Category: retro corner

Our First gig. Martell. 17th Aug 1995

Post author By creepingash
Post date May 19, 2018
1 Comment on Our First gig. Martell. 17th Aug 1995

Stu and Pabs take a look back at our first gig at the Martell Falkirk in 1995. Thanks to Derek for the archive flyers, posters and clippings. Stu for the pictures. Not sure who took them.

It was Thursday 17th August 1995, Bill Clinton was still president of the USA, Take That were in the top five and in the the cinema Waterworld was watched by noone. Another seismic event was about to take to place. Weird were about to play live for the first time.

A few months earlier Greg and Pabs had set their first target, to form a band and play the Martell. They created Weird with Stewart and Derek in the deepest of winter in February 95. A few songs later, probably around 6 or so we were looking for our first gig. That offer came from the late Chris Masson who got us on the bill to support Cage, one of Falkirk’s finest and fiercist bands.

We just had a handful of songs, we hadn’t even graced the studio but we had written some songs that earlier Weird followers would enjoy for years namely: The Rain, Vancouver and Educational Suicide, some of our best known tracks. We felt these songs were strong and it made us confident going into our first gig, well fairly confident!

Pabs

Back then the Martell was a big deal, it, alongside the Happening Club were the places for local bands to play. Greg and I had went every Thursday night for weeks, months even, to drink beer and listen to Cage. When the call came to play the Martell I was excited, nervous, but really excited. Derek kept a copy of our first flyer. We were third on the bill, we would open up the show for Cage and a band called Twister. A lot of bands in the local scene had ‘er’ at the end of their name.

Our first set list was penned in black ink, what a feeling that was, writing our first set list. Six songs. The Rain, Educational Suicide, Show Your Face Soon, Stay In, Vancouver and Go Away. We never recorded Stay In or Go Away.

We still use the flower logo to this day, The Rain occasionally appears in set lists 23 years on

We pulled up to the Martell and had to load into the side door straight onto the stage. I walked onto the stage as Jimmy and the sound guys were setting up, I had long hair draped over my face I didn’t want anyone to see me. I was just doing vocals, the freedom! I could just turn up and sing. The classic days.

Stu

I remember walking into the venue and hearing Ewan the drummer from headlining band Cage sound check and the hairs were standing on the back of my neck.

Sound checking my guitar felt amazing as It sounded huge through the massive pa system.

A slightly nervous Stu plays his first live chords

Pabs

I remember hearing the kick drum through the PA for the first time. What a sound. We just used a vocal PA down at our practise room. Derek never used mics on his kit in rehearsal so we had never heard the drums like this before.

Derek was the cocky youngster so full of confidence and even in the early days he used to love winding me up. Greg was laid back as always. Stu if I remember correctly seemed quiet and a bit nervous.

Looking up I saw the lights during soundchek, the blotted out my view of the Martell, at this time it was empty, I remember Stu shredding the guitar to test it, it seemed like a huge sound. This was it, we were going live. I can’t remember what song we soundchecked with but I do remember reading about Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam. Even at soundcheck Vedder would give everything to his performance, so I did the same. I put everything into the soundcheck!

Stu (l) donning the summer rock look, Pabs (c) with vedder hair and Derek (r) takes care of the drums

We were about to go on, by this time a crowd had gathered, there were a lot of friends from high school. Phil and Juls were there as well (I’m sure Phil is in one of the photos), they only knew Stu at this time but we all became friends over the years. I walked up to the stage ready to play, I was really nervous. It’s always the first line you have to remember. Do that and the rest of the gig is fine. So I walked up ready to play and Derek was nowhere to be seen…

A young Greg graces the stage

Stu played a riff as the crowd waited. Then Derek runs up after getting changed in the toilets. I was raging. Finally we were ready to play. I just recall the lights, the music took me and I just went crazy. I had seen Chris Masson of Cage do the same a few times on this stage, he put everything into his live shows so I did the same, it was natural. Something comes out when you play live, its like all the anger that builds up just pours out. My hair was everywhere. I was singing my songs to other people now.

Stu

I stood on stage blasted out the 1st song the Rain the crowd went mental I thought that’s awesome but my guitar didn’t seem that loud on stage…I then realised the sound engineer hadn’t mic’d up my guitar amp!

Pabs

First song done and my confidence grew. The crowd cheered, the folk from the high school, were loving having a few beers on a Thursday!

Stu

After I moved the microphone in front of my amp it sounded a lot better and I grew in confidence.I was pretty nervous which I always am at gigs but after I nail the 1st song the nerves settle and after rehearsing at the practice room for months the live sound on stage was incredible.

A more confident Stu and Greg entertain the crowd

Pabs

The gig flew past, it was only six songs but it felt like 5 minutes. It was an amazing feeling coming off stage and our friends were congratulating us. We dissolved back into the crowd and enjoyed the rest of the night. Cage were amazing, Light years ahead of us, they had been together for a while and were getting into their stride.
Stu

Our 1st gig flew by so quickly. So many people came up to us after in Firkins on the Saturday night saying how good we had been. Such a buzz. We had arrived on the live scene.

Tags 90's grunge, 90's music culture, 90's music scene, 90's rock, alternative rock, cage the band, falkirk music scene, grunge, live music, martell falkirk, metal, metallica, music, nirvana, pearl jam, Rock, rock music, weird band

Hamemade Records music our albums retro corner The Lost Tracks

We rate our recordings part 1. 15-11

Post author By creepingash
Post date March 17, 2018
1 Comment on We rate our recordings part 1. 15-11

By 2004 we were reguarly sending off demo CDs

We are just about to release our latest recording; Everyday Heroes will be our 16th recording that we released over the last 23 years. While we have never had any success commercially we are proud that we’ve been lucky enough to record many moments from our rock career so far. Check out our bandcamp site for the two singles already released from the EP.

The last two decades have seen us visit studios, dig out four tracks, fling mics around music venues and hire country retreats to capture whatever creations we had come up with.

It’s been an interesting adventure so far with a wide range of results. So the four of us sat back an attempted to put it all together by rating them from our proudest creation to something we’d put down as experience. It was an interesting debate over a cup of tea. How rock and roll are we?

We present you a look at our recordings from 15 to 11. Nearly all can be heard free on bandcamp. Part 2 will be here soon, keep an eye out for it.

15. Cold Calling EP. (2004)

We put together a 4 track EP as a demo before the launch of our 2004 album One More Solo.

Pabs

2004 was an exciting year for the band; we were reforming after a 4 year hiatus and we were frequently recording at Derek’s old flat just outside the centre of Falkirk, I just remember having a great time there, drinking beer, eating Subways and recording all our old albums again. The Cold Calling Ep was released prior to the album One More Solo. It was also a demo of the album and had only track that did not appear on One More Solo which is why I rated this low.

This Is The Last time, written by Sllablo, a side project that Derek and I had worked on was a song of the same rock vein that can be heard on Solo. It’s a raucous number that I really enjoy and hindsight would have probably said put it on the album and take another track off. However I’m not sure what our thinking was at the time.

Cold Calling, Easy Way and Trying To Grab Hold were also included. The EP got a rather average review in the Daily Record which in some ways was fair. Before these recordings were re-mastered the music was muddy in tone but they are fun songs Cold Calling is of its time, influenced by much of the music scene at the time, the clean riffs of Doves and early Coldplay are present. Easy Way has always been a favourite of the band. Trying to Grab hold always transported me back to grabbing a guitar and sitting it a fireplace with beer and rum

The Cold Calling cover is perhaps one of our best, its a bit like a catchphrase with the phone nestled in the freezer.

Derek

Cold Calling is a good EP, it got us back going again so I will always have a soft spot for this record.
Stu

Great cover photo.We used a blue bulb and the photo turned out bright green! Good taster for the full (One More) Solo album.

Loved the inside cover for this e.p. with the four pics of us even though I was taking it way too serious and ended up looking gormless :D. Easy way is a great track.

14. Official Bootleg 2 (2009)

Our second collection of rare recordings and demo tapes that we never intended to put onto our albums but didn’t want to go to waste. It includes live recordings, radio interviews and unreleased tracks.

Pabs

I recall Derek being a bit reluctant for this to be released as it didn’t have the same variety of recordings that the first bootleg had. However I had CDs and tapes lying around the house, and as Im a worrier I thought “what if the tapes or CDs stopped working and we lost the recordings?” So I went ahead and made up the bootleg.

Derek

I don’t think there is nothing wrong with Bootleg 2 in my opinion I just feel that Bootleg 2 has two many versions of songs that are already on our albums, and they are better versions.

Pabs

I do agree with Derek’s comment, however I feel there are many good moments on Bootleg 2, not least Side by Side. How can I not mention the song that my wife and I had for our first dance at our wedding. I was so grateful to the band for helping me make a unique song for our day.

There was also rough 4 track recordings from a family BBQ that we played, they bring a smile, and I really like the first version of Breathing Space. The re-recorded version of Easy Way which was to be released as a single on Bracken Records is interesting, it just didn’t have the feel of the original. A bit like the whole album to be honest.

Stu

Some good stuff on this album. Side by side is a belter of a song. Radio interviews are good listening back to. Not as good as bootleg 1 but great lost versions of songs and ideas that didn’t quite make it onto album’s.

Love side by side, one of my favourite tracks. I wasn’t in the family barbeque recording as I wasn’t there. Agree with the re-recording of easy way losing something, think Del may have used a double bass pedal on the original recording.

Pabs

Yes that’s right he did; i just think the whole feel of the original version was better.

Stu

The recording of Easy Way I was away on holiday. Straight back from my break I turned up at Deeks flat and knocked out my guitar parts as you guys had done the Rhythm track. This is probably why it had a different feel as we are always together when we record normally

13. Live at the Lodge (2009) (not currently released)

A live acoustic album of cover songs that we recorded at the end of the Quiet Act sessions back in 2007.

Pabs.

I could not be bothered recording this; it was the end of the Quiet Act sessions and i was absolutely gutted to be heading home and I was immensely hungover. We had spent the previous day drinking at the Baddachro Inn before Greg and I spent much of the night sitting by a fire in the garden before being freaked out by the bellow of a male stag.

We’d been in the pub all day. I was in no fit state to record the next day. Pabs

This is my least favourite recording, the Cold Calling EP is bottom of my list only because it’s obsolete but Live at the Lodge never added anything to our roster of music.

Derek

Live at the Lodge was great fun to do but it was really a wee recording for us that takes me back to my favourite lodge.

Pabs

I’m quite surprised that this was Derek’s favourite lodge (that we recorded in), saying that he did have the biggest bedroom, which he always manages to snatch! Favourite recording lodge is a whole new blog, but I loved the last cottage that we used for Weird Decibels 2

Stu

Good wee live acoustic covers album but the best bit is an full band version of Glass People. Instant classic.

Yeah, Glass People saves this record. Brings back good memories though with that big picture window.

Pabs

I forgot about this version of Glass People! We should have this on another record…

Stu

Agreed. Should go on Bootleg 3!

12. Coldhome Street (2000)

Recorded in a mixture of studios and on a 4 track tascam the sound quality of Coldhome Street doesn’t do it justice. The band were also in limbo; still smarting from the Big World scam, we disappeared from the scene, hid in our practise room and recorded. This is the only official album release in our bottom five,

My least favourite album only due to the sound quality. Some great songs on there such as I Tried to Fly, and Sun Shines Brighter which would have been great with a higher quality recording.

A basic setup, four track and a mic passed around the room

Derek

I think this is an underrated album that’s often not given the credit due to the recording; it was on a 4 track an we were four experienced guys (one which wasn’t really there). The album has some good songs though.

Stu looks dejected as we struggle to finish Cold Home Street

Derek has time for a beer

Pabs

I’m not sure what Derek means by ‘one which wasn’t really there’ I think he might mean Stu who had lost heart at this point. He wanted to gig and rock out, we were just moping in the studio. Yeah the recording is pretty bad but i still try to work out how i bounced all the drums and bass onto one track then added the guitars and vocals. Not many young musicians would even consider that these days.

Of the four of us i rated Coldhome Street the highest. It was the only full album we had at the time when Stu left and I believed the band was finished. So all I had was a 6 track demo and this album to listen to. I played this a lot and discovered a lot of hidden parts in the songs.

The songs are fun, at times they make me laugh and some of the lyrics I penned. Especially Pearl Necklace!

I remember Stu and I used to reminisce about this album, we listened to it a lot as we started to plan the ‘best of’ acoustic album as we truly thought that there was no chance the band would get back together.

Stu

Used to love listening to this album as it was the only fully recorded album we had at the time. I don’t think it has lasted the test of time compared to our other recordings hence why I rated it so low.

Musically I wasn’t in a happy place during the recording of this album and as Henry Senior rightly points out, I lost it during this period.

Pabs

I wouldn’t say Stu lost it…It creeps up on you, going to the same room, doing the same things over and over. We just got jaded. We learned a lot from this time and we needed the break. We came back to do One More Solo 4 years later and we never looked back. However my Dad does keep reminding Stu that he lost it back then!

Stu

I managed to find my form when we got back together and them some!

11. Weird Decibels 1.5 (2013)

This turned out to be a stop gap between Weird Decibels 1 and 2. A lot of the tracks were lifted from the podcasts we did at the time. They turned out to be good live acoustic versions of songs that appeared on Weird Decibels 1. Some unreleased tracks on there as well.

Pabs

I enjoy listening to this record, it feels like another bootleg but it was more a compilation of songs that became a kind of Bandcamp exclusive. We never cut a CD or printed off sleeves for WdB 1.5. I really liked the podcasts live versions of songs like Wonder.

The podcasts were fun and produced some good recordings.

There are a couple of songs from the WdB 1 sessions that we didn’t put on the album. Buddy, Rusted and Bullet. When we started writing WdB1 we never intended to leave songs on the record, however as rehearsals progressed we kind of knew that these songs weren’t going to make it.

Stu

What an amazing guitar solo in Buddy and it never made the album!

3 great songs that never quite made the final cut and some cracking alternative acoustic versions. A great little listen and one for the complete ists.

Rusted. Great song. That is all.

Part 2

Tags diy scene, grassroots music, grunge, home recording, music, recordings rated, rock music, scottish rock music, underground music

retro corner riot act writing

Riot Act is 10 (part 1 writing)

Post author By creepingash
Post date June 23, 2017
1 Comment on Riot Act is 10 (part 1 writing)

Behind the Wall Photographs Neil Henderson

Stream the album for free here

Stu in full flow 2007 BTW, Pic Neil Henderson

Turning 30 was a bit painful; there is something visceral about leaving your 20’s. You think your youth is gone when in fact it’s still around for another few years or so. Turning 40 teaches you this.

Riot Act was written and recorded as we were all heading to our 30’s (Stu had already reached that milestone!) Greg and I were nearly there and Derek was planning to have the mortgage paid off by the end of his third decade.

In 2007 the music industry was about to go through a seismic change. Spotify would launch the year after, itunes was in full flow and people were downloading music only to find the quality was nowhere near as good as physical formats. Radiohead were letting you pay what you wanted for the brilliant ‘In Rainbows’ and Kings of Leon were just past their peak.

‘this is the hole dam shooting match

where the victims aim high and the victors aim low

where the self obsessed career animals

who don’t want to know’

Underachiever

Our band was still called Weird and we had had a great ‘comeback’ with One More Solo in 2004. We had gigged that album profusely and after the dust had settled we returned to our practise room and decided our next turn. Derek suggested we started making money from music and that meant learning covers then playing paid gigs. Grudgingly I agreed, the other guys felt that this was a good move. So we learned a lot of tunes and played a number of paid shows. Slowly our band bank account started to look like it had never done so before…it had a balance.

Writing took a back seat; personally I had run out of ideas I thought I had explored all my experiences and thoughts and my pen ran dry. Influences around us were also running low, the Foo Fighters for example were treading water; the albums they released around this time, One By One and In Your Honor could arguably be examples of this (some of the guys will be shaking their heads at this but I feel the Foo’s didn’t return to form until Wasting Light which is superb). Personally I felt that there was no emerging music and even the local scene was not as strong as it is today although its fair to say I was ignoring that as well.

‘Lets face it she’s not very pretty

And she doesn’t look good on the dancefloor

I make my way home from this paranoid city

Turn on the news watch religion at war’

Sky is Falling’

We would attend practise every Wednesday in the same surroundings, low on influences distracted by learning covers and I guess on a come down from the joyful years of 2004’s ‘One More Solo’. Even the very essence of our rehearsal space was changing as the bulldozers came in and cleared the way for another ASDA. Despite all these factors we soldiered on and wrote Riot Act.

Oh Greg! how you’ve changed! Pic Neil Henderson

Despite my reluctance to learn covers discovering the structure of the songs we were regularly playing in Behind the Wall and other venues that favoured cover acts, I started to become influenced by the punk and rock we were playing. Many of the songs on the album would end up being balls out uncomplicated punk rock that was easy and fun to play.

Our drinking was nuts during these years in the 00’s we drank a lot of beer. Caught up in the insane alcohol deals of the day; we would consume cases of lager without flinching, often during great times at Derek’s old flat. Indeed our old gang of lads were still together; Byrne, Rooz, Wilson to name a few and of course Dave Broon. Unbeknown to us these were the last few care free years and looking back i’m glad we enjoyed them.

Some facts about 2007

Interest rates 5.25%
Tony Blair steps down as prime minister and is replaced by Gordon Brown
US President was George W. Bush
There was the horrific Glasgow Airport terrorist attack
Average price of a pint was £2.51
Best selling album Back To Black Amy Winehouse
Average internet speed 3.3 Mb (three times as fast as ours)

A few pounds more and a few grey hairs less. Pabs 2007. pic Neil Henderson

Alcohol was very much prevalent in the lyrics I wrote then, that and nightlife in Falkirk. Home Sweet Home is perhaps a reflection that I was tiring of the nights this would be a theme throughout the album. However it was a limited view and I grew to criticise my lyrics over the following years. Quiet Act, Riots successor, dealt with the same subject albeit from a Sunday morning perspective. (more on that next year).

‘I beat myself up over again

When i realised what i could’ve been

Holding on to a job that pays

For the house and the car and the microwave’.

Razorwire

Personally there were some difficult times in 2007 but I never really learned how to approach them until many years later. Riot Act was like a party with lots of people having fun apart from the one moody guy in the corner ready to start something.

Writing the album was a pretty straight forward, the riffs really spilled out from the covers we were rehearsing. Then one night we heard the scurrying…the rats…even they got a mention on the record.

As we gathered our roster of finished songs I suggested to the guys a new approach to recording; that we hire a cottage in one of the remotest places in Scotland. We now had the money to pay for it. Riot Act would be the first of our ‘lodge albums’ and what a riot that week would be…

the first ever lodge we used to record. Cannich, Scotland

Words Pabs.

Tags 2007, king of leon, music, music in 2007, radiohead, riot act 10 years

Gigs retro corner

Weird Decibels talk Gigs!

By the time you read this we are about to, or will have played Jims Bar at the QMU in Glasgow (june 21st 2014), So below is a recount of some of our gigs, in no particular order we include the finest, the worst and the strangest moments from our time on the stage.

598493_10151772481266740_1524365803_n — Greg at the ABC2 2013

Classic. 1996 Martell Falkirk Battle of the Bands Quarter Finals. We had just started playing and our heads were full of dreams. Greg, Stu and I had just left school to go to college and Derek, the youngster was still growing cress on the carpet of the common room in Larbert high School. Three teenage kids and a fresh 20-year-old took to the stage to one of our biggest and most eager crowds. The place was packed, i couldn’t see anything from the glare of the lights but every time we finished a song the place erupted. It was the start of our dream.

Weird. 1996 A Field in Crossgates.. Chris from Cage phones us. ‘Hey guys want to stand in for us? Its a biker rally festival in Crossgates’ I thought biker rally = really drunk moshers + our brand of rock + festival = riot of a gig. When we turned up, it was a field full of cow shit. We were directed to the ‘stage’. The power generator was louder than us. The crowd was a single mother bouncing her baby up and down on her knee. The rocking bikers stayed outside playing spin around the stick whilst drinking whiskey. Stu and Derek were happy though, they sat and ate a bag of onion rings and drank cheep beer…

Great Gig. 2013 Oran Mor, Glasgow.

Superb gig in the basement of Oran Mor. We supported Life On Standby who are now doing very well, that night they played a fine set to a growing audience. We went on halfway through the night. It was a great crowd really up for it. Our album Weird Decibels 1 was doing well and we were getting into the swing of playing it live. The sound was simply amazing, one of he best live sounds we have ever had. Annie Walker was kind enough to take some brilliant photos and through this gig we got a slot on the Third Classic ticket radio show run by Tommy Clark. One of those great nights.

Bad gig. The Cathouse Glasgow. A pay to play gig. Hate them. These days they still do them but in a more subtle way. We sold a few tickets and paid to play only for the bouncers to refuse entry to most of the people who had travel through to see us. Derek was raging, he can be heard venting his anger on a live recording which appears on our official bootleg. The place was nearly empty, it was a real setback for the band.

Great Gig 2009, The Argyll Falkirk.

Derek setting up the kit for Tonight Live Not Completely Sold Out

In the ‘slender’ years between ‘Quiet Act’ and ‘Weird Decibels 1’ we were writing the new album and played a handful of gigs at various venues around our home town of Falkirk. Derek owned the Argyll pub at this time so it was an ideal opportunity for us to organise our own gigs. This meant we could use all our own gear and record our performance. We recorded this gig in question, this would eventually become ‘Tonight! Live! Not Completely Sold Out! A mixture of covers, old songs and four new tracks that would appear on WdB1. It was our faithful crowd who have followed us from day one and it was a great laugh. Keep an eye on Bandcamp, I’ll upload these tracks very soon. https://weirddecibels.bandcamp.com/

Weird but brilliant. around early 2000’s My Parents Garden at a BBQ. A gigs a gig! Stu reminded me of this one. My parents held a BBQ every year and asked us to play a wee acoustic gig which we happily agreed. I took down the 4 track and flung a few mics around. The gig started well with cheers and laughs, that is until we played the Ace of Spades on acoustic guitars! The recording was great until my Dad started trying to break a big block of ice cubes which was picked up on the recording, and yes it was out of time…

Classic Gig. Around 2005. The Path Tavern. Kirkcaldy. The venue may be closed and turned into a restaurant but the memories will remain. We played with Kranksolo, our two bands formed a fine friendship and shared a few gigs. 13 Tombs supported. They were superb, the singer had these massive boots that lit up. He looked like dynamo from Running Man. It was a small but fantastic crowd, they dug our music which at the time was One More Solo. We sold a few albums and we were even asked to sign them! Greg drove us back in the ‘Vulture’ old Vauxhall Carlton automatic. It took all the gear, three drunk band members and a sober bass player.

Bad Gig, But Great experience. Around 2005. The Cavern. Liverpool.

Weird Rock the Cavern, the easy way... — Weird Rock the Cavern, the easy way…

Contradiction perhaps but this was one of the most memorable experiences for the band. We even saw the ‘Beatles’. In our desire to expand to other countries, starting with England Greg managed to get us a gig in the world-famous venue the Carvern home of a band called the Beatles. Quite good actually. On the road down Derek nearly broke his hand when Greg decided his stricken limb looked good as a door stop. It was a Back To The Future moment when Kevin Byrne was considered to stand in. The gig itself was empty, everyone was watching the Beatles, we discovered that night that most people listen to music they are familiar with. One the road back I needed to pee really bad as we had been drinking all night. I’m not sure why I’m mentioning this but it is scorched in my memory how long Greg made me wait… Thanks to Neil Henderson and Kevin Byrne who came down and took the photos.

Great Gig. 2013 ABC 2 Glasgow.

2013 was a great year for us live, the ABC 2 was a great gig. the sound the crowd and our performance ensured a great night. It was the first time we actually had a proper merch stand. Yes we have been together nearly 20 years but it takes us time to catch on… It was at this gig we played a brand new song Miss Asphyxia from our future album Weird Decibels 2. It seemed to herald in a new chapter for the band. The fact that it went down well was fantastic. There is a back stage room with a fridge which 5 years ago we would’ve filled with beer, however…it was not to be.

We are a small but perfectly formed rock band, there are no major venues with packed crowds. However we love playing live and every Monday when we return to our jobs, surrounded by the sound of keyboards typing furious emails and office workers sniping we can look back on these times with pleasure and indeed look forward. We never know what is around the corner, maybe when we step from backstage one day and see a wee venue packed with our friends and our fans. We play live 22nd August 2014, 13th Note Glasgow. Make an unforgettable night with us.

I finish with;

Ten Facts about Weird Decibels live

Waiting On the Sound of Your High Heels Baby from One More Solo is our most played song.
Dave Broon was our manager for a night, at a gig in Edinburgh, he paid us with a beer. Legend.
A couple got ‘frisky’ when we played ‘Glass People’ at McSorley’s in Glasgow.
The venue we have played most is still the Martell, Falkirk.
Our sound checks take 2 minutes. Plug in. Play.
I have broken one stage (the Martell)
Derek winds the band up by getting changed into gig clothes during the walk on music.
Stu averages around 3 devil signs per song, one during solo. God.
Greg doesn’t need a setlist as he does not know the name of our songs.
Phil and Juls Sampson have been to the most Weird Decibel gigs. Legends. In fact all of our hardcore fans are brilliant people.
Wilson, our friend and a fan of the band has a Weird Decibels Tattoo. Nothing to do with gigs. But thought I’d mention it.

Pabs.

Phil, one of our greatest fans and a friend of the band.

Tags 13th note, abc 2, edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, guitar, kevin byrne, kranksolo, life on standby, live music, neil henderson, one more solo, oran mor, Rock, weird decibels 1

music retro corner

One More Solo turns ten. (remaster)

Post author By creepingash
Post date March 17, 2014
No Comments on One More Solo turns ten. (remaster)

Prelude;

Stu leaves band, Weird become the Seventeenth, 4 years pass, Stu comes back, Weird write kick ass rock album.

2004 Facebook launches , Ireland bans smoking in pubs, Greece win the Euros and Weird make a comeback. It was never going to work…

Facebook that is.

The Background, let’s rock this shit.

When Stu returned to pick up the guitar there were grins all round the room. It had been four years since we had thought Weird had had its day and the bands legacy would be a couple of EPs and a ropey album ‘Cold home Street’. I had already been working with Stu on various projects having met him at Behind The Wall by chance. Amongst our new musical projects was an idea of a Weird ‘best of’ but in acoustic form. We had recorded Glass People first, that would appear on Whapper Stormer. I had mentioned to Greg and Derek that Stu and I were playing again. Strangely we decided against reforming the band and instead approached Kevin Byrne and Chris Burt with a proposal to start a new larger group. Other commitments prevented both Kevin and Chris from attending practise and myself, Derek, Greg and Stu found ourselves back in our old practise room with only a handful of songs from the big group practises. However Stand For Your Rights was written that very night and suddenly the desire to reform and write a new album was back.

Writing an album the easy way…

We wrote the album quickly. There was no pressure to evolve our sound as we were simply back to enjoy playing music. The songs are generally simple 4 chord progressions that the quo would be proud of. The songs had a great feeling though, from the shouty anger of Easy Way, the smoke hazed Trying To Grab Hold to the darkness of The Ending and its middle 8 that we have yet to better. We all felt part of the writing of the record and the solos were back. Now the challenge was to get the energy of the songs recorded.

Album prepped and ready to go. Tune up Bo!

One Take Jake.

We recorded, mixed and mastered the entire album ourselves. In 2004 we had very little equipment. I had a Tascam 788. My first digital recorder. A Stagg condenser microphone that was used for everything from the mono overhead drum kit sound to the vocals and guitars. A Shure sm58 was used on the snare and I have no idea what was used on the kick. The drums were recorded in Derek’s biggest bed room in his flat. It had high ceilings and the shape of the room lended itself to excellent acoustics. To this day it is still one of the best rooms I have recorded a kit in. The bass was in the smaller bedroom, guitars in the kitchen where the floor was wooden so a brighter sound for the guitars and a vocal booth in the tiny corridor. Egg cartons were used for acoustics, and as I stood and admired our little booth I had no idea that I had no idea what the fuck I was doing.

The recording went well, the songs were well rehearsed. We recorded much of the album in the flat in around three separate weekends. We drank a lot, ate a new thing called Subways. My favourite was the foot long meatball. (Still is) We had everyone around at some point to sit and drink, smoke, eat and drink. Gav McVicar, Kev Bryne and Dave Broon can be heard cheering as Greg nails a bass line in one take. Such a fun time, it spills onto the record despite the many dark moments that the songs have. Then there was the biblical rain. The heaviest rain I can recall, washing my old Renault that was sat outside. It was flooded. So I had another beer and recorded the rain that can be heard on the fade out at the end of the album.

So we gigged OMS, until our fingers bled.

We have never gigged an album as much as we had OMS. Sometimes playing twice a week which is a lot for us. Even more impressive given that our jobs were already starting to grind us down. We gigged Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Falkirk and Kirkcaldy. Kirkcaldy was simply brilliant. The Path Tavern. We met a band called Kranksolo on our travels, fucking loved that band and they became firm friends. They invited us to play the Path. The Krankies were a riot. One of the support acts had these huge shoes that lit up and a huge spiky hair. They were camp metal. 13 Tombs. Brilliant. We drove around in a big blue automatic Vauxhall called Vulture. The Cavern was good as well. Beatles played there you know.

Gigs. The Cavern in Liverpool was a highlight.

reception and Legacy.

OMS generally went down well with our faithful. We still play Waiting On The Sound of Your High heels Baby and our clan love it. the Falkirk Herald were kind in their review, the Daily Record went meh and looking back I can see why. One More Solo is one of our best albums, the fun we had during that era will be hard to match. The original recording just needed a bit of mastering.

Ten Years On. The remaster.

A lot of remasters are awful cash ins that add nothing to the original recording. It wouldn’t be hard to improve the sound of OMS. The original was mixed and mastered in my living room on a pair of huge Celef speakers designed for hi fi use. I got it all wrong. The mix was buried under a sludge of low and low mid frequencies. Every song faded forever which Derek kindly pointed out on a daily basis for years. He had a very valid point.

Ten years on I put the CD into the D3200

Unfortunately I could not strip the songs back to tracking level as they had not been backed up… So there are limitations to what I could do, most remasters are the same. Get it right at the source as they say. These days I have a wee bit more knowledge, a set of budget monitors and basic sound acoustics in a purpose built studio. When I played the original recording it was glaringly obvious what needed fixing. I applied huge EQ cuts to the lowmid bass frequencies which opened up the mix. The guitars have come through quite well. I’ve added some dynamics to the mix. Easy Way has a gain of 1db at the chorus. The things you learn! Cold Calling has a new mix that I found. Cold Calling has always been poor recording. One of those songs that worked well live but on record it suffers. Fade outs have been cut and edited better. Not a huge difference but an improvement. The remaster will be yours absolutely free via download at our online album hub that is https://weirddecibels.bandcamp.com

How much do I love WordPress on android its a riot…

I hope you enjoy One More Solo, its reached its cheeky tenth birthday. Treat it well or it might rebel on you. Its an angry wee bugger.

Pabs.