FaceFish!!!

We all get fed up from time to time! You may get fed up with your job.. you go get a new job and that is ok for a while then you eventually get fed up of that... you go look for another and start the whole process over again, never really getting anywhere! You may earn more money or get to boss more people around. In the end you still end up right back where you started disappointed and expecting what you think you deserve! Well in all honesty you probably don't deserve to not be fed up because you're a waste of space just like the rest of all the pointless carbon based life forms dribbling and managing not to get killed through a series of small miracles on a daily basis!

Where am I going with this you ask? well let me tell you :) the mediocre and boring people who make up this great society we live in far out number the creative and brilliant members of society! In the grand scheme of things we all fall in to the mediocre category... but, for some reason you're born convinced you belong in the brilliant group... take a good look in the mirror my friend you fall into the first group.... So do I so don't think I'm having a pop at you :)

But...... this is great! you should embrace your mediocrity and enjoy the brilliant people who make the music you love, the books you read and the movies you watch. Without them I doubt you'd have much left to do apart from reproduce and make more mediocre versions of yourself !!!

Now not very often the brilliant members of society are picked up high above the shoulders of the mediocre and declared to be so.... And these chaps I am about to introduce you to should be held aloft and carried into the pantheon of the brilliant.

FaceFish
If you follow my blog you know I don't waste my time talking about mediocre bands. We all know there's plenty of them knocking about ready to bore you to death with their remake of their own favourite tunes! Boooo I hear you cry and rightly so... change the record why don't you? Well that's because they lack the ability to change the record.

Not these chaps. They took the record and threw it out the window :) Imagine I created a particle accelerator and introduced the some T-Rex particles, White Stripes particles, Screaming Trees particles and a pinch of Black Keys then turned it to maximum and let it rip. The outcome would simply be Facefish.....

The music is full of swagger, it's not easy to get this kind of groove/rock vibe going only a handful of bands manage to pull this off with such aplomb. The main ingredients of any band is a frontman with plenty of attitude that you can't help but pay attention to and when Wills starts singing you are immediately caught off guard and your attention is truely caught.

On Soundcloud there are three tracks... in my opinion there should be way more than this:) The first track Heart on Fire starts out with a catchy melody driven by a simple groove on the drums the unique sound of Wills' voice jumps straight in and from there on in you're hooked. The vocal melody drops in and out of the music and followed up by the back end of that dirty guitar riff. Simple but stupendously effective. I found myself having a 'I wish I'd come up with this' moment :)

The track is great what I love about this band is that the tracks don't go where you expect them to and thats a refreshing thing to hear for a change. Nice to see a band going to the effort to do something new.

Track 2 starts off with an even bigger guitar riff and some proper swagger from the bass and drums and another great vocal melody, Not only do you get great music there are some clever catchy lyrics here as well. But yet again the track is taking you by the hand in this direction and then you get swiftly pushed in the other direction and pulled back in to that dirty riff... it's very clever indeed! you must have guessed by now I'm liking these guys!

Sadly the last track kicks in at this point! however I must stress that this is by no means a disappointment :) This track starts out a lush laid back dirty riff and drops back with the vocal dropping in, this just makes it even cooler. This band clearly enjoy what they do and this for me makes them stand out. You can tell, or I think I can tell, when a band takes themselves to seriously and for me that spoils the final outcome.. Facefish have produced three quality tracks that scream confidence and creativity and I look forward to seeing them live.

https://soundcloud.com/wills-facefish

                                           

You know the drill go share, shout and tell the world about this band they deserve it.

We all need a hobby

So it's been a while! how are you? I'm ok, I can't complain.. although I probably will :)

So today I have been on my FA coaching course and I was listening to the head coach talk about young players and how only a very small percentage of them will never make it as professional players, and that's only if they're really lucky or extremely talented. A bleak outlook I know. However, the same applies to us musicians who start a band and have great expectations to make it and become a signed professional. I pondered on this as he went on about something else less profound and I thought back to playing football as a kid and how it didn't matter what the outcome would be, all that mattered was that I was playing football and it was awesome :)

Now this is something we should transfer into our music as musicians, imagine if you didn't give a fuck about making it or how many tickets you sold to the fuckwit promoter that insists you sell 10 or 20 tickets, and just enjoyed the music!!! I mean think about it 99.99999999% of us will only ever achieve a gig in a pub or if we're lucky a support slot at a small 02 academy :) either way what does it matter you won't be here for long so get your head out of your ass and resign yourself to the fact you will amount to nothing and I guarantee you will enjoy the music more than you do now, and stop worrying about how many tickets you sell or how cool you look in your leather jacket IT DOESN'T MATTER :)

So the question is, now you have thrown away your inhibitions what do you go for? something that's been done before or something brand spankers? well we know the majority of us go for the first option (present company guilty)

Well why not go for something completely new?

I'll tell you why most of us don't! it's not commercial mainstream is it! simples conform and go for the norm... it's easier... well some people dare to be different and that's what I like in a band :) and these guys are a prime example -

The Hobbyist

These fine artists are from Chicago and I love the way they piece their songs together it's genius. The riffs build like a huge storm brewing and the lyrics are dark and sinister. Just when you think you have the tune figured out your taken off on a tangent and another journey begins, I'm very impressed with how all the "best practises" are ignored and told to jog on as these guys just go and do what they do best (just what you weren't expected)  the best example of this is the following track -

https://soundcloud.com/hobbyist-1/soulless-lies

I tweeted this track about 8 months ago and I still love coming back to it and I just can't get bored of this track : )

I highly recommend listening to the rest of the tracks on this page you won't be disappointed :)

Go on have a break from the norm and see how great it can be when a band go for something new

https://soundcloud.com/hobbyist-1

Two Thousand and Blerghhhhh......

So 2014 kicks off with a sigh and a fart! what have you all got to look forward to this year? more of the same shit? more of the same mediocre music from the legions of mediocre half wits that create the same shit we've all heard before? 

Well I'm sorry to say that unless you get off your fat lazy ass then YES that's what you are in for! If you insist on being spoon fed your opinions and not making the effort to seek out the new and the innovative then I pity you my friend... 

All it takes is a moment of curiosity and that spark to go off.... I had that moment this time last year and I finally got off my ass and went looking for something new! I picked up my guitar and started something that I didn't know would go anywhere near as far as it did. We met some awesome new people that went out of their way to help us achieve the goals we set ourselves as a band and we did just that... I'm not having a Jerry McGuire moment here I just think we all need that moment, and that's what the new year is all about. It's not about stopping smoking or drinking, it's about living your life for a change and putting a stop to the mundane. Stop making excuses for doing exactly the same things you've been doing every year. If you don't do new things because of what your friends will think about you then you better pick up the phone and ask them what you're allowed  to have for your tea tonight. Stop being pussies and doing whats already been done.

I dare you to do something mad this year and report to me after you have done just that :) 

Anyways I digress on to the music - 

Little White Lies

I know everyone feels the need to talk about local bands and the "scene" but fuck that when something sounds great then why should that matter??? 

I tell you what it shouldn't..... 

This band hail from Poland and tick all my boxes they are as follows - 

1 - Do you sound fucking awesome?

2 - Do you make me want to dance?

3 - Do I wish I had written this? 

4 - Do I immediately want to listen to this again? 

5 - Do I feel compelled to tell everyone I know about this? 

I do hope you concur :) 

These guys mix quirky vocals and dirty rocking riffs like someone gave them a recipe book... it just comes across as effortless and I love that. As any good band they have smart lyrics that run along seriously catchy melodies, with a great architecture to each song. The vocals are a mix of haunting and sexy at the same time, you can really hear the emotions in the lyrics. 

The guitar work is brilliant. Some times technical and beautiful and other times just down right dirty it really does show off the talent of these two :) 

https://soundcloud.com/little-white-lies

I would spend some time on this page if I were you, you are in for a real treat from the up tempo driving songs like Don't Breathe When I Tell You To https://soundcloud.com/little-white-lies/dont-breathe-untill-i-tell-u to the laid back psychedelic journey that is Farewell https://soundcloud.com/little-white-lies/farewell 

Enough from me go listen to them!!!! 

you know the score go listen, shout and share 

Everyday should be a Ruby Tuesday

Talent!!! - a former weight and unit of currency, used especially by the ancient Romans and Greeks.!! or - natural aptitude or skill.... how do we measure it these days? talent shows or maybe even wait for someone influential to profess a band or individual to be a possessor of talent. I highly doubt its a gift from the gods as it takes many years to develop a skill that can be passed off as a talent :) and never-the-less the being that may hand out such "gifts" would need to exist in the first place!!!! 

The reason I bring this up is because of all the chatter I see on a regular basis at this time of year... and the reason for this is the X-Factor.. every year its slotted in to climax just before Jesus' birthday! in the hope of having the mindless zombies go out in their masses to purchase the puppetry that is the potential no 1.... now my main grumble here is not the awful auditions that are just public mockery of the retards that decide they're good enough to win the show! but the discussions you see about the "Talent" that these people must obviously possess to progress through the competition! I ask this "Do they actually possess any talent?" I ask this as I truly don't see singing someone else' song as a talent. If, for example they wrote a quality song and progressed on their own writing and performing talent alone, that would be a different case.

Now any artist worth a shit with any integrity would want to work for their reward in being recognised as a "talent" and not just piggy back there way to the top... 

I may add that this is entirely my opinion and not the bands ( well I think so anyway ) and if you disagree... well I'm not bothered as you must be wrong :) 

My rant about talent brings me nicely onto these chaps Ruby Tuesday.....

Ruby Tuesday

Now it's hard enough making enough noise as a three piece, but these guys pull it off as a two piece and convincingly so. As soon as you're greeted by the first track on their soundcloud page you know you're about to have a great trip... 

The opening of "Fools in Belief" is brilliant the drums and guitar are unleashed in perfect harmony it's such a cool sound... everything I love about music is going on here awesome drums, catchy melodies and sweet guitar riffs its magic :) The groove going on here is brilliant. Then as you're sat thinking about what your ears have just experienced you're straight into an equally massive sound as "Fall" kicks off and it's just as magic the guitar work is brilliant I'd like to have a peek at the pedal board :) 

there's no doubt that there is an abundance of talent here that needs to be heard and its up to us to get everyone talking about these guys! 

If you love music then get on this and shout about it... you'll soon realise that you won't be able to do anything but :) 

https://soundcloud.com/rubytuesdayband

Hoffman, they will see you now!!

If you've been reading my blog religiously (which I doubt) then you may have noticed that I like to speak my mind... Didn't notice?? well I'm gonna do it again :)

This week I have noticed a huge up turn in these so called packages that allow you to gain a massive "following" for a fee.. Your guess is as good as mine how this is done, but I doubt very much that these are real people that are following, liking and playing for this fee! We have been offered these "deals" on many occasions since our inception. I really don't see the point myself as surely it's obvious to the real fans that this is a ruse of the highest degree. I really don't understand the end goal here either! if this is to impress a label then surely they must be aware of these practices? or even be able to sense that such a talentless gathering of fuckwits couldn't gain such a following even with the help of Yahweh himself. I implore you to please stop this behaviour you are fooling nobody. Go get out there and build your own following it may take sometime but at least it will be genuine... 

Right rant over... This week we have discovered a gem :) a genius if you will.... if you like some pure dirty guitar and some emotion, then you my friend are in the right place - Matt Hoffman really does have a unique sound, I'm smitten with this guys vocals they're unreal you won't hear anything like this knocking around. The guitar is brilliant I can tell you from experience trying to bang out a tune on your own the way this guy does takes some balls and talent. I feel compelled to cover one of his tune just to see how much energy it would take :) 

The other thing about Matt is the way he throws up a tune and then its gone when you go back for another listen he's like the Banksy of soundcloud. My favourite tune is Rosa it has such a cool riff you can imagine this with a band behind it and you have a huge tune on your hands. 

This won't be for everyone but you gotta have a listen and show your appreciation for this - no one else is doing this and boy does he do it well - 

https://soundcloud.com/matthoffman-2

you know the rules, listen, like and shout about it 

It's getting a bit GRIM around these here parts!!

Well it's been an interesting couple of days to say the least... We had our first gig back after my crippling month out :) It was good to get back out there in-spite of the faulty mic stand that forced me into a whole plethora of new positions that I didn't know I could sing and play the guitar in, but that's life you gotta go with the shit rather than stop and have a moan about it! no one likes a whining bitch after all :)

However I was surprised to be greeted by a middle aged chap who had clearly made little effort to get dressed that day :) When we had been in touch with what seemed to be a lovely young blonde lady via facebook who had nicely invited us to the gig under the pretence that it was a "Record Label" showcase... To be honest we were just happy to have a gig regardless of what kudos the promoter had. However, I find this practice very underhand! Imagine being an impressionable young band being invited out under this pretence only to find you're playing to the bar staff and the "promoter"!! it's not cool...

Anyway I digress it was a fun evening :)

I have wanted to have my say on the following artist since I found about him a few weeks ago. I just haven't found the time ( to my shame ) My good online friend Nessi pointed me in the direction of this chap and I've become an instant fan -

GRIMDerry 


Now I'm not sure how this comparison will go down but I'm a massive Bjork fan I find her to be such a refreshing and original artist and I've been listening to her music for over 15 years now. When I first listened to Grim I instantly felt intrigued by his style, for me it's easily as refreshing and original and this is so rare these days. The music is so clever there's so many interesting sounds and melodies at play, its the kind of music you can listen to over and over, and with each listen you discover a new sound or melody you missed the last time. I'm also reminded a lot of the genius that is Beck in Grims music.. I don't know about you but I will genuinely listen to an artist and think 'shit I wish I could make music like this' :) and this is exactly the feeling I have listening to Grim... I  can't emphasize enough how much you need to go and give this guy a listen! it's simply brilliant.. and it would be a shame to miss out...

https://soundcloud.com/grimderry

You know the rule peeps... go listen (and be in awe ) share and shout about it!! 

12 Bar Blues

Now as a guitarist there's one thing you learn as your bread and butter, and that's the 12 bar blues!! now you can probably hear that this is the basis for like 80% of all songs since its conception. One thing that's hard to pull off is making the 12 bar blues your own. It's not a simple task, trust me I'm yet to do so myself but there are a few people that have done so... one of my favourites being Red House by Jimi Hendrix. It totally hits the nail on the head... your down on your luck, you've lost your woman and no clue of what to do. It's gotta be one of the best lines when he says " my baby don't love me no more, but I'm sure her sister will" :)

It's a story and an emotion that goes hand in hand and it's such a simple and elegant way to get it across, but at the same time proper hard to get right... Now I stumbled across a great 12 bar blues rendition on Soundcloud about two weeks ago and I've listened to it a few more times since just to make sure it was as good as I initially thought, and it just gets better -

David Harris 

This chap hails from Manchester and has quite a unique voice its a great surprise when it kicks in, it's like listening to a young Jagger with such a cool groove. Now as I said before its a rareity to get a great 12 bar blues and this certainly is one of the best I've heard in a long while. If you carry on through the rest of the page there are some equally impressive songs. It must be said you know you're listening to a class act as you journey through the tunes on offer. It's a must for sure.

https://soundcloud.com/dave-harris-27 

Mr Harris is clearly a super talent on the guitar, he offers a really unique sound. I can't say I've heard anything like it for a long time. It's refreshing to hear someone not trying to produce the same drivel as the masses and stand out from the crowd. And, he certainly stands out. For example listen to Cherry Blossom its such a beautiful sound I can hear early Iggy Pop with elements of Floyd and Zeppelin mixed in its brilliant. 

You know the score people.... go listen, enjoy, and spread the word. 

https://www.facebook.com/dave.harris.acoustic