This Morning Call’s blog

Hot hot heat...

nobody@vox.com(This Morning Call) — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:59:34 +0100

We’ve had a real burst of hot weather here in sunny Manchester so predictably nobody has been sitting in front of a computer for longer than they have too. As a result, my blogging has almost died a slow and painful death. But low and behold, it suddenly gone rather muggy and there’s the possibility of rain. I’ve decided to retreat to the safety of the online community for a quick half hour just in case the heavens open.

Now let me see. What has been going on? Well, given that the last entry on the MySpace blog was regarding our lovely gig at The Troubadour, which is now some time ago, quite a lot has happened. We have basically returned to the studio to work on recording some of these new tunes, and I’m pleased that 90% of “The Observatory” is complete and once I’ve lived with the mix for a few weeks, I’ll post it both on MySpace and Vox for some feedback. There’s still a few guitars to put down, but the weather is just so not conducive towards being in the studio that I don’t think its going to happen just yet. Also started doing some drum loops for Invisible Man which I’m hoping will come together quite quickly.

We had a fun time playing Green Bohemia last weekend at The Green Room, Manchester. The Green Room is one of those small, urban, arty theatre spaces for experimental and community based productions. It also has a nice bar and a balcony for afterhours entertainments. It was so hot, I was dripping wet by the end of the gig and it was rather like I’d just stepped out of the shower. I can only assume that the heat was rising from the bar downstairs, as heat is want to do. Thanks to everybody who came down to support us. It was a rather spontaneous show, I don’t think we really knew what we were going to play, and it was fun to just launch into tunes on the spur of the moment. At the end, I really regretted wearing those black skinny jeans, I can tell you!

I should at this point mention that we have a show coming up at the end of the month for the MAPS Festival, which as you may know is an urban festival based in the Northern Qtr across the bank holiday weekend. I think it should be a good do. There are a lot of venues and a lot of quality local bands involved. Tickets are quite expensive unless you get them directly from me or a member of the band, so I would urge you to do so. We are playing in the Mint Lounge on Sunday 25^th May, in a prime time slot (cheers Stuart!), so obviously the powers that be think we can pull a decent crowd. Lets hope so. I think it could be one of the gigs of the year, so do join us.

It should be fairly obvious to you all by now that I have recently turned 30. Now, if I gave a shit about major labels wanting to sign us I shouldn’t really be announcing this fact on the blog, because these days if you are not under 25 you don’t stand a cat in hells chance of getting a major deal, and there might be A+R men reading this. It’s totally discriminatory but such is life. Even so, I couldn’t let this go without mentioning what a fabulous time we all had across my birthday weekend, and you can see the video over on our facebook site. I might post it up here or on VOX if I’m allowed. I’m glad to say that as well as our cultural expedition up Pendle Hill, with the witches and wind and the bleakness, we also partied hard throughout the night and I’m reassured to learn that despite what EMI might have to say about us being too old to rock, we are certainly not too old to party!! (just ask the neighbours!)

And that is, of course, another reason why I’ve not managed to blog as much as I could over the past few weeks, as its been “birthday season central” right here. I’ve lost track of how many birthdays have been upon us recently. Let us have a big happy birthday to all our friends, family and fans who have struggled up another rung of the great ladder of life in recent weeks!! I’m sure 2008/9 will be a fabulous year for all of you.

Manchester in the summer is a great place to be. Less students doesn’t necessarily equal quiet clubs and no atmosphere, and its also the season of outdoor gigs, impromptu street performance and light nights till late. It’s normally a short lived affair, but a worthy one. Everybody at least tries to make the most of it. People float round town wearing vest tops and light dresses, and sit on the grass in Piccadilly Gardens. Children jump about in the water feature. The knackered old houses don’t look quite so knackered. I’ve heard it said that Manchester has such a thriving arts scene because for nine tenths of the year, we are all inside, having to make our own entertainments and create our own little worlds in music or art. This is partially true, for sure. But at least once a year, the party spills out onto the street and if you are willing to embrace it, its one hell of a ride.

I think the possibility of rain has finally passed, so I’m going outside again for more sun. Lets hope it doesn’t storm on me as soon as I cross the threshold.

Ben

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The state of music in Manchester, UK

nobody@vox.com(This Morning Call) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:39:05 +0000

(I've got new music to upload but after a week of trying, the site wont let me! I've had to email IB for help. Let me know if anybody is having similar problems. You'll have to make do with this. Well, I think its interesting....!)

I was forwarded a link today from a friend with whom I have been having lots of discussion recently about the state of the Manchester music scene.

Now, I know alot of people reading this blog probably wont give a monkeys about the various local bands dotted around our trusty city - of course, you are all This Morning Call fans, so local trashy rock bands probably aren't on the agenda - however, as we seem to surrounded by them, we should aquaint ourselves.

http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/2653397

For those of you who can't be bothered to read all that muguffins, here's a quick once over. Basically, its a review of the Ritz gig featuring The Courteneers and Twisted Wheel, followed by various other bits and pieces about other Manchester bands, followed by a much more interesting discussion from various posters about how they feel about the aforementioned bands and if they really represent the "scene", whatever that may be.

(pause here while I pour a glass of wine)

So, lets reopen the debate again about the state of things. Does the apparent success of Twisted Wheel and The Courteeners represent a brave new dawn for Mcr bands, or is it retreading the same old ground that we've heard time and time before, with added ego, and less talent?

Between us, I know we know alot of bands in Manchester. Some are obviously better than others, but I do like to think that the majority of people that I'm involved with on a regular basis are pretty good, and certainly better than average. With regards to the bands mentioned in that link, they are good, for sure, but the world is full of good bands. What I want to hear are great bands. New bands. Exciting bands. Bands that are offering something a little different. Nobody can claim that either Twisted Wheel or The Courteeners are offering something new or different, no matter how much you are into them. It feels very Manchester, very traditional, very "5th ave", very.... well dull.

Lets look at a few examples. Band(ism) - who have apparently disbanded sadly - were a decent bunch, and they certainly had a look and a performance that, although it may not have been to everyones taste, certainly stuck in the mind. It was a bit different, all white suits and hats. Becca Williams, who I have oft mentioned, has great songs, a big gob and a lovely onstage personality, and has gigged extensively around town to reasonable aclaim. A brilliant solo performer in my opinion, but the recordings aren't as good. Then we come to The Travelling Band, who managed a few centimeters of press in the metro recently, and who deserve an awful lot more if you want my opinion. Their recent gig at Enchanted Brave was one of the highlights of In The City 2007. I think this is a band that is best appreciated in a small venue with a real ale in your hand, because when I saw them at Glastonbury it didn't really work as well. But yeah, great stuff.

Now, I can't claim to have seen either Twisted Wheel or The Courteeners live, but I have seen The Ting Tings. The Ting Tings have the rather unfortunate problem of being the band everybody "quite likes". I kid you not, absolutely everyone I speak too (except Jake) said that they "quite liked" The Ting Tings. This includes other member of TMC, A+R men, including some rather senior people, press, other bands and your average lovely music fan. I saw them at a gig at Islington Mill in spring and I have to say that .... I quite liked them. But that was it really, I didn't have much of an opinion either way. So there we go, we "quite like" the Ting Tings.

Oh I've just remembered my friend Johnny said he was really into that "say my name" song by The TT's. He must be the exception that proves the rule!

I went to watch another local band who I've been hearing about alot recently last Friday, Air Cav, and again, I thought "here's another good band". I wish I could have seen these when there was more than about 40 people in the audience because we were really struggling for atmosphere, which was a shame. But, yeah, I'd say check these guys (and girls) out and see what you think. I don't think it'll be to everybodies taste, but I liked it.

But lets put things into perspective here. The best bands I've seen this year have not been from Manchester. Whether it be the brilliant Maximo Park album and the associated stuff thats coming out of Newcastle, to the brilliant Suzie Wilkins, with whom we were lucky to share a stage with in London, to the new darlings of Camden, Fox Cubs, who we also played with and and were great, but fit neatly into the "indie-disco" scene that we are all, lets face it, are getting a little bit fed up with. And then Ghosts who we supported at the Hard Rock who clearly had a very professional and well realised performance.

(pause for third glass of wine)

I was hoping that with the sad death of Tony Wilson this year, our city might undergo something of a sea change in music. And there's time yet. I'd like to see some new styles breaking through. This is what has inspired This Morning Call. The need to try and break down a few barriers, do something different, unexpected. Try and engage and audience firstly with a project that is predominately downtempo, and secondly that has this interesting mix of guitars and electronics, cellos and saxophones. Didn't Dave Haslam say that Manchester was a wonderful melting pot of styles, a cradle of experimentation. Something like that. You know, like Manchester has one of the best higher education music colleges in the world but nobody ever seems to mention it. The talent here does not just lie in rock. Lets try joining the dots. Like a Manchester Sigor Ros with Jimmy Summerville as the front man....no joke.... !

(bit pissed now)

Yeah, I know, there's alot of barriers to break down, we've just scratched the surface but hey, take the easy option and go visit The Courteeners MySpace. I'm heartened to know that even this week, we've had A+R from EMI contact us who don't want to sign rock bands, wanting demos. Wanting to hear something different. And with a bit of luck, it will happen.

Bed time now.

Ben

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Post Pride recovery, and new Doctor Who until 2010!

nobody@vox.com(This Morning Call) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:15:19 +0100

Post Pride recovery, and new Doctor Who until 2010!

Right, lets cut to the chase, today, because I've just heard some big news about my favourite television programme, Doctor Who, which I'd like to share with you.

After the fourth series airs in 2008, David Tennant will continue in the role of the Doctor for a Christmas special at the end of 2008. After that, instead of a full series beginning filming, the production team, with Tennant still in the role, will be working on three Doctor Who specials, written by Russell T Davies, to be shown on BBC1 throughout the year of 2009. A fifth full series is scheduled for 2010.

How great is that! New Who confirmed until 2010. Hurrah!

As they say on Outpost Gallifrey* "squee!!!" - don't know what that means but everybody uses it so I thought I'd introduce it too you now. Lets all "Squee" together.

(*Outpost Gallifrey is an ace Dr Who fan website)

Well, ok, you can call me a saddo nobhead if you like for being a sci fi fan, but I really don't care. That's been the highlight of my day today, and in all fairness, that's no surprise after a lovely week off spent doddering round Manchester. Well, I needed a week off, look you, after the activities of the August Bank Holiday weekend, where we rocked the big stage at PRIDE (it was amazing) and proceeded to make a serious indent into the cider stocks of Greater Manchester. The party went on for 48 hours and I had to spend most of Monday in bed. Although, surprisingly, I didn't go to a single club over the weekend and spent most of my time loafing from bar to bar chatting to friends and getting increasingly over excited. So it was a goodun. Roll on next year.

The rest of the week was spent sending out a few CDs. Now I've finally got out biography and photos sorted out, I'm in a position to start pushing "This Morning Call" to appropriate press, DJ's and record labels. Now, this is a serious task that might take some time, but it's all systems go and I'll keep you updated as to how we get on. If anybody has any bright ideas as to who I should be sending CD's too, please let me know. I'm talking about people who are likely to be into what we are doing, so I can't imagine sending it to Goth Rock Records is the best idea!!

But come on, folks, lets have some suggestions.

Can I just do a quick shout out to our good friend Vicki Richardson, long time supporter of the band and DJ on our local station, ALL FM, who came down to watch us at PRIDE, we really appreciated the support, and to all you punters who have so kindly emailed us and messaged us over MySpace to say how much you enjoyed the show. It was rather unexpected and really fantastic to get such a great response. My ego has now inflated to three times its normal size, which, believe me, is big!

Our next gig will be something a little different. We are playing a night called Green Bohemia at the Green Room in Manchester on the 15th September. I'll say now that the set will demonstrate that we can make a good sound without a massive PA, laptops, computers, and loads of stuff. It'll be really interesting experience and I hope you'll be able to join us. More on that in the next entry.

See you all soon,

Ben

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New to this...!

nobody@vox.com(This Morning Call) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:55:08 +0100

First day on VOX! Well, you've got to start somewhere.

If you get a chance, checko out our MySpace page, its rather more developed!!

And listen to some tunes, if you can.

And to start the ball rolling.... here's my review of Glastonbury. (see previous post) It really was marvellous.

Anybody from Manchester, UK, please add us, or whatever you do on this site, and then we can make some new friends. How lovely...!

Anyway, all good, lets get blogging.

best wishes,

Ben

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