As we finished the writing of Weird Decibels 2 we had a look at our set and decided that we did not have enough songs for the new album (out at the end of this year). So we wrote Its Who You Know, it quickly established itself as the first single.
Its Who You Know has been used many times in songs by other artists but it was apt for where my head was at the time. The 2015 general election was approaching; when I see many politicians I see people who have got their positions simply through their class and connections. I felt angered that people making the decision that effect my life and that of my family were made by those who were not there on merit (I must add that there are many who have worked hard to get where they are).
Indeed many walks of life are influenced by the people at the top favouring friends, family and people they know. Its human nature to surround yourself with people you feel comfortable with and are unlikely to challenge you. The music industry is a another example of ‘Its Who You Know’.
As my father often said when I was young. ‘its not what you know, its who you know’; he stills believes that to this day. However I believe you can make a difference to your life by working hard and never giving up but it is nice to know people with a little ‘pull’. Anyway this is what the song is about.
The Idea.
At 3 minutes the song is not long but it is an age in a music video. The idea was to have an interview with a pre-determined candidate guaranteed the job and the band being the hopeful applicants who did not stand a chance despite their qualities.
The successful applicant would walk through a door to find the band playing, a symbol of going it alone and doing things for ourselves without the help of other influences. The idea was a simple, realistic and a budget friendly plot.
The Shooting.
Kevin Byrne kindly stepped up to the lens and shot the video, he controlled the lighting and directed many of the scenes. His influence was crucial to the final outcome of the video. James Cattanach kindly let us have free roam of the Three Kings and we set up in various rooms to create the interview room, the waiting area and the stage.
Kevin grew slightly concerned about the time we had to shoot the film however once we were set up things quickly took shape.
The Cast
Chris Wilson: Chris played a cocky applicant who was guaranteed the job. He played his character with a swagger and style; look at the scene where he passes the band knowing he has the job. When he opens the door to see the band play is reaction is priceless.
Chris Burt: Brother of Jemma who appears on Weird Decibels 1 plays the interviewer who grills his victims and draws out nervous ticks and weaknesses of the applicant. A dismissive employer who enjoys wearing a ‘sacking tie’.
Dale Ashworth: Plays another cocky and smug interviewer who plays off his colleague to mock the hapless interviewees. Both members of the board are dismissive of all the applicants until Chris Wilson’s character appears and they shake hands. (which had the director and cast scratching their heads trying to work out the handshake in reverse order)
The Scenes
there were to be three scenes, the waiting room, the interview and the band playing at the end. The first scene had to show that Chris knew the members of the board. The interview displayed the hopeless interviews and the final scene is the band playing the song. We had great difficulty shooting the interview due to uncontrollable laughter! During the waiting rooms scenes I headed out the wrong door and the band followed!
Its Who You Know!
Editing
Greg, Derek and Stu did most of the editing with input from Kevin. The first edit of the film was not far from what you see in the final version. I had the idea to put ‘Tarantino’ titles before every scene to help define the story. We had real difficulty getting the timing right, we play our songs far faster live than the recordings. Greg had to use the force to get some of the playing in sync with the music.
The Release
Its How You Know is the first of three single from our forthcoming album Weird Decibels 2.0. the single has been well received and its nice to know that after two week its hit over 300 views. Thanks for the support!
onto the final part of our extended look at our recording experience in Kelso
the moon shone through the ceiling window most nights. Beautiful.
Wednesday 4th March
Hangovers. They hit me hard and I had a belter on the Thursday. Derek looked no better, I’m not sure if it was a hangover or his mood was low. He sat on the stairs for a while deep in thought as I prepared to record some vocals.
We mulled over breakfast, I picked at some food. Derek said he was missing his daughter and he was thinking about returning home. He said he felt bad about leaving the band. I said that we were lucky to be given a chance to do this for a week but you can’t help your feelings. I suggested he should return home to his family. With a heavy heart Derek headed off; the cottage was quiet for a while.
Recording the Vocals
the sun shines through the pop sheild
I set up the rode just of the centre of the room ( sound reflections can sound worse in the middle of a room) and placed a room mic up on the balcony to see if we would get some nice over spill or ambiance from the louder vocals. The sun shone through the window onto the pop shield. It was a nice moment.
It generally went well although my voice burned out pretty quick; probably due to the alcohol the night before. My head was pounding as well. Greg manned the desk.
Onto Solos
Again using the big room I set up the blumlein mic setup using the two Rodes to capture Stu’s solos. I had a SM57 on the amp for back up. Again Greg thankfully manned the desk. I went outside for a wander.
With shotguns blasting in the farm far in the distance and the cold cutting through my skin I wandered down the dirt track away from the cottage thinking about the band and Derek’s early departure. I wondered if this would be the last time we would do this.
Then I heard Stu’s epic solos in the distance; when I listened back on the desk I was truly impressed.
A quiet night was had; Stu and I drove down to Kelso to get a chippy only to get lost on the way back. When we reached the dirt track in the black of the night Stu switched off his lights…
Thursday 5th March
We had a nice truckers breakfast thanks to Greg and Stu; I was feeling great and headed though to the big room to lay
Pabs and Stu. Victory coffees
some more vocals. There was a notable difference in the length of time my voice survived. We had to change some lyrics to one of the songs which Greg was happy to help with!
I found a use for my marshall distrotion pedal that I failed to get a sound for my guitars. I fed my vocal through a SM58 and the pedal for ‘Its Who You Know’.
With the vocals complete we took the whole kit back upstairs to concentrate on Stu’s clean guitar sounds. We completed those in a fairly quick time. The full day was a long shift though; when we were finished I was ready for Stu’s Spaghetti bolognaise and a mountain of garlic bread (the man likes garlic)
I missed my wife and kid a lot; we were all feeling it by now but I had a heavy heart as I packed up all the gear and stored it in the hallway for putting into the cars. We moved all the furniture back into its place and the cottage no longer looked like a makeshift studio.
The three of us sat and watched Still Crazy while the fire crackled in the background. It was the perfect movie to end the night.
Going Home
I woke up and thought of the solo gig I was due to play at the Tolbooth in Stirling; the nerves kicked in. So I got up and got ready to leave the cottage.
As I talked to the farmer who had stopped by to collect the bins I watched from the corner of my eye Stu and Greg load the cars. When they were done I nipped back into the cottage! We had a final look around and I knew that we had a fantastic time.
As the car trundled down the dirt track for the final time I turned around had a wee look back; Springfield got smaller as we drove away. It was time to return to our loved ones, a wee smile came over my face. I turned back around and looked to the road ahead; perhaps this won’t be the last time we do this. I’m sure we’ll find a way.
Woke up refreshed and went for my second and final run of the week. During his run I started thinking about the lyrics for quoted not voted. It was a beautiful morning; the sun was just coming up and the countryside was coming to life.
Distorted Guitars
Many many pedals
I returned to find the rest of the band up and ready for the day ahead. You could tell that Stu was itching to play the guitar so we headed through to start. However before we could lay those tracks I wanted to back up our work so far and check the drums, that took a wee while so some records were made at Athlete Kings albeit the wrong athlete got the credit!!
Recording Stu’s distortion has been a bit of a challenge; we have different tastes in our sound so I was trying to ignore my preferences and do the best for the band. I started out trying to get a blend of the rode and the SM57 but the SM57 was coping far better with the dynamics of his sound. Every time I moved the rode from the amp the old phase cancellation was creeping in. Now I’d love to spend hours trying to sort that but time was precious in our week. So I stuck with the 57.
We tried a various number of positions (right on the grill to about a foot away) before opting for just of the centre an inch or so from the grill. It gave us a full sound which at first I though was muddy but by then my ears were shot. It was a mistake to go onto my guitars after Stu’s; I though I had my sound before coming to record but my amp just didn’t sound right so I switched back to my old trusted amp distort and ditched the pedal (that would be used later…).
My sharper sound blended nicely with Stu’s heavy tone; I recorded just under half of my parts but we got Stu’s finished at the lodge.
This was the worst day for my ears; the tinnitus was setting in despite trying to keep the levels low. We had a great night though; refreshed from our rest we went straight back into the drink and some silliness found its way onto the cameras.
Tuesday 3rd March
went with the sm57 for stus distortion it could handle the pressure!
I got up a little later with another bad hangover ( I swear I used to able to drink better than this). I started the preparations for the rest of Stu’s distorted guitars. Again the recordings were nailed pretty quick as we started from where we finished the previous day. We pressed stop at 2pm and decided to go into Kelso for a few drinks.
The Day In Kelso
Showered and refreshed with our best (ish) rags on we phoned for a taxi; a few minutes later we could see the taxi. Now usually when you see our taxi approaching its a mad dash to find the house keys however given the length of the dirt track we had time to make last minute adjustments to our attire!
Kelso is a lovely small borders town; we were dropped off outside the Queens Head and had a few fine pints of Best and Guinness. It was a strange pub, you had to walk through an outside close to get to the toilets. We headed out to the Black Swan which was the ‘local’ pub if you like. We didn’t stay long; the faint hint of bleach was creeping into the enjoyment of my rather drab pint.
Next up was the Cross keys hotel where a lovely lady was trying to make us feel most welcome in the rather sterile surrounds. When she finished her brief introduction Greg, as blunt as you like, asked ‘Whaurs the Red Lion?’.
A pint later we headed out; I stood in awe of the swarm of starlings that were forming amazing shapes above the square of the town. Dusk was setting and our stomachs were growling. We reached Cobbles.
Cobbles was cracking; we had our 20th anniversary celebration meal in here. Fine real ales and a selection of fine steaks ( I had a burger, a great burger at that). Bellies full and satisfied we headed off into the damp night to find Greg’s Red Lion.
A fine pint of ale was had
When we found said pub a slight air of disappointment descended upon us. The bar was split into two parts. It was dead apart from one man and his dug (no seriously). The barmaid, who could hold her own in a scrum, was nice enough but we decided to head off to the first establishment that served up fine ale, The Queens Head. After another fine pint and a whiskey or two we grabbed a taxi.
Let me take you back to the Weird Decibels 1 recordings. Back then we headed out on a cold frosty evening to the local pub in Ettrickbridge. We had a lodge that was located up a narrow track with a steep drop to the side of the road. Greg drove us in the camper van that night and as we headed down the difficult route Greg decided to wind me up. He switched off the lights of the van and drove in the dark… Now I’m a bad passenger at the best of times…I didn’t help when he put the hazard lights on for illumination…
Fast forward 3 years and the taxi driver who was kindly taking us home over heard us recall this tale; as we approached the dirt track to gain access to the lodge he turned off his lights much to the delight of my fellow band mates! Dicks.
We had a fantastic night in the lodge; four great mates belting out tunes and busting moves on our makeshift dance floor (the drum kit was packed). It was a classic night.
This was used to record both the bass and the drums at the same time.
The making of weird decibels 2 part 1 Springfield lodge
Weird Decibels would like to thank our nearest loved ones, our children and our friends for allowing us to be away from you for a week.
We’d also like to thank Guy Scott Plummer for the trust he put in us to take care of his cottage while we recorded.
Friday 27th of February we set off.
PATINNG went my phone. I opened up the message; Derek texted ‘Half an hour to go! Come on!!’ He was working, as was Greg, I was sitting with Lewis waiting to go and I hadn’t slept much the night before.
An hour later two cars pull up. Its two out of three of my greatest and life long friends, Greg and Derek. A pang of guilt prods me. Stu missed the first night (in the cottage) as the date that I had booked clashed with the end of his holiday in Spain.
We ram packed the two cars full of gear, food and drink. As Greg’s suspension creaked he wandered around his WV Passat with a small air compressor and started inflating his flat tyre. He looked around to me; grinning as he knew I’d be worrying. Don’t worry Pabs slight deflation he said.
To be honest I was slightly deflated. We were heading out to have the time of our lives in separate cars and without Stu. When we left for our last album WdB1 we were all together in a fantastic camper van. This didn’t compare; however things improved when Derek brought out a walkie talkie! Banter ensued…
As we headed down the familiar roads to the borders (this is the second time we have headed south to record) I could not wait to see the cottage we had booked. We were all on good form if a little weary having just completed a week of normal work.
As we passed Lauder I was about to send Greg some more walkie talkie abuse, however the battery failed. We learned later that Greg was wondering why no one was talking to him; he had been talking to static about big plans for the bands 20th anniversary celebrations at the cottage!
The arrival
A stunning and breathtaking property
As we headed out of Kelso into the countryside I caught a first glimpse of the cottage standing alone surrounded by fields awaiting the start of spring. From here I could see we had picked the right location.
We looked for the ‘pyramids’ as described in the directions; there nestled in beside the old stone wall stood two modest ‘pyramids’ we turned into the drive of the estate unaware of how massive this land would be.
We edged along the farm road passed a grand white house that looked over its land; perhaps keeping an eye on its latest visitors. We approached what Derek thought was the cottage, we continued driving. We reached a potholed dirt track no worse than the roads in Falkirk. It seemed like an age as we crept along looking for our temporary home.
Finally as we emerged from a hedge row was saw the sign for Springfield and at the top of a small hill was the cottage standing quietly behind a large tree still bare from the colds of the winter.
As we rumbled up the wind swept dirt track towards the gate the place got bigger. I jumped out and opened the gate, the traditional sounding of the car horns beeped when we reached our new temp studios; Derek and Greg glided past with huge grins beaming from their car windows.
I approached the door and stepped inside. Instantly I was struck by the space of the modern part of the property. We went in further and saw a grand and open staircase. Further on we peeled back a curtain to reveal the main room and older part of the building. I looked down the room to the dormant fireplace then up to the high ceiling. I knew that we had picked our best recording lodge.
We headed back out to empty the car, I heard Derek simply say ‘gents’ he was holding a beer for each of us. Cracking open the cans we slammed them together and knocked back the first of our frothy refreshments, we’ve arrived. We carted all the gear into the hall and picked our rooms.
After setting up the drum kit and some general preparation Derek cooked some food, Greg got the fire going and I set up the nights music. We let Stu know how wonderful the place was.
The three of us sat around the now established fire and enjoyed the first of our nights; myself and Derek would later have a pec dance off (don’t ask) Greg was scarred. When I was a little tipsy I looked around the huge room and thought of all the people that had paid for an album or come to see us and raised my tin of Tenents to them; without them we would not be here.
Saturday 28th February
I got up early and went for a head pounding run around the countryside perhaps not appreciating the distance. While I was running I planned the day ahead; this would hopefully see us record some drums and bass.
Stu was quick to arrive and we gave him a huge ‘we’re not worthy!’ welcome. He rolled into the massive drive and headed into the house. Once he had settled the band were determined to get some tracks onto the drive
Recording the drums and the bass
The reason we picked this place was for this set up
I have the use of 12 tracks to simultaneously record on the humble Korg D3200. Not a lot but enough. Tracks 1 and 2 were for the Bass DI and a cab mic; for this I placed a Stagg large diaphragm condenser just a few inches from the grill in the middle of the cab. The cab was placed as far from the walls in the corridor of the modern part of the cottage
Tracks 3-10, 8 tracks to record drums. Not a lot by today’s standards but enough to capture a decent sound. The snare was captured by a SM57, the kick with the Audix D6, toms and cymbals were closed mic’d with Stagg’s, small diaphragm that Derek owns. Overhead were to Rode NT 2A’s; they were raised high thanks to the spacious ceiling. The final two tracks were for guide vocals and guitars.
All leads led to the kitchen where we placed the desk in a semi isolated position. First couple of samples sounded promising; the sound was perhaps a wee bit too bright so a couple of adjustments were made to the close mics on the kit. Overall we were very happy with the sound of the drums. The bass blend was sounding good as well; so we went for our first takes. Miss Asphyxia was recorded first to settle any nerves and it got us off to a good start.
A few hours and a few takes later we were done of the day. Six of the songs now had drums and bass. Greg was trying to record an extremely complex line for the bass on Curtsin its the Cast. We literally had to punch in nearly every part of the song. I lost it when Greg said ‘the up bit comes after an up bit which is not right it should be a down bit…’
I had been at the desk so long everything was sounding like mush; my ears were simply tired
After all his fine and energetic work on the drums Derek prepared a fine meal for the hungry band. We scoffed that and sat together listening to some cracking tunes. Eventually the moon shone through the velux window above us. It was a fantastic sight.
Sunday 1st Of March
This was used to record both the bass and the drums at the same time.
This was the first of my bad hangover days… We had necked a few the night before, celebrating Stu arriving at Springfield and watching the old Riot Act video. So my heid was fragile. Not great when you want to record more drums and bass.
After a hearty breakfast we managed to lay down the remaining six tracks. It was hard work and would take us well into the afternoon to record. We left the newer songs until last; however they worked well as we had rehearsed them last. There were a couple of changes to songs that I found annoying, one being the intro to our newest song ‘Its Who You Know’. An extra bar was added to he intro which there was no need for. However apart from this it went well.
The Guitars
We headed upstairs to the newer part of the cottage. Up on the open plan area is another sitting room, the bedrooms, a table football room and the balcony that overlooks the massive main room. Having checked all the rooms we decided that the football room would be the best for the guitars. We had nice room reflections from the drums so the distorted guitars would be more direct in their sound to avoid swapping the drums.
I would have regular breaks to rest the ears. I stepped outside into the cold wind and took in the breathtaking views of the countryside
The table football room was already an arena with a history, I had soundly beaten greg 10-3. He was not to have his revenge.
Having carted the entire studio upstairs it was time to sit down to a cracking Steakpie. One of the culinary highlights of the week by Mr Menmuir. A lovely red from Stu was going down well however last night or age caught up with me and I spent the rest of the night feeling sorry for myself. I tried to watch the Quiet Act’ video but the shaky camera footage was making me feel queasy. How rock and roll is that!
So an early night for all; the earliest night in recording history!
The year started with a mixture of optimism and permission; we had started writing weird decibels 2 and it wasn’t really taking off so we had to find some inspiration from somewhere. We booked ourselves a wee lodge in Oakley for the end of the month.
Before we were due to set off we had the small matter of releasing a new music video. Speak was the song we opted for.
We stayed true to the black and white theme of Weird Decibels 1. It was shot down at the practise room with a mixture of stills and live footage. The idea was to have a bit of fun with each of us switching musical positions. The video did quite well; sitting at over 1000 views and that isn’t taking into account the Blank TV stats. A good start!.
The Falkirk Herald kindly ran a story about the video. Nice folk.
Moshville times wrote a nice piece for us as part of their ‘Band of the Day’; my favourite quote would be ‘not exactly radio friendly (!)’ and ‘ an overall undercurrent of folk’ this led us to utter a new genre Folking Metal!
as January came to a close we headed off to Oakley with the acoustic guitars and a shit load of beer. We wrote 6 songs. ‘I Hear The City’, Little Thoughts Lost’, ‘Digital Takeover’, Curtain Hits the Cast’, ‘Quoted Not Voted’ and ‘Hit Me’ the latter had everyone reaching for their beers a little quicker. ‘Its a song about depression’ quipped Stu. We never played it again.
February
This took us neatly into February and Tommy Clark of the Third Class Ticket Show continued to do us proud by playing us on his show; ‘Speak’ getting the slot.
We were looking forward to playing Stereo but the gig was cancelled. I was gutted at this news; A because I love playing live and B because its a cracking venue.
We also uploaded the remasters of One More Solo to limited success!! I’m not sure if its worth doing the other albums; the overpowering bass of the original master was swamping the album. I like the new master though.
April was quiet for us. I was busy working on Morningday; an album I recorded with Kevin Byrne and Jemma Burt.
May
Derek and Ann tied the knot. Its good to have a least one celebrity wedding a year.
World cup fever was building, we continued to practise the new songs another quiet month.
June
We had a gig at Pivo Pivo to look forward to. We were sitting in the practise room mulling over the limited response to the gig (we would learn that gigs are best played on a Friday or Saturday); we got a phone call from PM promotions who had helped us have some cracking gigs in 2013 (Oran Mor, ABC 2). It was to be at the QMU; an old stomping ground for us. The big stage right? We asked the promoter.
Ah no its Jims Bar.
Mmm it still looked ok so we went for it given that Saturday gigs tend to be better. First gig of 2014 booked… in June… Anyway it was to be part of the ‘West End Festival’.
June would also see us attempt our own event. We booked a gig at the brilliant 13th Note with young rockers Ciceros secret, Miss the Occupier and The Dark Arts. Things were picking up!
The 21st of June would see us play Jim’s Bar. I filmed the approach to the gig hoping to start a documentary for the band. It was a clammy summers day, the football was on and the venue was like a an oven. Not the greatest gig; our patience with PM promotions was staring to run low.
The film I made for the Jim’s Bar gig was quickly shoehorned into a video for Joker’ we hadn’t had a presence on YouTube for a while and this was a chance to get back on.
Not our greatest video by any stretch but it was a bit of fun. Views? 120 on our page around 600 on Blank TV. Very disappointing given the success of the other videos. A fickle world indeed!
I was with Lewis sipping a coffee at the Helix when the phone rang. James Trimble from the Falkirk Herald looking for an interview! So look out for our article in the next couple of weeks! Thanks James. This was a Facebook post I wrote the day James Trimble phoned my mobile as I sipped a coffee. You should have seen the looks of the other costumers as I was talking about writing albums and playing gigs!
To top off this fantastic month we played our gig at the 13th Note. One of the best we played and we met some good friends old and new that night. I also highly recommend the Notes veggie burgers!!
Oh before I finish August we had promised for weeks to do the ‘ice bucket challenge; the Facebook craze that had went mega viral, listen close and you will hear Stu scream like a big girl!
We booked another gig; this time at Ivory Blacks. It looked very promising; although it was on a school night…
September was a quiet month of writing and recording practise sessions. We actually started writing in the old room again and the results were pretty good.
October
We launched our very own website this month in a hope not to rely too much on Facebook. Its hard to say where this is going to go. My how did we get to attached to Facebook. Disturbing…
The website will probably evolve to become more of a tribute to our 20 years together. Watch this space.
We started drinking tea and coffee at practise; yes you read that right.
November
Stu rocks the ivory
We hyped the Ivory Black gig as a send off to Weird Decibels 1. A very disappointing gig and a rather sad end to the live life of Weird Decibels 1. Maybe we’ll do another show and send it off in style.
As I write about the highs and lows of unsigned music life there are certain things that quickly pull you back into perspective
Our good friend and fellow musician Chris Masson passed away at the age of 37. Too young. Too soon.
On the 22nd of November the guys brought their gear around to my place and we set up the studio. We wrote another batch of cracking songs for Weird Decibels 2. This will be the way we write in the future given the success of the session.
The band has wrapped up early this year, work and the festive season have taken their toll on our practise sessions.
All is good, we have a batch of songs ready to be rehearsed and eventually recorded next year
2014 has been a mixed bag. Some highs some lows; I feel we lost a wee bit of momentum this year due to different circumstances and perhaps poor choices.
2015 is our 20th anniversary. A new album is due, new videos, gigs, podcast and hopefully a film. So a lot to look forward to,
Massive thanks to the unflinching support of our family and friends
It was a dark and stormy night as we pulled up to the slightly hidden doorway of Ivory Blacks; a venue known for its brand of heavier rock. We were looking forward to this despite the ‘playing on a mid week night’ doubts that were nagging us.
There were three other bands on the bill War head, Ritual Spirit and Fourth Gate, It was nice to speak to Bathgate rockers Warhead they were a sound bunch.
we got some chips for tea and we were ready to go
The sound check was kinda back to front; we wnet on first so we soundchecked and everyone else did a level check. I liked the sound on stage. The venue was empty though and we were due to play in 20 minutes.
the er.. setlist
Thankfully a few of our wonderful friends ventured through the doors just as we were due to strike our first chords. We played well to a largely empty venue. I really enjoyed the gig although it was slightly disillusioning that our final run through of Weird Decibels 1 was to a sparse audience given that we have had some great gigs recently. Forward was played for the first time in a while and it was nailed. Could be a regular again!
Pabs sings his heart out
A huge thank you to all our friends who supported us through the Weird Decibels 1 era. We have learned a lot; we will be more picky about the venues in future and we’ll probably avoid playing midweek shows. See you for Weird Decibels 2.0 live!!
1st up is a live performance from VIIIAges and its fantastic they remind me of an earlier discovery DM Lied but their songs are more traditional than the pre mentioned band (that I love). The recording is wonderful; live energetic and knitted tightly by the prominent bass and slightly muted drums, The lightly distorted guitars are loud in the mix and on stage; you can hear the snare rattle.
It looks live; it is live
This band have a new York feel, punky, edgy, the recording appears to be at a venue called Youngcamelot in Chicago Illinios who record the bands that play live. Its a fantastic idea; the whole feel of this record screams an underground music scene that we in the UK haven’t witnessed since our last US import of grunge.
This is different there is everything where. The finale New Era is a fuzz jam with a dominant guitar playing over a frantic bass. Stoney Pony has a strong riff laced throughout. The vocals are delivered with punky vulnerability reminiscent of Joe Strummer Stoney Pony shouts the crowd; that’s the name of it? answers the band!
The crowd play their part it sounds like a small but close knit group who back up the band with screams of ‘one more!’ as the step into New Era.
Its been many months since I scribbled in the Weird Decibels 2 diary; I looked back and it was last year so apologies for that. We’ve been really busy since you and I last talked. So grab a bottle of red and I’ll bring you up to speed.
Back in July 2013 we had a list of around six songs;
1. Standing On a Viewpoint
2. Rain Parade
3. Feet First
4. Miss Asphyxia
5. Small Hands
6. Kill it! Kill it!
The writing session were running like my old Ford Focus (now scraped) there were various reasons why we stopped and started writing. Gigs were a huge drain on our limited time together, Derek hurt his ankle (as you have read in elsewhere in this blog) and we had several work commitments.
Time passed and the songs were slowing so we headed of to Oakley. We hired a small lodge nestled away in a large country estate. We had a wonderful time catching up and drinking beer; our trusted friend Kevin Byrne also turned up. Cracking time. We wrote 6 songs in two days it was a rampage of ideas. I guess the change of scenery really helped the juices flow.
1. I Hear The City
2. Digital Takeover
3. Little Thoughts Lost
4. Curtain Hits The Cast
5. Quoted not Voted
6. Hit Me.
We returned to our old practice room, played a few more gigs and looked up to the 2009 calender as the months flew past we agreed that it would be nice to have a new album for our 20th anniversary. We hoped that a return to Oakley could be booked but this is looking unlikely (although I want do to it. Badly)
We’ve been writing back in the room over the last months; we have another few tracks and ideas to add to the new album.
1. Smash The Glass
2. Almost Beautiful
3. Station Man
4. Untitled jam
Put the three sessions and we still don’t have a full album. Of all the songs the following are likely to make it (singers opinion)
1. Miss Asphyxia
2. Kill it! Kill it!
3. Curtain Hits The Cast
4. Little Thoughts Lost
5. Almost Beautiful
6. I Hear The City
7. Smash the Glass
8. Quoted not Voted
Many of the early songs have been dropped; they scurried from under the shadow of WdB1 and drifted away towards the bootleg vaults.
So we have many songs still to write and we are trying hard. We hope to have them well rehearsed before potentially recording them in the early spring of our 20th year.
All these records will be available to you in some sort of form; a deluxe version of Weird Decibels 2 or a bootleg. All the ideas are worth a listen.
Gigs we organise help pay for future recordings. So thanks for coming!!
Weird Decibels live at 13th note 22/08/2014
Our names in lights
A few months ago at practise, Derek suggested that we run and promote our own music night for a change; give the promoters a wee break. So Derek, Greg and Stu ( I was kinda leaving it to them to be honest) fused their music biz minds together and came up with SYTB promotions.(if you’re wondering its Strumit, Yellit, Twangit and Bangit)
A venue was needed, 13th Note were offering their excellent venue plus sound man for a very competitive price. It seemed too easy. The only thing we needed now was other bands.
a solid performance from the Dark Arts
We talked about the bands we have played with over the years and wanted a good mix of styles for our debut event. Up stepped Miss The Occupier, Dark Arts and Ciceros Secret. Three fine and very different bands.
Here is the story of the night.
The first thing that surprised me was my car; the boot swallowed up the bass amp plus two guitar amps without so much as a shrug. Gear packed we battled though the rush hour traffic back to the city of Glasgow which is still basking in the after glow of the Commonwealth Games.
derek couldn’t wait until the photo was taken and kept eating nom nom
We arrived early so I had time to sample some of the 13th Notes grub. Its all veggie; to be honest I could do with a night of the red stuff so I ordered a cracking veggie burger. Once we were fed we headed down stairs to one of the cities most iconic wee venues. For a band our size it feels more like home; even a modest crowd fills the room so that settled us.
The sound check went smoothly; the other bands rolled in. It was nice to see Jon from the Dark Arts; we played for a least three years together in the Seventeenth. Now I’m not saying it was a time of high fives and fist pumps, we had our moments, but it is a time I look back fondly on; it was nice to see the fella again. I was tempted to ask if he still listens to the old Seventeenth records (I do) but I let that one pass.
Ciceros Secret arrived; they are a nice bunch. We played with this young band back in November 2013 at the Garage Attic that was a crazy gig; their fans stormed the stage and the place turned into a mosh pit.
Miss the Occupier are friends of our friends and it was nice to meet them.
Now that the greeting were out the way it was time to get down to business.
The wonderful Miss the Occupier
The crowd floated in as Miss The Occupier took to the stage playing a fine mix of their own tunes which reminded me of Joy Division, they had a really clean, punchy sound; Roz the singer owned the stage. The crowd swelled and the temperature rose; the 13th Note atmosphere was here!
I really enjoyed their set you should check out their excellent video on YouTube
Sometimes it good to hear something you know, the Dark Arts provided a cracking set of rock covers for the now packed audience. Pearl Jams ‘Even Flow’ was excellent; Jon was particularly good on the bass. He had his sound spot on which was not really a surprise given that he was a perfectionist back in the Seventeenth days.
It was our turn to step up and time was pressing I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little rushed. I quickly set up the gear and we were ready to go. Or so I thought.
Set list
Speak
Kill it! Kill it!
Miss Asphyxia
Wonder
Little Thoughts Lost
Deliverance
Joker
I Hear the City
The heat the rock it was all there
We started well with the now stable Speak which often opens our set. This flowed nicely into Kill it! Kill it! Slight confusion at the intro but generally nailed. Then it was a wee hello to the crowd; straight back into Miss Asphyxia. By now I could hear my guitar on stage and it seemed out of tune but we flowed onto Wonder where Stu held the notes. A quick tune up confirmed that the G string was well out (har har). That fixed we moved on to a strong finish. New song Little Thoughts Lost got a little lost in my head! However Deliverance, Joker and new favourite I Hear the City went down well.
It was good to see the crowd right next to us; I was pleased everyone had stuck around to the end. It was hot; my shirt and tie combo was beginning to feel like a bad idea.
Before I knew it we were done and quickly packing up the pedals to allow head-liners Ciceros Secret on.
These guys are in their late teens; their music is high energy experimental metal. Its loud and in your face and I hate to say it but it took me back to the days when we started 20 years ago! Long hair waiving, loud music, playing hard and fast and not caring that some of the crowd were now starting to disperse into the late Friday night.
For those that remained they were treated to a brilliant show; their guitarists weaving through the crowd not missing a note. They were a brilliant end to the night.
We learned a few lessons on the night. Bands will run over, its natural with live music. So I’ll try not to rush my set-up in future. All in all it was a very successful night.
Final thought goes to our fans. Given that many of you have now seen us live many times we feel we are in a unique place that we have a group of friends that want to come tine and time again. The effort you guys make is quite simply brilliant. Thank you for keeping the band live.
From time to time I will dive into the digital sea of internet sites that offer a quite often bemusing amount of music to listen to. Here is what I liked on the 12th of July 2014
Simple cover, straight to the point. A bit like the album
Fast and uncompromising metal Famine, from Germany, deliver a short sharp jab of crunch. Littered with samples of what sounds like physical pain and the odd quote the interlaced tracks on this album are short and brutal. There is not much in the way of information. http://www.wooaaargh.com/ the website takes you to a German site with similar artists and similar themes. This is guid though, that’s if you have a sick fetish for a short and sharp kick in the ears now and again. I love the guitar whammy bend in the riff played on the 53 second track ‘Stacks To Buy’. Try it.
Snappy punk wanders away from the slick sound I often stumble on while scouring Bandcamp. You can here the buzz of the amps, it sounds live and I like that. Its fast and it sounds underground. Their album starts strong ‘Time and Time Again’ and title track ‘Homeward Bound’ are impressive. These guys sounds young, it seeps through their music. The energy flows into your ears, gets the head nodding and the feet tapping. It sounds like one or two takes were played to nail this. Magic. Signed to Specialist Subject Records who seem to share the liberal feel of their music. The slogan, ‘Download Everything Free’ hits you when you navigate to the labels site. A two piece with Lou on guitar and Minty on bass and vocals. A quick look at the photos on Facebook shows you that the energy on their record evidently overflows into the gigs. New Year/New Start finishes the album with a nice acoustic texture, these lads from Bristol (nice city) have been a worthy listen tonight.
The third and final recommendation is from The Lucies, Houston Texas
‘I’m Afraid Of People Cutting Me Out Of Their Life’ is rather beautiful, a sleepy soulful song recorded and written by The Lucies, information is spare . This album is a self confessed lo fi experimental recording and admittedly the 2nd track is too harsh a change from the beauty of the first. If you can climb over this track the rest of this short record is rewarding. ‘Out Of It’ recovers with the title track, tape hiss and all. The beauty of this music is the spontaneous nature of the recording, the hit or miss. This is what is absent from mainstream music. The finale ‘Steamboat’ is a reflective wee song about a presumably drunk or high steamboat lizzy needing a lift to the infirmary. In the background you can hear a strimmer, an unassuming neighbour trying to get to grips with an overgrown lawn. It rips you out of the scene. You hear the artist sigh at this infringement. I smile because I’ve been here in my own home studio many times. That’s why I never record in the summer! That aside this is a great but vulnerable little album.
weirddecibels.com 