Category: Uncategorized

  • We’ve finished writing our tenth album

    We’ve finished writing our tenth album

    We are really doing this...

    When I found myself trawling through holiday let websites, I couldn’t quite believe that we were embarking on recording another album. We did consider other options, perhaps going professional and finding a studio and an engineer. Noting that Greg and I (along with Byrne) had spent a neat sum on Social Dancing’s (may I humbly say excellent) debut LP we decided against this and opted for a week away. Its still costing us money…and time. (when people buy music from artists its an incredible support)

    band picture
    Weird Decibels assemble!

                The search for a suitable cottage proved challenging, four guys, wanting four separate bedrooms and a large open living room for that unique room sound you can’t get with FX and plugins. Eventually, a few candidates emerged, then we reached a final two, with Teviotside Lodge near Kelso a frontrunner alongside a familiar site…the legendary Springfield Cottage, the space where we recorded Weird Decibels 2 back in 2015.

                When I emailed about Springfield a familiar response came from the letting agency, the price quoted on the site was for two adults…extra charges would be implemented. I remember the last time we contacted the owner, and he agreed to waive that fee but on this occasion it out is off, plus Teviotside looked too dam appealing. After a few clicks our sixth cottage was booked, it was real and it felt like the band was back.

    Writing the tenth has now taken nearly fours years, that is very unusual for us. By now we had had two Slange sessions, both fruitful, we now had a collection of new songs.

    Greg and Derek writing some new tunes

    Derek, more than the rest of us insisted that we were still short of tracks, especially now that we had dropped ‘My Internal Wasted Mind’ and ‘Bad Things Happen’. Time was pressing, it was now creeping towards February.

    On the 23rd January one of those special creative moments happened, we just started jamming a basic major C and G riff, two chords…but we structured the distortion well to build this epic tune. Lyrics just came to me, as they sometimes do, thinking of Scotland at the 2026 world cup I started singing ‘Toe to toe. Nose to nose, here in Scotland we call it a Square Go.”.

    Lewis was there, filming some footage for a future documentary, he captured the moment we created the song.

    Another tune came to us very much in the same way, as a three piece, when Stu was unable to join us, we started jamming a thick riff in the key of F sharp, with hints of Tad (Derek argues that it is Nirvana’s Blech) we created ‘I Make Great Mistakes’ in just minutes.

    A few weeks later, when Stu returned, he added his guitars and the song just came alive. We had also discussed dropping ‘I Try to Be Strong’, it was a bit slower, but Stu was having none of it and insisted it stayed in contention for recording. I’m glad we did as it has a much-needed change of pace for the album.

    Song list for our tenth album

    1. My Internal Wasted Mind

    2. Fire in the Garden

    3. Science Will Save Me

    4. Bad Things Happen When You’re Bored

    5. If Heaven Exists, It’s in Little Bits

    6. I Try to Be Strong

    7. Derek’s Piano riff which became ‘Will We Be Ok?”

    8. I Talk To You

    9. Cocaine Cop

    10. Caught the Virus

    11. Ain’t Stopping

    12. Stu’s idea that would become, You Want It

    13. Let Me Out Or Let Me Know

    14. Square Go

    15. I Make Great Mistakes

    16. Bones

    On the 25th to 2nd May we will be recording our tenth album (no title yet), stay updated here and on our socials throughout the week.

    Pabs

  • Shuffledown – Day at the Dobbie

    Shuffledown – Day at the Dobbie

    The second festival within a year marks a confident return for Falkirks greatest music festival in recent times.

    Photograph Sweet P

    On the 24th May 2025 Day at the Dobbie takes place at the ethereal Dobbie Hall, the line up is a captivating mixture of local and national acts this year we will see:

    The Crystal Teardrop

    The Pictish Trail

    Davey Horne

    Talking About Ray

    Social Dancing

    Haver

    You can find out more about these artists by hitting the links. Now is a good time to take you back through the history of Shuffle Down and Day at the Dobbie. Below are links looking back to some of the best editions of Shuffledown at the Dobbie Hall. The line ups have been, for me, a rich discovery of artists, some that have went on to ascend the astral heights of the Scottish charts. There have been some engaging headline acts and hidden gems. (to this day I will never ever forget Paddy Steer)

    Shuffledown 2019

    Suffledown 2018

    Shuffledown 2017

    Shuffledown 2016

    And here is a little summary of why the festival has lasted so long in a world where the attention deficit is growing Reasons Why You Should Go To Shuffledown (Day at the Dobbie)

    Lets not forget the hours that the organisers Rikki, Laura and their team put into this festival. After the 2020 lockdown Shuffledown suffered the fate of hundreds of musical events across the country, but somehow they found the spark to bring it back in 2024.

    2024’s Day at the Dobbie took tentative steps towards success, very similar in a way to the 2015 edition of Shuffledown. Day at the Dobbie firmly found its feet in a world that had changed so dramatically (cost of living is one consideration for any artist or promoter these days) starting out again after the momentum that carried the festival to confident heights (the 2020 edition had two days of music!)

    Falkirk and Scotland needs Day at the Dobbie, to have it back is incredible for local artists that could do with a little time beside more established acts, an opportunity that is often rare in arriving.

    There are few tickets left, so come along, discover some new music, listen alongside a friendly family oriented crowd. Last year sold out…just saying…

    Tickets here:

    www.thefalkirkcollection.co.uk

    www.ticketsource.co.uk/afterglow-events

    Also at Silver Machine records (great record shop in Falkirk)

    Words Pabs.

  • Weird Times 2

    Weird Times 2

    It’s Thursday evening, I made my way downstairs to lock up the house. I look out the window up to the night sky, in the darkness hangs the moon, or the super moon as I would later learn it was called. I’m stunned at how clear it is. I wonder if my eyesight has suddenly improved or perhaps…with the planes no longer flying above us, that I haven’t been aware of how polluted the sky above my home is. It’s a reminder of the weird times that we live in.

    As I write from the heartlands of Scotland I think this is week seven of the lock down. Many people now believe that the pandemic has been with us a lot longer. Slowly and silently creeping unseen through the streets, workplaces and homes of our nation. 

    It was just a couple of weeks ago when I learned of the passing of my friend, colleague and manager Stevie Leslie. He was a gentleman, he guided me throughout my career with a calmness that I have always wanted to emulate. He had a brilliant sense of humour. He knew I was a keen runner and would often drive past me on the way to work. His small car had a sharp horn that he liked to beep every time he passed me as I ran. Every time I would jump three feet in the air. I would look towards the offending car to see Stevie’s broad shoulders shaking with laughter as he drove down the road. I will miss him greatly and my heartfelt condolences go to his family.

    It was a brutal reminder of how horrible this disease is, it can touch anyone, this made me more determined to follow the lock down guidance as much as possible. When I look in horror at the daily increase in the numbers of people sadly passed, I think of all the loved ones that will be forever affected by this tragedy. 

    Weird Decibels, like every other musical artist has had to adapt. We have put out another LiveCast and we are currently stitching together all the live performances for LiveCast 4. It’s our wee effort to try and pass time for people. It’s the most active we’ve been for months! 

    stu

    Just a few days ago I went for a run, I run a lot, but I had been injured so exercise was curtailed for a couple of weeks. As I ran my belly shook, not just a wee wobble but a proper wave. It was like my stomach had a time delay from the rest of my body. Then the wind caught my hair, my growing, peppery barnet that, for some reason I’m refusing to cut until my favorite CrossCuts in Linlithgow reopens. I find myself sweeping my hand through my locks like some washed out middle aged rock star…it feels like I’m growing my hair again, just like I did back in the 90’s when the band started. 

    Its Friday I open the blinds. It’s another morning, the news lasts five minutes before I switch it off. I’m trying my best to home-school. I never took school seriously when I was young, now here I am as a stressed out parent hoping my kid will realise his potential while I’m trying to work out fractions. He’s correcting me. 

    I still have to go to my place of work, I like my job but the thought is always at the back of my head. What if I catch it…It’s good to speak to people, everyone speaks as normal, there are some laughs but every conversation eventually returns to how bloody depressed I looked in Live Cast 3. 

    Untitled

    That was a pain to perform, but yeah I wasn’t in a good mood that day and I think the songs were quite sad. It was however great to get Stu and Greg involved. Derek is laying parts for the next one. I’m loving playing the old songs though. Stripping back the tunes to a bare minimum seems to give them new life.

    The doorbell goes. I open it to find a small man walking to a white van. He returns staggering with a heavy box full of beer, he keeps his distance before cheerful shouting ‘That’s you sorted for the lock-down eh?’. I look around the street hoping the neighbours aren’t watching. I store my lock-down booze in my secret vault. I do some more verbs and nouns with the boy. The door goes again. Another box of booze sits on the doorstep. 

    The 3rd LiveCast has done quite well some people actually liked the more reflective mood of this one,  this lifts my spirits. Shuffledown had a virtual festival online, they played acts from festivals past and it was nice to be included. I got in touch with family and friends and things seem to be ok. There are things I like about the lock-down. The silent skies that give way to birdsong, the clear air. Even just being away from busy roads and masses of people. I worry a little that I’m starting to like being separated from society. That thought leaves when I phone my family and then it hits how much I miss them. 

    greg

    I’m going to keep busy with work, family life and the band. It seems like some people think the lock-down is coming to an end, the roads are getting a little busier and people are going out more. It’s not the end, we have to see this through. Please stay in as much as you can, join us on LiveCast 4 if you can, we are playing some songs from the HMR vaults and our Derek will be involved. Take care.

    Oh the house martins (not the band…the birds) have returned! All is good! 

    Pabs

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  • Weird Times

    Weird Times

    The Covid Lockdown: Weird Times

    I often shake my head in disbelief when I comprehend the times that we life in now. Things will get back to normal they say, not so sure about that. Anyway, closer to home I had started to think about the band.

    Before this all kicked off (trying not to be flippant at how serious Covid 19 is) we weren’t practising too much. Greg and Tina had given the world the most beautiful baby boy, his name is Ben, he is a wee gem. That rightly curtailed our practices for a while. After that though, I must be honest, it was easier to not practise, a habit we seemed to be getting into.

    P1010540

    Then, like most of the population, we were forced to be apart. We had a brand-new album to promote and twenty-five years to celebrate. All this was insignificant in the unseen menace of the corona virus. We cancelled practise and, on the text thread, I think I said, ‘see you in the summer’, that might he a wee bit optimistic now.

    We had to adapt. Like many bands have, we now do everything online.

    For some reason, at the start of the lock-down, I remember thinking I was lucky enough to have a garden, but it wasn’t enough. I was growing anxious. The state was telling me I couldn’t do things and my world started to close in. The usual shit started to happen, the shortness of breath and my horizon went a bit slanted. I put it down to the drink, that probably didn’t help, but yeah, I get anxious and yes, I hide it.

    I hide it well.

    The solution? I had to keep busy, picking up the guitar was a good idea. I flicked through the songs that the band have written and, to be fair, there are a few. I had to practise everyday to re-learn the songs. This gave me focus and it felt good. Then I recorded the first session; I didn’t care how it went down. I hoped it would pass some time for people.

    Then ‘I’ll Always be Here’ happened. It was always going to be a single, but now the lyrics seen so relevant, so much that I started to wonder if I was self-isolating before all this shit happened. Maybe just in my head… Anyway, the band couldn’t shoot a video, so we had to catch a theme and it was the video calls that everyone was forced to do in order to keep contact with loved ones.

    I recorded bits of footage in the studio, but Derek took it to another level. He got the kids involved; I was nearly in tears when I saw what he had filmed, I was so happy. Then Greg sent footage of him playing the bass with Ben and I swear I did weep.

    I asked Lewis if he wanted to be in a music video, he said, in kinda pre teenage way, ‘yeah’ but once he got into the studio, he was in his element. My heart danced at his footage.

    DSC_6107

    I put all the clips together, now I was really missing my friends and my family. We all are. But we hoped by doing this video we would give folks a wee bit hope, that this will end, and we will meet up again. (some won’t, and this breaks my heart.) It was well received, and we were happy about that. Fecking miss the guys.

    I started to rehearse a new set of songs for our second LiveCast, I knew Stu would be in the hoose (how did I know that?!) so I asked him if he’d like to get involved (I would love all the band to be involved but I haven’t worked this out yet) to my delight Stu said yes. It took hours to line up all the clips, any recommendations for decent video editing software are welcome.

    I had been worried about one of my best mates, I was concerned that he was finding the lock-down difficult. I was so happy when he got involved. He sent MP3’s back to me with his guitar parts and I manged to put most of it onto our live performance. It felt like we were jamming again. Seeing him on the screen with the guitar was very comforting, the dude hasn’t lost it.

    The second LiveCast went out and it is doing well, I’m happy folks are enjoying it and that it is passing their time. Now here is the weird thing, I’ve felt more connected to the band than I have done in the past few months. Its funny how these things work out.

    We will continue to record mini gigs and as Stu suggested we may put a CD album of the sessions (hell why not). As I write this, I’ve had a few beers (hey, don’t judge, I’m on a weeks holiday) and I know I’m going to sleep (later). Last night I didn’t, I was sober. I lay in bed looking at the ceiling, fighting with my thoughts…one of which was a game of tig. Wondering when the virus was going to tag me and how it would affect my family, my wife who was sleeping peacefully beside me and my son sleeping in the next room. How do I protect my family? Something we are all asking.

    We’ve put out a lot of stuff over the years and we have written lots of stories. If this helps pass some time, then that’s great, have a wee look around the site.

    I recently saw a picture where Chuck Norris was drinking Covid out of a carton. The man is nails. I would normally say we should be more like more like Chuck Norris, but nah that’s not a good idea. Stay in yer hoose, stay safe and help the NHS.

    Before you head off, I would like to give a big shout out to the staff of the SPS. The forgotten service.

    Pabs

     

  • The untold story of Steakpie Studios: Paul Henry Smith

    The untold story of Steakpie Studios: Paul Henry Smith

    not evie, my wee sis gets a chance to see behind the scenes at Steakpie Studios, a small hame made space to record. Hit the link below to get the full article on Eves page.

  • There are hidden treasures up in the loft

    There are hidden treasures up in the loft

    Credits

    The audience

    Rikki Toner (Afterglow) local music scene pioneer

    Eindp Photography capturing the scene, his work is used on this blog with his kind permission

    Bootsie Blue, The Projection and Grim Morrison the artists!

    Ben White sound

    Before I entered Behind the Wall to head upstairs into the Loft (the ale house for the older bairns) I had no idea who was playing tonight. The fact that event organiser Rikki Toner has made so much of an effort to continue his push to rebuild the local music scene has made me determined to go and support it.

    Once I had paid at the door, pleased that my fiver would be going towards the bands I met up with the one and only Stewart McCairney, quickly followed by Greg McSorley. We reflected on our last gig (the week before at North Star) and planned our next assault on world music domination.

    While we plotted to headline Glastonbury the soundcheck was one two-ing in the background preparing for the night ahead. Just before 9 the first band would adorn the stage.

    13316888_555816861257339_5286100353350765367_o
    Bootsie Blue take to the stage. 

    The tall, confident singer/guitarist Aidan Buhrmann of Falkirk’s Bootsie Blue held things together well and was clearly happy to be upon the loft stage. Dressed in black jeans, that looked welded on, the big chap strutted about the stage. Their drummer, Ian Simpson was manic. This guy truly delivered stunning beats hammering the poor drum kit to within an inch of new skins. You could see he felt every beat, superb. The bass player Callum Barret  balanced things by being subtly calm and focused on keeping the Bootsie’s sound tight.

    There were great songs unfortunately I don’t know the titles but ‘Bad Apples’ was a highlight. The first half of these guys set was probably the best I’ve heard in the local setting for a long time. The songs were dynamic and well structured. Once they flesh out their set I’d be surprised if they don’t make some sort of impression on the Scottish scene and are one of Falkirk’s most promising bands. (lets hope the scene grows with them)

    As the night wore on I sampled more Tryst Carronade and blether to both Stu and Greg about the local scene we were thoroughly enjoying supporting other bands. For a while we, like many other people, stayed away from Falkirk bemoaning the lack of live music in our town. Yet we failed to realise that staying away contributes to the problem.

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    Falkirk finds its place. The Projection

    Up next was Glasgow band The Projection. Now I can be dumb at times so when I explained to Greg and Stu that I was looking forward to a visual spectacle by the projection I was ridiculed. (in my defence many bands use projection, most recently at Shuffle Down, when Paddy Steer was performing)

    No offence but these guys are ‘experienced’ and it’s great to see Rikki had booked a diverse set of acts. These guys, bar James Lee Brodie on the guitar, are older and still belting out the tunes.

    Stewart Cuthill was shielding his eyes looking for the crowd and eventually he left the stage to dance with the audience. They had a punk ethic with good melodic licks and Stewart had donned a nice ‘London, Rome, Paris, Falkirk’ tee shirt. Its great to see our fine town in the same light as these cities!  At one point he explained that there “should be thousands of people here” before launching into No Fracking in Falkirk. Which had the biggest crowd response.

    13320977_555877064584652_364054729217938345_o
    Grim Morrison

    The headline act, also hailing from Glasgow, were Grim Morrison a three piece who borrowed the excellent Ian Simpson from Bootsie Blues to play drums. They grooved well and I thoroughly enjoyed their set. James McManus on guitar and vocals gave it his all and he looked like he enjoyed it, Meg Kenny on bass donned with a floppy hat danced away as she skillfully handled bass duties.

    By end of the night I was tipsy; full of Carronade ale and ready to get the train home. There is no doubt that I enjoyed the night with good company and it was good to catch up with Falkirk music scene once again. Long may this continue. Please support it if you can.

  • Chris Masson 1977-2014

    Chris Masson 1977-2014

    Chris and Cage

    There are a few reasons Greg and I started Weird Decibels; seeing Chris Masson on stage was one of the biggest. A truly dynamic singer; he fronted the rock band Cage in the late 90’s. Seeing him play live opened a door for me; he gave me confidence to pick up the mic and try it myself.

    Chris was one of the most energetic front men i ever saw.
    Chris was one of the most energetic front men i ever saw.

    Thursday nights at the Martell were a highlight of our week. We’d grab a few Gold Beirs and watch local bands play. Cage were probably the best I saw. They were solid; tight as hell. Ewan is a fantastic drummer and he knitted with Warren on bass. Phil, took care of the guitar. Their music was frantic, aggressive and raw. While the trio played there was a front man who would pace around the stage and as he sang he would scream into the ground, kneeled over trying to get every ounce of young anger from his soul. He would rock back and forth as the music took a hold of him. He was intense and it felt as if he meant every word he sang, he was one of Falkirk’s greatest vocalists. He was Chris Masson.

    As I left the Martell with my best mate Greg, I turned to him and said; lets start a band.

    There was a cost to the late Thursday nights; we would have to go to school the next day and i guess it had an impact as we stumbled out of school towards Falkirk college to follow hopeless dreams. Chris and I were young and we were having a laugh.

    We were a close group although I'm the awkward one.
    We were a close group although I’m the awkward one.

    Falkirk College and Firkins.

    Chris and I attended Falkirk college in the late 90’s. He was in Cage and I was in Weird; both singers we had a lot in common. I believe he studied sports psychology (i could be wrong) and I was studying computers. Literally just staring at the screen if i’m honest. There were no mobiles then but we would meet in the busy corridors and arrange the weekend which would start on a Thursday at the Martell and end on Sunday morning as we were ushered out of Pennies. These weekends were an incredible time of hope for our bands and our futures.

    Then came the day we got our bursary. Chris and I would laugh as we walked out of the college to the pub.  We went to Firkins and with our new found wealth we would by some drinks and with our change we would fill the jukebox for the next few hours. Then we’d sit at a table by the window and watch the world go by. We would  talk about music, women and anything else that a late teen would want to talk about. They were wonderful times. He was very supportive of our fledgling band. He would give me advice on where to send demos and how to handle gigs. I was unaware that Cage were coming to an end.

    It was a gig in Cumbernauld town hall; we were on the bill with Cage. It was to be their last appearance. I truly thought that Chris would find another band and i think he tried different things. Cage came to an end and i was gutted. I thought they would be one of the first bands to break Falkirk; they had been signed to Baghdad Radio and put out a single on vinyl. I was amazed at that. Chris explained that they recorded the record at a studio called Split Level. He gave us the number. It was the greatest studio we ever set foot in.

    A thoughtful Chris
    A thoughtful Chris

    Our Friendship

    Chris and I would continue to meet in Firkins and occasionally head out to Glasgow to listen to music. The weekends flew by and we had many, many laughs. he introduced me to a very attractive woman called Kirsty who would become my wife. We were a close knit bunch of friends who would often sit on the floor of Firkins before we would get on our unsteady feet and walk down to Pennies. Then we would dance to Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana and other bands of that era. Chris would try with all his might to get me to fall in love with Faith No More but I was too obsessed with Kurt Cobain. As my relationship with Kirsty developed I drifted away from Firkins and saw less of Chris. Every time I did meet him he was the same warm and softly spoken soul that he ever was.

    One of Our Greatest Listeners

    Showing off our tees!
    Showing off our tees!

    Everytime I met Chris he would ask what the next record was or when the next gig would be. When I told him he would be there supporting us and he bought our CD’s. He would tell me what he thought of our work and it was honest. I knew him as a singer so I really appreciated his encouragement. Weird Decibels might’ve been around longer but I always looked up to the frontman of Cage.

    Weird Decibels had started a series of podcasts and we had arranged to get Chris to come down and sing some Cage songs with us backing him. Everyone was so excited by the event; we talked about it and we planned it but it never happened. I feel we had let Chris down because i knew he was really up for it; we were playing a lot of gigs at the time and the weeks and months went past. Talking about doing things is fine but doing is so important and we didn’t do it. Life has a funny way of punishing you for not doing the things you say you will.

    Chris was a thoughtful caring person
    Chris was a thoughtful caring person

    Encore

    I stared at the screen of my mobile when the message came through about Chris. Another of our friends taken to soon. I knew someday we would meet again and catch up but i got caught up in the normal life that surrounds me. Time is a funny thing; it takes things away from you. Now it has taken Chris.

    Yet time gave me those days with Chris; we sat in our favourite bar and we played our tunes. We would sip our beer together, we would share our stories and our jokes, we would raise our glasses and clink them together then we would look out of the Firkins window and watch the workers go by and we would forget all about time.

    Pabs

  • Latest News. May 2014.

    Image 

    Congratulations to our very own Derek and Ann for finally tying the knot in Cuba! He’ll be back behind the kit soon with an extra ring…

    Its been a quiet spell for the band, so during this time I have been working on a solo album and its nearly done. I hope to have it uploaded to the big bad web soon, probably via Spotify et all. Its great making music buts its better in a band!

    We have a gig next month at Pivo Pivo Glasgow 24th June. New podcasts will also be recorded as we look back on twenty years together. We’ll strip each album down talking about how we wrote and recorded them. So listen out for them soon.

    There will be more blogs soon, once the solo album is out. Its called Morningday, I’ll have more details soon. Until then take care.

    Pabs

     

     

  • Weird Decibels live

    Weird Decibels live

    We play live a week tonight at the ABC2 in Glasgow. Tickets £8. Can’t wait for this one. Playing live is perhaps the best part of being in a band.

  • Wonder Video

    Wonder Video

    Link to our video for our song Wonder from our album Weird Decibels 1.