So this morning it was pointed out to me by an eagle eyed fan that i'd totally forgotten we are playing in Stoke on October 16th...hence I neglected to state this fact in the last update...we do infact have 9 gigs left...not 8...and we ARE playing alongside our labelmates Heirs at Harrys Bar in Stoke!...Hopefully thats cleared that one up then!
I also noticed that there seems to be a bit of confusion on the internet regarding us playing in Camden, London....we ARENT, (as suggested on a few places online) playing at the Dublin Castle...we ARE playing at The Unicorn, Camden on October 15the....which evidently is a FREE show....how nice.
i'll try and take more care with my updates in future....thanks for noticing Ben!
cheers
dunk
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Tour/Album/Whatever
Hi
thought i'd write a quick update after returning back to life's 'normality' after our short expedition to Eastern Europe.
I think we all enjoyed the tour a lot...we got treated ridiculously well, made new friends and reaquainted ourselves with old ones too.
Far too much went on to write in detail about each show/city etc so i'll try and cram it all into as small a package as possible for you....
After a momentous drive we visited what I presume were the outskirts of Frankfurt for our first show. Great venue, lovely promoter, and a barman that doubled up as the soundguy! nice. Especially pretty funny when you want your vocals turned up and the sound guy is serving a pint of beer! We stayed in the red light district of Frankfurt that night, kindly refusing the advances from the local 'working girls of the night'...interesting place....i even witnessed a BMW driver smack a wobbly cyclist off of his bike...he seemed more concerned about his headlights than the cyclist that was bleeding from his mouth.
Hmmm...if i carry on like this, this 'brief' update is going to last a lifetime....lets try and fix this...
SO;
Freising - Very cool venue in an old army base. Met some lovely new friends here. Ironed out some technical problems from the previous night and aired a couple of new songs for the first time. Stayed in the army base on our own...i swear it was haunted..we have video footage to prove (kind of ) as much...then we locked ourselves out of said venue at 3am...apologies...again! 8(
Gdynia - Loooooong drive....grey skies. grey buildings....the venue wa cool though....huge.....no support band and we played ridiculously early...meaning we were finished up early....so had time to eat pizza and drink jack daniels (a good mix)..
Poznan - ANOTHER loooong drive - thanks Timo ;-) - Unfortuanlty we didnt have much time to explore the city...it looked like it may have been nice....can anyone confirm this? The cobbled street where the venue was - was nice at least? Think we had a LOT of sound issues at this show - this was a shame as a lot of people came along (some from quite a distance) - We slept in a childrens nursery taht night....pretty surreal.....and it was at the top of an 8 story building.....not nice.....espeically taking all the equipment up all those flights of stairs....grumpy blueneck the next morning!
Krakow - lovely city...shame the one way system makes it impossible to find anything! Klub Re was a great venue - we met some lovely people and I think we started to really gel as a band on this night...Baring in mind Oli had only had about 6 weeks to learn the entire setlist with us. Im awful with names...i apologise for this...but thanks to the guy that hitchiked 300km to get to this show...means a lot. We were then given a tour of Krakow...not the British stag party tour but a proper bona fide Polish tour of the local pubs....we were up until 5am drinking Polish vodka with cinnamon...beautiful...I needed to be up a couple of hours later to meet Emma at the airport. nice. Emma joined us halfway through....to do the merch properly for us or just to hang out and sit on a rickety tour bus for 8 hours at a time? not sure. But the merchandise help was indeed much appreciated! x
Final night in Poland was Katowice...i dont know where to begin....it should be in a blog by itself....probably the most interesting venue, promoter ...er ever....the venue was full of old vintage american muscle cars...we had smoke machines blasting out at us throughout the show...and weirdly , bublles falling down....apparently there was a snow machine that could have come into action at any time!...we were plied with polish vodka, metaxa, who knows what else!!...all i wanted was soe milkshake...i wasnt allowed 8(...i felt ill the next morning...not as bad as ben mind...
Off then, to Leipzig...I was a little worried that after such a great show and time here in February that it wouldnt be as good....but it was like going home..we love the people there very much and had a lovely evening...its always such a pleasure playing at the Paris Syndrom. I think we can safely say that they are now good friends...There IS a secret plan in progress regards to blueneck and the Paris Syndrom actually - ;-)
Dresden next...lovely venue...biggest yet...we were looked after like royalty...amazing food, amazing drink and totally professional sound and lighting guys...it was a pleasure playing here...and so many people came that made the whole night so great....We even had a couple that came along that had got married that day ....as i said...im awful with names...and ive forgotten their names...VERY rude...but one of the other guys will put me straight...congratulations to you both again.
Also apologies to the people that shouted out for epiphany to be played...we've actually only ever played it once....and that was at the launch party for scars of the midwest...we WILL play it again...i promise.
Oberhausen was last...unfortunatly there were sound issues which wasnt so great for us on stage and the people watching - i guess..always a little dissapointing...we did get to meet up with our friends from denovali though...our third date no less...We've bonded a strong relationship which is why we're very happy for Denovali to be releasing album 3 solely by themselves this time...the release will be capable hands..very much looking forward to date 4 in essen at the Swingfest (i beleive there are still tickets left!)
Well...thats it...i tried to keep it as brief as possible....those of you that know me well, know its hard for me to keep things brief....so im patting myself on the back ...
The tour was great...very enjoyable...we have 8 shows remaining before touring takes a MAJOR backseat and we complete the album..i'll miss playing live....but its something to look forward to getting back into next year sometime.
We're now going to phase out all of the fallen host merchandise...so no reprints on any of it...grab it whilst you can....hopefully see you at one of the last 8 shows...
dunk
x
thought i'd write a quick update after returning back to life's 'normality' after our short expedition to Eastern Europe.
I think we all enjoyed the tour a lot...we got treated ridiculously well, made new friends and reaquainted ourselves with old ones too.
Far too much went on to write in detail about each show/city etc so i'll try and cram it all into as small a package as possible for you....
After a momentous drive we visited what I presume were the outskirts of Frankfurt for our first show. Great venue, lovely promoter, and a barman that doubled up as the soundguy! nice. Especially pretty funny when you want your vocals turned up and the sound guy is serving a pint of beer! We stayed in the red light district of Frankfurt that night, kindly refusing the advances from the local 'working girls of the night'...interesting place....i even witnessed a BMW driver smack a wobbly cyclist off of his bike...he seemed more concerned about his headlights than the cyclist that was bleeding from his mouth.
Hmmm...if i carry on like this, this 'brief' update is going to last a lifetime....lets try and fix this...
SO;
Freising - Very cool venue in an old army base. Met some lovely new friends here. Ironed out some technical problems from the previous night and aired a couple of new songs for the first time. Stayed in the army base on our own...i swear it was haunted..we have video footage to prove (kind of ) as much...then we locked ourselves out of said venue at 3am...apologies...again! 8(
Gdynia - Loooooong drive....grey skies. grey buildings....the venue wa cool though....huge.....no support band and we played ridiculously early...meaning we were finished up early....so had time to eat pizza and drink jack daniels (a good mix)..
Poznan - ANOTHER loooong drive - thanks Timo ;-) - Unfortuanlty we didnt have much time to explore the city...it looked like it may have been nice....can anyone confirm this? The cobbled street where the venue was - was nice at least? Think we had a LOT of sound issues at this show - this was a shame as a lot of people came along (some from quite a distance) - We slept in a childrens nursery taht night....pretty surreal.....and it was at the top of an 8 story building.....not nice.....espeically taking all the equipment up all those flights of stairs....grumpy blueneck the next morning!
Krakow - lovely city...shame the one way system makes it impossible to find anything! Klub Re was a great venue - we met some lovely people and I think we started to really gel as a band on this night...Baring in mind Oli had only had about 6 weeks to learn the entire setlist with us. Im awful with names...i apologise for this...but thanks to the guy that hitchiked 300km to get to this show...means a lot. We were then given a tour of Krakow...not the British stag party tour but a proper bona fide Polish tour of the local pubs....we were up until 5am drinking Polish vodka with cinnamon...beautiful...I needed to be up a couple of hours later to meet Emma at the airport. nice. Emma joined us halfway through....to do the merch properly for us or just to hang out and sit on a rickety tour bus for 8 hours at a time? not sure. But the merchandise help was indeed much appreciated! x
Final night in Poland was Katowice...i dont know where to begin....it should be in a blog by itself....probably the most interesting venue, promoter ...er ever....the venue was full of old vintage american muscle cars...we had smoke machines blasting out at us throughout the show...and weirdly , bublles falling down....apparently there was a snow machine that could have come into action at any time!...we were plied with polish vodka, metaxa, who knows what else!!...all i wanted was soe milkshake...i wasnt allowed 8(...i felt ill the next morning...not as bad as ben mind...
Off then, to Leipzig...I was a little worried that after such a great show and time here in February that it wouldnt be as good....but it was like going home..we love the people there very much and had a lovely evening...its always such a pleasure playing at the Paris Syndrom. I think we can safely say that they are now good friends...There IS a secret plan in progress regards to blueneck and the Paris Syndrom actually - ;-)
Dresden next...lovely venue...biggest yet...we were looked after like royalty...amazing food, amazing drink and totally professional sound and lighting guys...it was a pleasure playing here...and so many people came that made the whole night so great....We even had a couple that came along that had got married that day ....as i said...im awful with names...and ive forgotten their names...VERY rude...but one of the other guys will put me straight...congratulations to you both again.
Also apologies to the people that shouted out for epiphany to be played...we've actually only ever played it once....and that was at the launch party for scars of the midwest...we WILL play it again...i promise.
Oberhausen was last...unfortunatly there were sound issues which wasnt so great for us on stage and the people watching - i guess..always a little dissapointing...we did get to meet up with our friends from denovali though...our third date no less...We've bonded a strong relationship which is why we're very happy for Denovali to be releasing album 3 solely by themselves this time...the release will be capable hands..very much looking forward to date 4 in essen at the Swingfest (i beleive there are still tickets left!)
Well...thats it...i tried to keep it as brief as possible....those of you that know me well, know its hard for me to keep things brief....so im patting myself on the back ...
The tour was great...very enjoyable...we have 8 shows remaining before touring takes a MAJOR backseat and we complete the album..i'll miss playing live....but its something to look forward to getting back into next year sometime.
We're now going to phase out all of the fallen host merchandise...so no reprints on any of it...grab it whilst you can....hopefully see you at one of the last 8 shows...
dunk
x
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Left Side Brain
Quick post here....another one to follow with an update following the recent trip to Eastern Europe.
But for now I thought some of you may be interested in a show that is coming up that will feature 2 members of blueneck in one of their other projects.
Oli and Rich are also in a band called Left Side Brain...quite different to blueneck, but both bands have strangely always worked really well together (we've done numerous shows in the past together) -
Its LSB's tenth anniversary this year and to celebrate they are putting on a special show in Bristol. All money made is going to Cancer Research and Motor Neurone Disease, as they are the illnesses that has affected the band really deeply of late.
You can find out more info about the band and the show at the facebook event page....
hopefully we'll see some of you guys at the show.
www.leftsidebrain.com
cheers
dunk
But for now I thought some of you may be interested in a show that is coming up that will feature 2 members of blueneck in one of their other projects.
Oli and Rich are also in a band called Left Side Brain...quite different to blueneck, but both bands have strangely always worked really well together (we've done numerous shows in the past together) -
Its LSB's tenth anniversary this year and to celebrate they are putting on a special show in Bristol. All money made is going to Cancer Research and Motor Neurone Disease, as they are the illnesses that has affected the band really deeply of late.
You can find out more info about the band and the show at the facebook event page....
hopefully we'll see some of you guys at the show.
www.leftsidebrain.com
cheers
dunk
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
counting
4 days ..hang on...5 days , till we leave for folkestone, on our way to cross the channel for the long drive to frankfurt...thanks to timo at denovali for booking the first gig so far away...sometimes i think the guy really has something against me! ;-)
Apologies for the cancellation of the gig at Prague too...this would have given us an 11 and a half hour non stop drive to Poland the next day...it really wasnt viable....once again...blame timo for this...tsk.
I think we're just about ready to play a few shows. Just about...As previously mentioned , Oli has done a sterling job taking over from Ben G...he's fitted in so well theres no doubt he'll be a permanent fixture in blueneck now. A lot of equipment has gone wrong, needed repairing or replacing this last month or so...luckily we've had a lot of people help us out. Ben, Rich and Oli all have new guitars and i've had 2 of mine overhauled...i even found out the birthdate of my fender telecaster - 3rd March 1973...how anyone can find out such stuff is beyond me.
Our producer Mat, over at Bink Bonk studios has been looking into modifying my amp and also attempting to fix my piano module...we really could do without the piano going wrong again...as anyone that was at the gig in lille earlier will testify to!
I think though, that we've more or less sorted out equipment issues...thanks to everyone thats helped on that front.
We've ordered in some new merch...a VERY small amount of new fallen host 'bird' design merch...printed on dark grey...they'll be exclusive to this tour only and will be the last lot of fallen host merch that we have done. There are also some numbered prints from scars of the midwest and the fallen host. So hopefully some of you can pick these up on the tour next week.
You might have seen the video from rehearsals we took of le:465 on facebook recently...we've taken some more footage of rehearsals and will be uploading ub2 and a one of the new songs over the next day or so. Facebook seems to be the easiest place to share these so keep an eye out there...we'll also try and keep an update going whilst we're out on tour...bth rich and ben are pretty savvy with updating when we're mobile so we'll leave it to them.
Hopefully we'll meet some of you over the next couple of weeks...and if not...maybe in october or november.
dunk
Apologies for the cancellation of the gig at Prague too...this would have given us an 11 and a half hour non stop drive to Poland the next day...it really wasnt viable....once again...blame timo for this...tsk.
I think we're just about ready to play a few shows. Just about...As previously mentioned , Oli has done a sterling job taking over from Ben G...he's fitted in so well theres no doubt he'll be a permanent fixture in blueneck now. A lot of equipment has gone wrong, needed repairing or replacing this last month or so...luckily we've had a lot of people help us out. Ben, Rich and Oli all have new guitars and i've had 2 of mine overhauled...i even found out the birthdate of my fender telecaster - 3rd March 1973...how anyone can find out such stuff is beyond me.
Our producer Mat, over at Bink Bonk studios has been looking into modifying my amp and also attempting to fix my piano module...we really could do without the piano going wrong again...as anyone that was at the gig in lille earlier will testify to!
I think though, that we've more or less sorted out equipment issues...thanks to everyone thats helped on that front.
We've ordered in some new merch...a VERY small amount of new fallen host 'bird' design merch...printed on dark grey...they'll be exclusive to this tour only and will be the last lot of fallen host merch that we have done. There are also some numbered prints from scars of the midwest and the fallen host. So hopefully some of you can pick these up on the tour next week.
You might have seen the video from rehearsals we took of le:465 on facebook recently...we've taken some more footage of rehearsals and will be uploading ub2 and a one of the new songs over the next day or so. Facebook seems to be the easiest place to share these so keep an eye out there...we'll also try and keep an update going whilst we're out on tour...bth rich and ben are pretty savvy with updating when we're mobile so we'll leave it to them.
Hopefully we'll meet some of you over the next couple of weeks...and if not...maybe in october or november.
dunk
Friday, August 13, 2010
epiphany
So we've had a lot of requests for lyrics over the last couple of years...ive always managed to dodge them 'ive forgotten them' 'nobody knows them' 'the dog was sick on them'...but recently we've had even more requests..one in particular had a really good guess at the lyrics to epiphany....so...maybe its about time i started putting them out there?..maybe....maybe im just in a good mood today or something? (i'll probably delete this post in a day or so)
....where was i?
oh yeah....
so one of the most requested lyrics is epiphany....
im strained and down
for kicks we're tossed and thrown against the ground
skins peeling to the bone
the scratches and the graise holding me down
feel me closer a face with small glass pieces pulls you in
im not sleeping over
a fist comes through the mirror and you think
im not stable, ungrown
waiting alone
my hands bleeding and numb
the cracks around the face is only half way done
stripped down
as far as i can tell theres nothing else
please me for another hour
placing all the bets onto myself
im unstable and dumb
waiting alone
im not pleading no
pieces stick together and we're half-way home
....where was i?
oh yeah....
so one of the most requested lyrics is epiphany....
im strained and down
for kicks we're tossed and thrown against the ground
skins peeling to the bone
the scratches and the graise holding me down
feel me closer a face with small glass pieces pulls you in
im not sleeping over
a fist comes through the mirror and you think
im not stable, ungrown
waiting alone
my hands bleeding and numb
the cracks around the face is only half way done
stripped down
as far as i can tell theres nothing else
please me for another hour
placing all the bets onto myself
im unstable and dumb
waiting alone
im not pleading no
pieces stick together and we're half-way home
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Busy week this week...we've stepped up a gear with rehearsals for the tour in August/September and now have a clear idea of what the setlist will be. A mix of material from the 1st and 2nd album along with a few introductions to what will be appearing on the 3rd record. Oli's been working really hard learningall the tracks and has so far done an amazing job.
We have a van sorted now...and a window is currently being ..er...made (??!) for it...rich insisted on being able to see out of a window for the trip...not sure what his next demand will be...
anyhow, you mightve seen uthat we're missing a couple of dates on the tour...september 1st...and...erm...september 6th....ideally we'd much rather be playing a show somewhere...so if you know of anyone that fancies putting on perhaps an intimate blueneck show in berlin (1st) or prague (6th) then give us a shout perhaps? I think the place to let us know of any ideas is our friends at denovali... booking@denovali.com.
back in the studio over the next few days too..rich is finishing off his guitars, ben will be going over all his bass and i'll be making a start on all of my guitars...along with putting down a couple more guide tracks which will mean we have the whole album recorded in some form or another...we'll finish the tour in september and then really get stuck into finsihing off the record.
Thanks for all the messages we've had lately from a lot of other bands enquiring about support slots...we've got to hear of a lot of really cool bands this way...hopefully we'll get to play with a few of you either this year or early next year when we'll arrange a few UK dates to coincide with the album release.
expect a slight change to the look of blueneck.com over the next few days...just a slight one...and we should have some more pics from the studio for you...we're hanging out with russ again....which is always good fun... www.russellhowphotography.com
cheers
d
We have a van sorted now...and a window is currently being ..er...made (??!) for it...rich insisted on being able to see out of a window for the trip...not sure what his next demand will be...
anyhow, you mightve seen uthat we're missing a couple of dates on the tour...september 1st...and...erm...september 6th....ideally we'd much rather be playing a show somewhere...so if you know of anyone that fancies putting on perhaps an intimate blueneck show in berlin (1st) or prague (6th) then give us a shout perhaps? I think the place to let us know of any ideas is our friends at denovali... booking@denovali.com.
back in the studio over the next few days too..rich is finishing off his guitars, ben will be going over all his bass and i'll be making a start on all of my guitars...along with putting down a couple more guide tracks which will mean we have the whole album recorded in some form or another...we'll finish the tour in september and then really get stuck into finsihing off the record.
Thanks for all the messages we've had lately from a lot of other bands enquiring about support slots...we've got to hear of a lot of really cool bands this way...hopefully we'll get to play with a few of you either this year or early next year when we'll arrange a few UK dates to coincide with the album release.
expect a slight change to the look of blueneck.com over the next few days...just a slight one...and we should have some more pics from the studio for you...we're hanging out with russ again....which is always good fun... www.russellhowphotography.com
cheers
d
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
update from someone other than dunk? surely not...
So the news from Blueneck HQ is that we're currently working on two separate bits of work. The first is the 3rd album. As Duncan has written in previous blogs, this was originally intended to be an EP length release that we hoped to make available around the time of our Autumn tours. However, quite early on in the writing process it became clear to us that the group of songs deserved a little more time and attention, and that we had enough of them to create a new full length LP.
Now anyone familiar with the history of our band will probably think that 'a little more time and attention' could mean years, given the time elapsed between Scars of the Midwest and The Fallen Host. However, we have a lot of confidence that we will be finishing the album in 2010. We're making steady progress in the studio and the early versions of the songs are sounding great.
So what can you expect from this new album? Some things will remain the same. Dunk's beautifully melancholy way with a tune is still intact. But I think the iciness of The Fallen Host is gone. The songs are warmer, more organic and often recorded live in the room as a band. Digital manipulation is - so far - sparse. So it's Blueneck, but with more of a human pulse. Things may change as we start to work further on the arrangements, but the mood in the Blueneck camp is very hopeful indeed.
If you're coming out to see us on tour in September, October and November, you can hear us play a few of the new tracks live. Which brings us to the second bit of work - rehearsals for the tour. This is a fun challenge as we're taking the time to break in our new touring guitarist, Oli (Oli will be picking up the reins from Ben Green who's taking some time out to spend with his young family), as well as working through a huge list of potential songs we can be playing.
Which means that now's the time to tell us if there's a particular song you'd like to hear live (don’t forget to say which gig you’re attending). If you have a favourite, mail us at the Myspace or Facebook pages and we'll hopefully see you on the road in the Autumn.
Best,
Rich
Now anyone familiar with the history of our band will probably think that 'a little more time and attention' could mean years, given the time elapsed between Scars of the Midwest and The Fallen Host. However, we have a lot of confidence that we will be finishing the album in 2010. We're making steady progress in the studio and the early versions of the songs are sounding great.
So what can you expect from this new album? Some things will remain the same. Dunk's beautifully melancholy way with a tune is still intact. But I think the iciness of The Fallen Host is gone. The songs are warmer, more organic and often recorded live in the room as a band. Digital manipulation is - so far - sparse. So it's Blueneck, but with more of a human pulse. Things may change as we start to work further on the arrangements, but the mood in the Blueneck camp is very hopeful indeed.
If you're coming out to see us on tour in September, October and November, you can hear us play a few of the new tracks live. Which brings us to the second bit of work - rehearsals for the tour. This is a fun challenge as we're taking the time to break in our new touring guitarist, Oli (Oli will be picking up the reins from Ben Green who's taking some time out to spend with his young family), as well as working through a huge list of potential songs we can be playing.
Which means that now's the time to tell us if there's a particular song you'd like to hear live (don’t forget to say which gig you’re attending). If you have a favourite, mail us at the Myspace or Facebook pages and we'll hopefully see you on the road in the Autumn.
Best,
Rich
Friday, July 23, 2010
uni, presto, bobby, venger ...
Once again we start an update apologising for the lack of recent updates...
you've heard all that before...
so yeah...what been going on since the last update? johnny had a baby, england failed dismally in the world cup, i ran away and married the merch girl, we started recording an ep, wrote more new songs, ben had a birthday, as did johnny, rafa got the sack, decided the ep will be an album etc etc..
But yeah..overall its been pretty fkg hectic. I was away throughout June travelling around California. Amazing place...in fact we have plans to do a short tour March/April next year....only thing about the USA is the fact that you have to be 21 just to BE in a bar...making it pretty hard for people to get into a show surely? I found this when we tried to go see a random band in a bar in san diego- but were refused entry as i didnt have ID on me...despite being well over 21! It must be pretty hard for bands to exist over there youd think?
We started recording again about 8 weeks ago. We've moved to a studio run by Mat Sampson in the city of Bristol in the basement of an old town house..very cool - quite different to our usual recording environemnt...but yeah...what started out as an ep has now basically turned into the embryonic stages of album 3...I think we were all so pleased with the initial sessions that we felt that we had the makings of a more than adequate follow up to the fallen host...The album is now basically written...with about 75 per cent of it recorded at one stage or another. The aim being that we'll sign it off by the end of this year...with no silly release delays this time...!!! As always it'll be released on the same formats as usual.
We've also got a few shows to be concentrating on...all the more difficult as we'll be playing with a replacement for Ben (Green) on these dates as he's unavailable to play live for the rest of the year unfortunatly...So Oli Duerden will be joining us to cover Bens role.
The dates will take us to a few new and a few familiar places and we're very much looking forward to getting back on the road and giving a few of the new songs their first airings.
Hopefully you'll hear from one of the other guys soon...but dont hold yer breath!
cheers
dunk
you've heard all that before...
so yeah...what been going on since the last update? johnny had a baby, england failed dismally in the world cup, i ran away and married the merch girl, we started recording an ep, wrote more new songs, ben had a birthday, as did johnny, rafa got the sack, decided the ep will be an album etc etc..
But yeah..overall its been pretty fkg hectic. I was away throughout June travelling around California. Amazing place...in fact we have plans to do a short tour March/April next year....only thing about the USA is the fact that you have to be 21 just to BE in a bar...making it pretty hard for people to get into a show surely? I found this when we tried to go see a random band in a bar in san diego- but were refused entry as i didnt have ID on me...despite being well over 21! It must be pretty hard for bands to exist over there youd think?
We started recording again about 8 weeks ago. We've moved to a studio run by Mat Sampson in the city of Bristol in the basement of an old town house..very cool - quite different to our usual recording environemnt...but yeah...what started out as an ep has now basically turned into the embryonic stages of album 3...I think we were all so pleased with the initial sessions that we felt that we had the makings of a more than adequate follow up to the fallen host...The album is now basically written...with about 75 per cent of it recorded at one stage or another. The aim being that we'll sign it off by the end of this year...with no silly release delays this time...!!! As always it'll be released on the same formats as usual.
We've also got a few shows to be concentrating on...all the more difficult as we'll be playing with a replacement for Ben (Green) on these dates as he's unavailable to play live for the rest of the year unfortunatly...So Oli Duerden will be joining us to cover Bens role.
The dates will take us to a few new and a few familiar places and we're very much looking forward to getting back on the road and giving a few of the new songs their first airings.
Hopefully you'll hear from one of the other guys soon...but dont hold yer breath!
cheers
dunk
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
tick tock
Just a quickie...
we havent died...we've not given up...just gone underground for a while (so to speak)
Lots of new shows being added for later in the year..really excited about some of the places we're going to be visiting...more to be announced soon.
We've practically finished writing 5 new songs for the new recording..with a sixth basically also complete aswell. We start recording these on May 20th and are anticipating a pretty quick turnaround for these tracks.
What to expect? hmmm...i think its still pretty much 'blueneck'...but with maybe a few nods into different directions...theyve certainly been REALLY enjoyable to write and play with the other guys so far...and im dying to get them into the studio environment and really go to work on them...
A lot of people downloaded the last album for free via the usual outlets (rapidshare etc) - fair enough...im not about to moan about such things- far from it....so we've decided that for this next record we'll give away the mp3 version of the album via the website - it'll save people going to the trouble of uploading it at least! With a bit of luck if people enjoy it then they'll buy a physical cd or vinyl version (the release WILL be on both formats again) or come to a show etc.
I think we'll know pretty soon after the initial recording session roughly when the record will be available...but we'll be aiming for August to coinicde with the new shows and tours.
cheers
dunk
we havent died...we've not given up...just gone underground for a while (so to speak)
Lots of new shows being added for later in the year..really excited about some of the places we're going to be visiting...more to be announced soon.
We've practically finished writing 5 new songs for the new recording..with a sixth basically also complete aswell. We start recording these on May 20th and are anticipating a pretty quick turnaround for these tracks.
What to expect? hmmm...i think its still pretty much 'blueneck'...but with maybe a few nods into different directions...theyve certainly been REALLY enjoyable to write and play with the other guys so far...and im dying to get them into the studio environment and really go to work on them...
A lot of people downloaded the last album for free via the usual outlets (rapidshare etc) - fair enough...im not about to moan about such things- far from it....so we've decided that for this next record we'll give away the mp3 version of the album via the website - it'll save people going to the trouble of uploading it at least! With a bit of luck if people enjoy it then they'll buy a physical cd or vinyl version (the release WILL be on both formats again) or come to a show etc.
I think we'll know pretty soon after the initial recording session roughly when the record will be available...but we'll be aiming for August to coinicde with the new shows and tours.
cheers
dunk
Friday, March 12, 2010
new record
I'll get around to doing the final part of the tour 'diary' soon...but for now i thought id just give an update on whats happening here at the moment (blueneck wise). We started rehearsing some new material on Wednesday night. The plan being to start recording later next month with the aim to release an ep in the summer in time for the next batch of tours. There seems to bit a slightly 'warmer' feel to a lot of these new tracks....i wonder if thats due to the fact we know that this will be released in the (theoretically) warmer months. We also will be recording this next record differently from the first 2 albums...more on that at a later point. Anyway, we'll be taking some short video clips over the next few weeks which should act as a slight preview to what is coming up.
We're rehearsing without johnny at the moment who this week had a new addition to his family. a baby girl. so congratulations to johnny and laura on the safe arrival of isla....the next time we see johnny im expecting a grey head of hair, zombie like tiredness and a look of defeat that can only be matched by the look of defeat of Liverpool fans this season.....this has been the least enjoyable season of football in a LONG time...i dont think ive experienced such an anti climax since queing up and spending good money to see highlander 2.
cheers
dunk
We're rehearsing without johnny at the moment who this week had a new addition to his family. a baby girl. so congratulations to johnny and laura on the safe arrival of isla....the next time we see johnny im expecting a grey head of hair, zombie like tiredness and a look of defeat that can only be matched by the look of defeat of Liverpool fans this season.....this has been the least enjoyable season of football in a LONG time...i dont think ive experienced such an anti climax since queing up and spending good money to see highlander 2.
cheers
dunk
Friday, March 5, 2010
tour - part 3
ok....so the gap between part 2 and part 3 was nearly as long as it took for us to write a new album - maybe i was waiting for one of the others to write something...what was that? oh...a tumbleweed just drifted past...
so yeah...lets see if i can remember the last part of the tour...
so we went from leipzig to the beautiful city of chemnitz - a pretty short journey if i remember correctly - i wonder why so many people that we came across on this trip laughed when we said we were going to chemnitz...?...the weltecho was a pretty impressive venue actually...VERY professionally run...we were soundchecked early and had plenty of time to return back to our respective hotels and chill out or do whatever took our fancy for a couple of hours....this was actually a bit weird...noramlly we'll get to a venue...set up...and just hang out there for the course of the evening...
this was a LATE start (more like a club night)...we watched the support act 'Hello Yes Yes' who were good, then played the same setlist as at leipzig...We were meant to be playing 'weaving spiders come not here' at all of these gigs...but just seemed to keep forgetting to play it..apologies for that.
Maybe after the gig we had a few too many birthday drinks...me and ben certainly did...which made for what was probably the most baffling of interviews that we've ever given after the gig..so apologies to Katrin for having to put up with us making no sense whatsoever and for certain members of the band constantly picking up Katrins microphone thinking it was a cigarette lighter!...other notable events from chemnitz? a very cool glitter ball, rich worrying he was about to be raped and probably a lot of other things ive forgotten about (maybe one of the others will remember and write about it - but probably not!)
So - the next morning...we met in the car park...ben (paget) looked as bad as i felt ...we both opted not to drive...the others breathed a sigh of relief that they werent about to be driven by either myself or ben! certain death...so off to duisburg we went...well...kind of...we had a minor detour....unfortunatly one of the band members (who we wont shame by naming) put unleaded fuel into the diesel van....now this is a BIG no no....the van didnt like this...in fact i think the van felt a whole lot worse than me or ben did at that point!..so we spent a rather long time in the middle of nowhere waiting to get the van fixed....a loooooong time......it was cold...FREEZING...and there was nothing to do....literally. nothing. to. do...but you know...we wont blame Rich TOO much for putting unleaded into a diesel van....oops...i wasnt going to name and shame was i??! ah well..serves you right for not writing any blogs..
so anyway...the day was fading fast....and we were at this point a little concerned as to whether we'd make it to duisburg in time for the gig...we were, afterall, still about 4 hours drive away and it was already 4 olock in the afternoon....
dunk
so yeah...lets see if i can remember the last part of the tour...
so we went from leipzig to the beautiful city of chemnitz - a pretty short journey if i remember correctly - i wonder why so many people that we came across on this trip laughed when we said we were going to chemnitz...?...the weltecho was a pretty impressive venue actually...VERY professionally run...we were soundchecked early and had plenty of time to return back to our respective hotels and chill out or do whatever took our fancy for a couple of hours....this was actually a bit weird...noramlly we'll get to a venue...set up...and just hang out there for the course of the evening...
this was a LATE start (more like a club night)...we watched the support act 'Hello Yes Yes' who were good, then played the same setlist as at leipzig...We were meant to be playing 'weaving spiders come not here' at all of these gigs...but just seemed to keep forgetting to play it..apologies for that.
Maybe after the gig we had a few too many birthday drinks...me and ben certainly did...which made for what was probably the most baffling of interviews that we've ever given after the gig..so apologies to Katrin for having to put up with us making no sense whatsoever and for certain members of the band constantly picking up Katrins microphone thinking it was a cigarette lighter!...other notable events from chemnitz? a very cool glitter ball, rich worrying he was about to be raped and probably a lot of other things ive forgotten about (maybe one of the others will remember and write about it - but probably not!)
So - the next morning...we met in the car park...ben (paget) looked as bad as i felt ...we both opted not to drive...the others breathed a sigh of relief that they werent about to be driven by either myself or ben! certain death...so off to duisburg we went...well...kind of...we had a minor detour....unfortunatly one of the band members (who we wont shame by naming) put unleaded fuel into the diesel van....now this is a BIG no no....the van didnt like this...in fact i think the van felt a whole lot worse than me or ben did at that point!..so we spent a rather long time in the middle of nowhere waiting to get the van fixed....a loooooong time......it was cold...FREEZING...and there was nothing to do....literally. nothing. to. do...but you know...we wont blame Rich TOO much for putting unleaded into a diesel van....oops...i wasnt going to name and shame was i??! ah well..serves you right for not writing any blogs..
so anyway...the day was fading fast....and we were at this point a little concerned as to whether we'd make it to duisburg in time for the gig...we were, afterall, still about 4 hours drive away and it was already 4 olock in the afternoon....
dunk
Friday, February 12, 2010
we're only making plans for... blueneck
Blueneck plans...
so yeah...you might have noticed that we'll be touring europe again later in the year (see news item at blueneck.com) - we're currently booking up both tours but we're dead excited to be visiting some new places that we've not been to before. ie Poland, Croatia, Czech Republic etc.
Johnny is taking some leave for the next few months as he and Laura are about to produce a baby drummer. nice. so during that time We've decided to work on and produce an ep which we hope will be ready by the Summer time...coiniciding with some more live shows. I think going back into the studio is going to be a far more enjoyable experience this time around - I dont think , for this ep at least, that we'll be seeing a massive change in direction for the band or anything...but there may well be hints of what we have planned for album 3.
so yeah...i think 2010 is going to be a busy one...im looking forward to it..hopefully some of you are too.
dunk
so yeah...you might have noticed that we'll be touring europe again later in the year (see news item at blueneck.com) - we're currently booking up both tours but we're dead excited to be visiting some new places that we've not been to before. ie Poland, Croatia, Czech Republic etc.
Johnny is taking some leave for the next few months as he and Laura are about to produce a baby drummer. nice. so during that time We've decided to work on and produce an ep which we hope will be ready by the Summer time...coiniciding with some more live shows. I think going back into the studio is going to be a far more enjoyable experience this time around - I dont think , for this ep at least, that we'll be seeing a massive change in direction for the band or anything...but there may well be hints of what we have planned for album 3.
so yeah...i think 2010 is going to be a busy one...im looking forward to it..hopefully some of you are too.
dunk
Thursday, February 11, 2010
dunk's (yes mine) europe pt 2 - leipzig
...So off towards leipzig...this was going to be a long journey...especially due to the fact that our van was limited to 60mph!!!...something that the guys from Immanu El found pretty amusing....especially as they overtook us on the motorway about an hour into the journey!
checklist for the next tour...
a van that goes faster than 60mph
a van that has central locking that actually works
a van that has a heater that works properly
a van that has a cigarette lighter that works properly
a van that has a stereo that doesnt magically turn itself down
need i go on???
so yeah...a long drive...but we saw some beautiful wintery scenery...it was as if we were touring scandanavia or somewhere similar.
Leipzig is a lovely city...its a shame we didnt have time to explore it in detail...instead we went straight to the venue, Paris Syndrom, which is a beautifully designed building catering for art exhibitions, bands etc and also has a lovely cafe/bar.
Patrick was promoting the evening, and had obviously worked REALLY hard..he's a top guy and into some great music...he gave me some links to various projects he's involved in which im still yet to check but will be doing so this weekend when finally i have some time.
Now...once again me and my rude memory has forgotten the sound guy's name...im pretty sure it was tom...someone please remind me!!...anyway...he was fantastic..spent a lot of time making sure we were happy with the sound.whichfor once we really were. It was a great crowd this evening...they REALLY made us feel welcome and were very responsive. We even had the luxury of some visual accompaniment for the show...thanks Dirk. As always we ended with Revelations, but rather kindly we were asked to go back and play more...which we obliged with ...and played Judas! Judas! and amoc...Sometime you just know its been a really great gig...and i think us as a band really enjoyed this one....during amoc rich whispered into my ear 'best blueneck gig ever'....i'll always remember that moment with great fondness...
They served bulleit bourbon here...always a bonus....and seeing as it was now my birthday i indulged myself...The owner was Dirk...what a lovely guy...we shared a few glasses of bourbon together and talked music...he then showed off his cocktail making skills and produced rather amazing cocktails for myself and the merch shop manager/girlfriend (aka emma)....man...my heads buzzing just trying to remember this night!!...oh..yeha...there was an amazing apple crumble too at some point!! But Dirk (for me) ruled the evening...i may even grow a beard in his honour. ;-)
Leipzig was all in all a great night. We've been invited back...and it was a pleasure to accept such a lovely invitation!
Chemnitz next...but not after a nice long sleep and breakfast and lunch at the Paris Syndrom.
Its times like these that you realise just how lucky a position we are to be able to
experience nights such as these....
dx
checklist for the next tour...
a van that goes faster than 60mph
a van that has central locking that actually works
a van that has a heater that works properly
a van that has a cigarette lighter that works properly
a van that has a stereo that doesnt magically turn itself down
need i go on???
so yeah...a long drive...but we saw some beautiful wintery scenery...it was as if we were touring scandanavia or somewhere similar.
Leipzig is a lovely city...its a shame we didnt have time to explore it in detail...instead we went straight to the venue, Paris Syndrom, which is a beautifully designed building catering for art exhibitions, bands etc and also has a lovely cafe/bar.
Patrick was promoting the evening, and had obviously worked REALLY hard..he's a top guy and into some great music...he gave me some links to various projects he's involved in which im still yet to check but will be doing so this weekend when finally i have some time.
Now...once again me and my rude memory has forgotten the sound guy's name...im pretty sure it was tom...someone please remind me!!...anyway...he was fantastic..spent a lot of time making sure we were happy with the sound.whichfor once we really were. It was a great crowd this evening...they REALLY made us feel welcome and were very responsive. We even had the luxury of some visual accompaniment for the show...thanks Dirk. As always we ended with Revelations, but rather kindly we were asked to go back and play more...which we obliged with ...and played Judas! Judas! and amoc...Sometime you just know its been a really great gig...and i think us as a band really enjoyed this one....during amoc rich whispered into my ear 'best blueneck gig ever'....i'll always remember that moment with great fondness...
They served bulleit bourbon here...always a bonus....and seeing as it was now my birthday i indulged myself...The owner was Dirk...what a lovely guy...we shared a few glasses of bourbon together and talked music...he then showed off his cocktail making skills and produced rather amazing cocktails for myself and the merch shop manager/girlfriend (aka emma)....man...my heads buzzing just trying to remember this night!!...oh..yeha...there was an amazing apple crumble too at some point!! But Dirk (for me) ruled the evening...i may even grow a beard in his honour. ;-)
Leipzig was all in all a great night. We've been invited back...and it was a pleasure to accept such a lovely invitation!
Chemnitz next...but not after a nice long sleep and breakfast and lunch at the Paris Syndrom.
Its times like these that you realise just how lucky a position we are to be able to
experience nights such as these....
dx
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
dunks europe pt 1
so...a week in europe....and with a mass of snow it was just like we'd gone back a couple of months to christmas time again...in fact in germany people still had the decorations up!...or maybe theyd put them back up.
We started the week in Lille - with the lovely Marie playing hostess...she kindly made us quite possibly the best lasagne ever along with a vast array of rather lovely other food. She also found the time to arrange our show at le select. Thankyou Marie...you were lovely xxx
The show at le select was a bit mixed. Unfortuantly the venue had had their equipment stolen the week before...so the PA was...lets say...a bit muffled!...A solo artist played before us...using loop stations and a vast array of pedals...i rudely cannot remember his name....but he was great...
1 song into our set and the piano sound died...i tried to get the sound engineer to fix the problem with the PA....but later found he'd gone home ill!!..so we played a setlist without the piano..a bit disapointing as there was a nice sized crowd that had come to see us....we played le:465 which we hadnt played for some time and the lovely people of Lille i think were very understanding about the technical issues.
A nice sleep, and a mountain of pancakes later (thanks again Marie!) and we were headed off to Munster...
Munster was our first gig of 3 with the nice guy sfrom a great band from Sweden called Immanu El. Expect to hear more from this band...they could well be BIG!
Gleis 22 is a fantastic venue...and once again fantastic hosts...the food, company and everything was amazing. The sound man - who (once again, rudely) ive forgotten the name of, was great...its always such a bonus when you come across professional but extremely friendly sound guys...the gig i think went well....for me in particular because for oonce i could hear everything....being deaf in one ear can be a bit of a pain as you tend to not hear everything on stage....but it was great....we finished playing only to find a mass of snow coming down all over munster...it was to say the least, rather beautiful.
Fair play to the people of Munster coming out in force to this gig...in England...we'd have all stayed inside...
I dont think we thought that the week could get any better at this point as we left for Leipzig....but then...Id not met Dirk from Leipzig at that point...
Dunk x
We started the week in Lille - with the lovely Marie playing hostess...she kindly made us quite possibly the best lasagne ever along with a vast array of rather lovely other food. She also found the time to arrange our show at le select. Thankyou Marie...you were lovely xxx
The show at le select was a bit mixed. Unfortuantly the venue had had their equipment stolen the week before...so the PA was...lets say...a bit muffled!...A solo artist played before us...using loop stations and a vast array of pedals...i rudely cannot remember his name....but he was great...
1 song into our set and the piano sound died...i tried to get the sound engineer to fix the problem with the PA....but later found he'd gone home ill!!..so we played a setlist without the piano..a bit disapointing as there was a nice sized crowd that had come to see us....we played le:465 which we hadnt played for some time and the lovely people of Lille i think were very understanding about the technical issues.
A nice sleep, and a mountain of pancakes later (thanks again Marie!) and we were headed off to Munster...
Munster was our first gig of 3 with the nice guy sfrom a great band from Sweden called Immanu El. Expect to hear more from this band...they could well be BIG!
Gleis 22 is a fantastic venue...and once again fantastic hosts...the food, company and everything was amazing. The sound man - who (once again, rudely) ive forgotten the name of, was great...its always such a bonus when you come across professional but extremely friendly sound guys...the gig i think went well....for me in particular because for oonce i could hear everything....being deaf in one ear can be a bit of a pain as you tend to not hear everything on stage....but it was great....we finished playing only to find a mass of snow coming down all over munster...it was to say the least, rather beautiful.
Fair play to the people of Munster coming out in force to this gig...in England...we'd have all stayed inside...
I dont think we thought that the week could get any better at this point as we left for Leipzig....but then...Id not met Dirk from Leipzig at that point...
Dunk x
Europe 1 - UK 0
So, that's our first 'tour' done and dusted. For myself, a very mixed experience... it's no secret I find the whole gigging thing less enjoyable than the other guys... so it was a test for me to see how I'd cope on the road for a week.
It was pretty hard in all honesty... I missed my wife and kids like crazy.... but, I have to say the people we encountered in France and Germany were so ridiculously hospitable and nice, it made the whole thing a damn site easier to cope with... and we met up with some great bands too - Emmanu El, Sankt Otten (amazing, again!) and Hello Yes Yes – at some great venues. The UK live scene has a LOT to catch up with... a heck of a lot... over there you actually feel it was worth turning up for gigs, rather than over here, where the promoter gives you a fiver... if you're lucky... (and catch them before they leave)....
It was an interesting experience for sure... new places, new crowds.... long journeys.... Johnny's never-ending flatulence..... so one I'm glad I took part in, even if I wasn't loving every second..... There was one notable scary moment on the last night when we all thought we might get murdered by a crazed drunk guy, but thankfully he left.... with the help of the Police..... It's not often you see a man do the splits - in jeans.... he was scary. Very scary. Why he had to stand next to me, I don't know.... I also never discovered how to open the Vivarium alien space ship in the park at Leipzig - so if anyone knows how to, please do let me know....
Anyway... it certainly turned out to be a week of ups and downs for myself - the mixed emotions certainly made it a trip to remember! I know the other guys had a blast and plans are underway for us to return to Europe later in the year. We'll have to wait and see as to where/whens etc etc.
So a massive thank you to anyone and everyone who came out to watch us, the promoters for putting on the shoes, to those who fed us and gave us shelter, and for all the support we got while we were out there. We were quite taken back by how much we were appreciated.
I'm sure the other guys will ad their own experiences and thanks, but for me that's about it...
See you again soon....
Ben G
x
It was pretty hard in all honesty... I missed my wife and kids like crazy.... but, I have to say the people we encountered in France and Germany were so ridiculously hospitable and nice, it made the whole thing a damn site easier to cope with... and we met up with some great bands too - Emmanu El, Sankt Otten (amazing, again!) and Hello Yes Yes – at some great venues. The UK live scene has a LOT to catch up with... a heck of a lot... over there you actually feel it was worth turning up for gigs, rather than over here, where the promoter gives you a fiver... if you're lucky... (and catch them before they leave)....
It was an interesting experience for sure... new places, new crowds.... long journeys.... Johnny's never-ending flatulence..... so one I'm glad I took part in, even if I wasn't loving every second..... There was one notable scary moment on the last night when we all thought we might get murdered by a crazed drunk guy, but thankfully he left.... with the help of the Police..... It's not often you see a man do the splits - in jeans.... he was scary. Very scary. Why he had to stand next to me, I don't know.... I also never discovered how to open the Vivarium alien space ship in the park at Leipzig - so if anyone knows how to, please do let me know....
Anyway... it certainly turned out to be a week of ups and downs for myself - the mixed emotions certainly made it a trip to remember! I know the other guys had a blast and plans are underway for us to return to Europe later in the year. We'll have to wait and see as to where/whens etc etc.
So a massive thank you to anyone and everyone who came out to watch us, the promoters for putting on the shoes, to those who fed us and gave us shelter, and for all the support we got while we were out there. We were quite taken back by how much we were appreciated.
I'm sure the other guys will ad their own experiences and thanks, but for me that's about it...
See you again soon....
Ben G
x
Monday, February 8, 2010
Bardens Boudoir, London 31/01/10
The week started out with a trip to North London...a trip that due to traffic lasted about 8 hours as opposed to just under 3!..not the best of starts. Still, the guys at Bardens Boudoir were well prepared for such occasions and it was decided we'd just set up equipment and just play. I think the long journey kind of took it out of the band, and brains were slightly frazzled...hence us countlessly forgetting the order of the setlist...in fact i still dont recall it now...other than we finished up with 'amoc'.
We played with 2 other bands that were kind enough to play with us at late notice. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster from London who were excellent, and also potential labelmates (for blueneck), Khuda - quite how a 2 piece make so much noise is beyond me...great band and lovely guys - Hopefully they'll finish up their debut album really soon.
We had recordings from both bands in the van for the rest of the week and both got regular plays. Thanks to Marcio for arranging this one at such late notice - a top guy whose friendliness was the perfect appetiser for the rest of the lovely people we were about to encounter that week.
Setlist;
Intro
Seven
Oig
Lilitu
Low
Weaving Spiders Come Not Here
Ub2
Revelations
amoc
www.myspace.com/tacomanarrowsbridgedisaster
www.myspace.com/khudamusic
www.bardensboudoir.co.uk
We played with 2 other bands that were kind enough to play with us at late notice. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster from London who were excellent, and also potential labelmates (for blueneck), Khuda - quite how a 2 piece make so much noise is beyond me...great band and lovely guys - Hopefully they'll finish up their debut album really soon.
We had recordings from both bands in the van for the rest of the week and both got regular plays. Thanks to Marcio for arranging this one at such late notice - a top guy whose friendliness was the perfect appetiser for the rest of the lovely people we were about to encounter that week.
Setlist;
Intro
Seven
Oig
Lilitu
Low
Weaving Spiders Come Not Here
Ub2
Revelations
amoc
www.myspace.com/tacomanarrowsbridgedisaster
www.myspace.com/khudamusic
www.bardensboudoir.co.uk
Friday, January 29, 2010
Green Park Taven - 28/01/10
This was the first of 8 dates over the next 10 days, and where better to play it than what is (more or less) a home town gig at a venue that knows how to look after their bands properly and ensure a really enjoyable night.
The Green Park Tavern has developed into one of those rare venues that actually have a passion for music and are trying to bring better known bands into town along with promoting local talent along the way.
George Knight - once again opened the night. He's a solo singer/songwriter. He's very good, great voice and seems to get better each time i've seen him..he's got a growing fanbase too, so worth keeping an eye on i think.
Mo (the owner of the GPT) booked a band called 'The Ginger Cravings' - unfortunately they dont have any recordings yet as theyve only recently formed so I didnt know what to expect....but man...theyre good. Its hard to explain what this 3 piece sound like...and i wouldnt want to do them the injustice of attempting it...but they were amazingly tight for only their second show. Changes in tempo here there and everywhere, quiet/loud/loud/quiet. They certainly need to get some recordings done soon...its the sort of band that our European label Denovali would love i think. Swingfest '10 perhaps?...maybe theyd need to change the name first ...? ;-)
Anyway...Blueneck then played a longer set than we've been playing recently...which was really nice for a change...most of the shows over the next few days 'should' be longer sets i think.
We've re-introduced a Moog Prodigy to the set up which i think adds a bit of bottom end at times and overall just improves things on an atmospheric level and Rich has been adding some really nice parts to some of the songs....I think thats one of the more enjoyable things over the past few rehearsals, playing around with the current songs for the live shows.
Anyhow...we played a mix of material from both The Fallen Host and Scars of the Midwest...im personally really enjoying playing Ub2 again at the minute....A few glitches here and there throughout the set...but overall it was good fun...and a really nice responsive crowd with some good old fashioned somerset banter!
London next....playing with a couple of bands im really looking forward to watching....hopefully see some of you there.
Setlist:
Seven
Oig
Lilitu
Low
Weaving Spiders Come Not Here
Ub2
Revelations
...
amoc
www.myspace.com/greenparktavernmusic
www.myspace.com/gingercravings
www.myspace.com/augustusporticos
The Green Park Tavern has developed into one of those rare venues that actually have a passion for music and are trying to bring better known bands into town along with promoting local talent along the way.
George Knight - once again opened the night. He's a solo singer/songwriter. He's very good, great voice and seems to get better each time i've seen him..he's got a growing fanbase too, so worth keeping an eye on i think.
Mo (the owner of the GPT) booked a band called 'The Ginger Cravings' - unfortunately they dont have any recordings yet as theyve only recently formed so I didnt know what to expect....but man...theyre good. Its hard to explain what this 3 piece sound like...and i wouldnt want to do them the injustice of attempting it...but they were amazingly tight for only their second show. Changes in tempo here there and everywhere, quiet/loud/loud/quiet. They certainly need to get some recordings done soon...its the sort of band that our European label Denovali would love i think. Swingfest '10 perhaps?...maybe theyd need to change the name first ...? ;-)
Anyway...Blueneck then played a longer set than we've been playing recently...which was really nice for a change...most of the shows over the next few days 'should' be longer sets i think.
We've re-introduced a Moog Prodigy to the set up which i think adds a bit of bottom end at times and overall just improves things on an atmospheric level and Rich has been adding some really nice parts to some of the songs....I think thats one of the more enjoyable things over the past few rehearsals, playing around with the current songs for the live shows.
Anyhow...we played a mix of material from both The Fallen Host and Scars of the Midwest...im personally really enjoying playing Ub2 again at the minute....A few glitches here and there throughout the set...but overall it was good fun...and a really nice responsive crowd with some good old fashioned somerset banter!
London next....playing with a couple of bands im really looking forward to watching....hopefully see some of you there.
Setlist:
Seven
Oig
Lilitu
Low
Weaving Spiders Come Not Here
Ub2
Revelations
...
amoc
www.myspace.com/greenparktavernmusic
www.myspace.com/gingercravings
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
just a distant hum
Busy week this week. Seems we've left certain things like travel arrangements, for next weeks short tour, to the last minute. I guess its kind of the blueneck way.
Its also been an expensive week...buying band equipment in particular. A delay pedal for the moog (which we're re-introducing to live shows), numerous other effects pedals, leads and also the jack socket on my guitar went in for a repair...it all adds up....put on top of that tickets for 'the end of the road' festival, alcoholic faith mission, los campesinos and a silver mt. zion, and january is proving to be a wallet melter so to speak.
so the video for lilitu has finally made it out for you all to view online...hopefully youre liking it...it went through a number of storyboard changes until everyone was happy with it....Myspace are showing it exclusively all this week...its a shame they were (or maybe STILL are) under the impression its actually called lulitu..and not lilitu....i looked up lulitu....no results...if anyone can shed any light on the meaning of lulitu then id be interested to know!
we've finalised the designs for some extra merchandise too....this will be available from Feb 2nd onwards at all of the shows next week...if there is stock left then obviosuly it'll be in the online store...the design is based on a screenshot from the video. but yeah...hoodies, t-shirts, bags and a few ltd edition screen printed posters are going to be available.
We've also been discussing dates for further tours this year...it looks quite likely that later in the year we'll be re-visiting mainland europe and taking in germany, france, holland, spain and portugal along with the UK. THis should all be confirmed really soon. We'll now be concentrating on summer dates and finalsing plans for these...we're looking further afield for these dates.
so yeah...the tour essentially starts tomorrow in the UK...we're playing at a great venue in Bath called the Green Park Tavern. These guys are one of the rare places in the UK that actually take care of the bands and ensure that its a great night...im looking forward to playing there again and seeing a few familiar old faces.
We then play in London which was a hastily put together date with a lot of help from Marcio (thanks)...but im also looking forward to this as we're playing with a couple of really great bands...Khuda and The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster - its such a bonus when you get to play with bands youre looking forward to watching.
Then its onwards to france and germany....reuniting with one of my favourite bands that we played with last year Sankt otten...check these guys out...you can find them via the denovali records website.
Its my birthday whilst we're away...im hoping to celebrate with a drink or 2. Ben P tells me i dont have to do any work that day other than playing a show...i'll be holding him to that.
so maybe see some of you over the next week or so....if not...maybe check back to the blog where we intend to run a tour diary as such...and we'll also be putting together a few video clips from the trip.
cheers
dunk
Its also been an expensive week...buying band equipment in particular. A delay pedal for the moog (which we're re-introducing to live shows), numerous other effects pedals, leads and also the jack socket on my guitar went in for a repair...it all adds up....put on top of that tickets for 'the end of the road' festival, alcoholic faith mission, los campesinos and a silver mt. zion, and january is proving to be a wallet melter so to speak.
so the video for lilitu has finally made it out for you all to view online...hopefully youre liking it...it went through a number of storyboard changes until everyone was happy with it....Myspace are showing it exclusively all this week...its a shame they were (or maybe STILL are) under the impression its actually called lulitu..and not lilitu....i looked up lulitu....no results...if anyone can shed any light on the meaning of lulitu then id be interested to know!
we've finalised the designs for some extra merchandise too....this will be available from Feb 2nd onwards at all of the shows next week...if there is stock left then obviosuly it'll be in the online store...the design is based on a screenshot from the video. but yeah...hoodies, t-shirts, bags and a few ltd edition screen printed posters are going to be available.
We've also been discussing dates for further tours this year...it looks quite likely that later in the year we'll be re-visiting mainland europe and taking in germany, france, holland, spain and portugal along with the UK. THis should all be confirmed really soon. We'll now be concentrating on summer dates and finalsing plans for these...we're looking further afield for these dates.
so yeah...the tour essentially starts tomorrow in the UK...we're playing at a great venue in Bath called the Green Park Tavern. These guys are one of the rare places in the UK that actually take care of the bands and ensure that its a great night...im looking forward to playing there again and seeing a few familiar old faces.
We then play in London which was a hastily put together date with a lot of help from Marcio (thanks)...but im also looking forward to this as we're playing with a couple of really great bands...Khuda and The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster - its such a bonus when you get to play with bands youre looking forward to watching.
Then its onwards to france and germany....reuniting with one of my favourite bands that we played with last year Sankt otten...check these guys out...you can find them via the denovali records website.
Its my birthday whilst we're away...im hoping to celebrate with a drink or 2. Ben P tells me i dont have to do any work that day other than playing a show...i'll be holding him to that.
so maybe see some of you over the next week or so....if not...maybe check back to the blog where we intend to run a tour diary as such...and we'll also be putting together a few video clips from the trip.
cheers
dunk
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Exciting year ahead....
Well, 2009 came and went in a flash so I think i'd best hold on tight this year and enjoy the ride and consume all the good things that will happen personally and 'Bluenecky' in 2010!
I'm STILL quite chilled about the prospect of being a dad in March. I guess at the moment the soon to be little bundle of joy is happy and content with his or hers mother so i'm kind of waiting with expectation - until the contractions start (yipes!)- but yeah looking forward to the day arriving and spending a few months with new arrival until i return and catch up with the world outside of dirty nappies and sick on my shoulder ;)
But anyway, i'm sure 2010 will hold many more gifts in store, new recordings, house warmings, tours, romantic meals (because and because not of the tours), baby sitting, building relationships and having some fun!
Take care
Johnny
x
I'm STILL quite chilled about the prospect of being a dad in March. I guess at the moment the soon to be little bundle of joy is happy and content with his or hers mother so i'm kind of waiting with expectation - until the contractions start (yipes!)- but yeah looking forward to the day arriving and spending a few months with new arrival until i return and catch up with the world outside of dirty nappies and sick on my shoulder ;)
But anyway, i'm sure 2010 will hold many more gifts in store, new recordings, house warmings, tours, romantic meals (because and because not of the tours), baby sitting, building relationships and having some fun!
Take care
Johnny
x
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
I cant think of a title as this is about nothing inparticular...consider this the title.
Well the album finally gets its UK release on February 8th. Seems to have taken an age...especially as its been available throughout Europe...Once again...apologies ...but you never know - we might just back it up with something else new a LOT sooner than it took to produce album number 2...
So...whats been going on since the European release of The Fallen Host? Well we played a handful of shows (nowhere near as many as we'd have liked), including the Denovali Swingfest 2009. This took place in Essen...was a really great event and an amazing line up of bands. I particularly enjoyed Sankt Otten (who we'll be playing with again in February) and Fall of Efra.
Regards to Blueneck sets - i think each show we did seemed to be littered with technical issues, equipment not working and more often than not (in my case at least) leads falling out of guitars!...we've been working hard to rectify these problems for the upcoming short tour in February.
The shows we did last year were mainly consisting of tracks from the Fallen Host with a couple of older tracks (Oig and Le:465) getting a run out. This month we've been rehearsing and playing around with a wider range of songs...I think the tour in February willconsist of a balance between tracks from Scars of the Midwest and The Fallen Host....Its actually been really enjoyable playing tracks such as Ub2, amoc and Judas! Judas! again...Once again we've tried making Epiphany work....its just not quite right....we've decided we just need an extra drummer!..we'll continue trying to nail this one as we've actually only ever played this live once...
So after the tour in February whats happening? Well Johnny is about to become a dad...so he's going to be taking a break for a couple of months....in the meantime we'll be back in the studio awaiting johnny's return. Then its back to touring. Theres a big emnphasis on playing shows for blueneck in 2010....booking is actually already underway and we'll be confirming some dates pretty soon. We'll be covering more areas this time around, quite possibly some that are further afield...so hopefully we'll get to visit some new places and meet new people. Obviously as soon as dates for tours are confirmed we'll begin to announce them on the website. THere should be a 'Touring' section added real soon...
We'll try and update this blog section at least once a week...so if you have any questions or want to know specific info then just let us know....maybe post on the forum (i'll start a topic inviting questions) or just contact us through the website.
I think ive waffled on enough now....
Take care
Dunk
So...whats been going on since the European release of The Fallen Host? Well we played a handful of shows (nowhere near as many as we'd have liked), including the Denovali Swingfest 2009. This took place in Essen...was a really great event and an amazing line up of bands. I particularly enjoyed Sankt Otten (who we'll be playing with again in February) and Fall of Efra.
Regards to Blueneck sets - i think each show we did seemed to be littered with technical issues, equipment not working and more often than not (in my case at least) leads falling out of guitars!...we've been working hard to rectify these problems for the upcoming short tour in February.
The shows we did last year were mainly consisting of tracks from the Fallen Host with a couple of older tracks (Oig and Le:465) getting a run out. This month we've been rehearsing and playing around with a wider range of songs...I think the tour in February willconsist of a balance between tracks from Scars of the Midwest and The Fallen Host....Its actually been really enjoyable playing tracks such as Ub2, amoc and Judas! Judas! again...Once again we've tried making Epiphany work....its just not quite right....we've decided we just need an extra drummer!..we'll continue trying to nail this one as we've actually only ever played this live once...
So after the tour in February whats happening? Well Johnny is about to become a dad...so he's going to be taking a break for a couple of months....in the meantime we'll be back in the studio awaiting johnny's return. Then its back to touring. Theres a big emnphasis on playing shows for blueneck in 2010....booking is actually already underway and we'll be confirming some dates pretty soon. We'll be covering more areas this time around, quite possibly some that are further afield...so hopefully we'll get to visit some new places and meet new people. Obviously as soon as dates for tours are confirmed we'll begin to announce them on the website. THere should be a 'Touring' section added real soon...
We'll try and update this blog section at least once a week...so if you have any questions or want to know specific info then just let us know....maybe post on the forum (i'll start a topic inviting questions) or just contact us through the website.
I think ive waffled on enough now....
Take care
Dunk
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Get a FREE download of Lilitu!
You can now get your grubby little mits on a FREE download of Lilitu over at Blueneck.com now - all you need to do is sign up and you'll get the link....
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
New Year, New Stuff
Hello.
New year - and I hope we won't ignore the blog as much as we have recently... hehe.
The album finally gets its UK release on 8th Feb - so keep your eyes peeled. There's a free download of Lilitu to whet your appetite on the new look website, so head over and grab it. There will be a video to follow, which we'll update you about sometime soon.
For those of you in Europe, we'll be doing some dates in early Feb so check the website or MySpace for details.
We're pretty snowed in here in the UK so we've not been able to rehearse... so we'll have to work hard to be ready for the shows, but it'll fall into place I'm sure.... at least we've been able to build the obligatory snowmen, igloos etc....
BenG
New year - and I hope we won't ignore the blog as much as we have recently... hehe.
The album finally gets its UK release on 8th Feb - so keep your eyes peeled. There's a free download of Lilitu to whet your appetite on the new look website, so head over and grab it. There will be a video to follow, which we'll update you about sometime soon.
For those of you in Europe, we'll be doing some dates in early Feb so check the website or MySpace for details.
We're pretty snowed in here in the UK so we've not been able to rehearse... so we'll have to work hard to be ready for the shows, but it'll fall into place I'm sure.... at least we've been able to build the obligatory snowmen, igloos etc....
BenG
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