girl with the dragon tattoo.
Both by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Trent Reznor has been my of my favourite artists ever since the first time I heard Closer in a steamy nightclub filled with Goths.
The drum beat, that fantastic synth bass, the pervy lyrics.
Watching the girls dance like strippers.
I was hooked and like most guys watching the dance floor, more than likely drooling.
Im not going to lie and say that I've been a fan since the beginning.
I was six when pretty Hate Machine was released,
Id only just discovered my Mum and Dads Motown records.
But i like to think I've made up for lost time by collecting everything Reznor has released, and seeing him preform live every chance I got.
Yeah Reznor's giving away his music for free is beyond cool,
but I still buy every record he produces.
I even bought a copy of Q, god help me,  just to get the free U2 covers cd with one song on it.
Not that its a bad cd or anything.
Point is, in all the music I make I use Reznor as the measuring post.
Which is why I delete so many demos.
My laid back trip hop, or scratchy punk/grunge can never compete.
The best album Reznor has been involved with?
...
I couldn't say.
my money is on either Year Zero or Ghosts.
The worst?
...
I wouldn't say.

Thursday 5 January 2012

My first proper band

We all have drunken first bands.
The kind we start at a night out drinking, and never do anything with.
I can lay claim to a couple of these type of bands.
One of these bands we decided to call "No more dick for us."
I started it with a lesbian and we both thought it was genius.
It didn't last a week.
My first proper band was sort of like this, but differs in a few ways.
Firstly we actually had a full line up.
Myself on guitar, Stoke Richard on Bass, Paul on drums and Drinky Chris was the singer.
Secondly we actually made it too, two meetings.
The first a meeting about what we should sound like.
Held at a pub like all good band related meetings.
We decide Punk was the way to go.
The other an actual practice of sorts.
Problem was we didn't all show up too them both.
The drummer missed the meeting, the lead singer missed the practice.
We played alright, some Rammones and Clash covers.
And Thirdly though we never met as a whole again, we never truly split up.
Drinky Chris moved on and away. Paul ended up in the army.
Me and Stoke kept on as we always do.
Stoke carried on as a sound technician, preferring it behind a desk in stead of being in front of it.
Myself, other bands awaited.
Me and Stoke are still close friends and to this day we still have a good laugh that every band I have been in since is in fact just a side project as my first band never split up.

Sunday 1 January 2012

The stars fall to earth

This is a link to one of my demos on soundcloud

The stars fall to earth

New year, new music

Since this is the start of a new year its time for new things.
Hi my name is Karl and I'm a twenty eight year old half decent musician. I'm not being modest. I'm about half as good as I should be.
I like to think off my self as a jack of all trades...
master of none.
I can play guitar and bass.
I can play piano and harmonica.
I can also play a mean stylophone.
I make up for my lack of skill with a strong determination.
I cant shred, but I can play most of the Deftones back catalogue.
I've been in and out of bands since I was sixteen.
I haven't been able to form a band since my last one imploded about a year ago.
I think I'm getting to my music sell by date.
So I thought I should take to the internet to rant about the state of modern music, post demos, bands I love and hate and go on about the bands I was in like the drunk old roadies you see in the punk bars that hide in out hometowns.