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

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

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

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